Belgium's e-invoice mandate: what applies now
Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses must send domestic B2B invoices as structured Peppol e-invoices. Below: the date, the fines, the format that counts, and how to test a file before it goes to a customer.
The timeline (domestic B2B)
| Date | What changes |
|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2026 | Structured e-invoicing is mandatory between Belgian VAT-registered businesses: you must be able to receive and you must issue e-invoices. A tolerance period without fines runs for the first quarter. |
| After Q1 2026 | Fines apply: EUR 1,500 for a first offence, EUR 3,000 for a second and EUR 5,000 for a third or later offence in a calendar year. |
Exceptions exist (for example sales to consumers and some exempt activities), and a separate e-reporting duty has been announced for later. This is a summary, not tax advice; confirm with your accountant or FPS Finance.
Which file counts, and how it travels
The invoice is a Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 document (UBL, on top of the European standard EN 16931) sent over the Peppol network through an access point your business or your software provider uses. The buyer's Peppol address decides where it lands. A PDF emailed to the customer is no longer the invoice for domestic B2B sales. A rejection comes back after you have submitted.
Test a file before you send it
Open the checker, drop your XML, and tick Also apply the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 rules. It flags a wrong business process or specification identifier, a missing or malformed electronic address, arithmetic that does not add up, a missing tax reason on a 0% or exempt line, and VAT, IBAN and BIC typos, each with a rule ID and a fix (the rule reference). No account, nothing uploaded.
No invoice yet? The e-invoice creator turns a form into UBL or CII XML and checks it. Selling into other countries? See the German dates and the French dates, Italy, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, the UK, the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, or the Portugal, EU e-invoicing mandate checker. Also: Slovakia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Serbia.
Common questions
When did Belgium's B2B e-invoicing mandate start?
On 1 January 2026 structured e-invoicing became mandatory for domestic B2B transactions between Belgian VAT-registered businesses; the same date applies to receiving and issuing. A tolerance period without fines ran for the first quarter of 2026. Exceptions exist (for example sales to consumers and some exempt activities). Confirm your own situation with your accountant or FPS Finance; this page is a summary, not advice.
Which invoice format does Belgium require?
A structured invoice in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format (UBL, based on EN 16931), sent over the Peppol network through an access point. A PDF or a paper invoice no longer counts as the invoice for domestic B2B sales. This checker reads JSON, UBL, CII and Factur-X PDFs and has a Peppol BIS 3.0 option.
What are the fines for not e-invoicing in Belgium?
The law sets fines of EUR 1,500 for a first offence, EUR 3,000 for a second and EUR 5,000 for a third or later offence in a calendar year, after the first-quarter 2026 tolerance period. Confirm the current amounts with FPS Finance before relying on them.
How do I check a Belgian invoice before sending it?
Drop the file into the checker and tick the Peppol option. It tests the Peppol business process and specification identifiers, the seller and buyer electronic addresses and their scheme, the totals and tax breakdown arithmetic, and VAT, IBAN and BIC typos, each with a rule ID and a fix. Nothing is uploaded when you use the page. It is an offline observation, not an access point's acceptance and not legal advice.
Open the E-invoice Preflight checker to validate your own invoice file.
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