Royal Decree confirms: All B2B invoices must be electronic from 1 January 2026

What does this mean in practice?

Peppol BIS will be the default format for structured e-invoices. Other formats may still be used if both parties agree and the format complies with European standards. However, every company must be able to send and receive invoices via the Peppol network.

Three conditions for mandatory e-invoicing

The obligation only applies if all the following conditions are met:

• The invoice is issued by a VAT-registered business established in Belgium that is required to issue an invoice for the transaction. The obligation does not apply to, for example, a mixed VAT taxpayer carrying out exempt transactions.

• The recipient is also a VAT-registered business established in Belgium. Invoices to private individuals, for example, may still be sent in another format or even on paper.

• The supply of goods or services takes place in Belgium (with the exception of certain exempt transactions under Article 44 of the VAT Code and intra-Community supplies).

• What does this mean for your invoice terms?

Read Peppol: what about the opposability of invoice terms and conditions?

Penalties for non-compliance

To “effectively encourage companies to comply with these obligations and, where necessary, sanction them when they do not,” the Royal Decree also introduces administrative fines.

• €1,500 for a first offence;

• €3,000 for a second offence;

• €5,000 for subsequent offences.

There must be at least three months between two findings to give the company time to become compliant. The government has provided a tolerance period until 31 March 2026. During these first three months, no penalties will be imposed, provided that businesses can demonstrate they are in the process of transitioning. From 1 April 2026, enforcement will begin.

In addition, existing fines for not issuing an invoice or for issuing an incomplete or incorrect invoice will also apply to structured e-invoices.

Risk of VAT deduction being denied?

The question arises whether VAT on an incorrect (non-electronically received) invoice will no longer be deductible in the future. The Royal Decree does not provide an explicit answer to this.

However, the general VAT rules state that in order to exercise the right to deduct, the taxable person must have a properly issued invoice containing the mandatory information specified in Article 5, §1 of Royal Decree No. 1.

So yes, theoretically, VAT deduction could be denied. It’s unlikely this will happen immediately, but in the long term, companies may lose their right to deduct VAT if they continue to accept invoices on paper or in non-compliant formats.

New VAT rounding rules

The Royal Decree also changes the VAT rounding rules. For structured electronic invoices, rounding is only allowed on the total VAT amount. Line-by-line rounding will no longer be permitted for these types of invoices from 1 January 2026.

E-invoicing requires preparation

Now is the time to get ready for mandatory e-invoicing. Check whether your current software complies with Peppol standards, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Are you already invoicing via myVandelanotte? Then you're fully Peppol-proof!

Want to understand step by step how e-invoicing works? Read Mandatory e-invoicing from 2026: what, how & why?

Read our knowledge base article on Peppol for the complete overview.