Electronic invoicing in Belgium

Electronic invoicing in Belgium

Mandatory electronic invoicing is applied in Belgium progressively, depending on the value of public contracts :

  • Public contracts tendered from November 1, 2022 with a value equal to or greater than the European threshold of €214,000 ;
  • Public contracts tendered from May 1, 2023 with a value of EUR 30,000 or more;

From November 1, 2023 it will apply to all other public contracts, except contracts below the threshold of EUR 3,000 (excluding VAT), as they are, in principle, exempt from tax.

In relation to the private sector, it should be noted that, in May 2022, the Belgian House of Representatives published a bill on the fight against late payment in commercial transactions with the aim of implementing electronic invoicing between private companies (B2B). .

What it seeks to achieve is to encourage companies to invest in electronic invoicing. The benefits that are pursued are a faster, more secure billing process and minimizing the risk of errors and missing data. Additionally, the chances of fraud decrease while privacy protection increases.

Nothing in the bill describes the involvement of a centralized settlement platform or the 
reporting of electronic invoice data to tax authorities, but it is expected to evolve to connect 

with PEPPOL.

The law will go into effect on January 1, 2025 with respect to small businesses, giving them plenty of time to prepare for the change. In relation to large companies, the mandatory electronic invoice is expected to be present as of January 2024.

The original plan, which has been postponed, had three stages:

  • July 2024: Large taxpayers (from 9 million euros)
  • January 2025: Medium-sized taxpayers
  • July 2025: Small taxpayers

Planning to launch e-invoicing implementation in July 2023 has likely been delayed a second time to July 2024 as key decisions and plans remain. The objective of Belgium is to synchronize with the VAT of the EU in relation to the electronic invoicing system and its interoperability.