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E-invoicing in Belgium in 2026 comes down to one rule: since 1 January 2026, every business established in Belgium with an active VAT number must send and receive its invoices to other Belgian VAT-registered businesses as structured e-invoices, in practice over the Peppol network. A PDF attached to an email no longer counts as the invoice between them. Consumers and foreign companies without a Belgian establishment stay outside the rule.
The mandate comes from the law of 6 February 2024 and a royal decree of 8 July 2025, which added the fines. The government did not build a central portal: invoices travel between the software of the two companies, through certified Peppol service providers. By 18 December 2025, more than half a million Belgian businesses had joined.
Who the Belgian e-invoicing mandate covers
The test is short: an active Belgian VAT number and an establishment in Belgium. Then you are in, with a few exceptions. Whether a client's number is active and receives Peppol invoices shows in the EU VAT number check.
| Who | Must send | Must receive |
|---|---|---|
| Belgian business with an active VAT number, invoicing other Belgian businesses | yes | yes |
| Small business under the VAT exemption, turnover up to 25,000 euro | no | yes |
| Farmer under the special agricultural scheme | no | yes |
| Business making only supplies exempt under article 44 | no | yes, from its suppliers |
| Flat-rate scheme of article 56, ending by 1 January 2028 | no | yes |
| Bankrupt business | no | not specified |
| Invoices to consumers | outside the rule | your own suppliers' invoices: yes |
| Belgian public bodies, contracts published after 1 March 2024 | yes, as a rule from 3,000 euro excl. VAT | not applicable |
Whether you fall under it in Belgium is answered in is Peppol mandatory in Belgium; for small businesses and non-profits see Peppol for small businesses and Peppol for non-profits.
What counts as an invoice
A structured e-invoice is a data file that the receiving software reads without retyping, in the Peppol BIS format based on the European standard EN 16931. Between two businesses in scope, that file is the only legal invoice. You may add a PDF for the reader, but your customer cannot refuse an invoice because the PDF is missing. Attachments such as a timesheet travel inside the same invoice file (UBL), not in a separate email. Which software can send and receive that file is in which software for Peppol. The same standard becomes the basis for invoices between member states from 1 July 2030 under ViDA VAT in the digital age.
Every Belgian e-invoicing date on one track
Structured e-invoices between Belgian businessesMandatory since 1 January 2026, over Peppol
ToleranceNo fines in January to March 2026 if you could show you were on your way; self-billing until 30 June
Fine for having no way to send or receive1,500, then 3,000, then 5,000 euros
120 percent cost deductionFor Belgian SMEs and self-employed, taxable periods 2024 to 2027
E-reporting to the tax authorityPlanned for 2028, not yet law
Digital reporting inside the EU (ViDA)From 1 July 2030
Dashed: not yet in force.
A foreign company with Belgian customers
What the Belgian mandate asks of you, per situation.
- Fixed establishment in Belgium
- Must send structured e-invoicesYes, like a Belgian business
- Must be able to receive themYes
- Belgian VAT number, no establishment
- Must send structured e-invoicesNo. The government notes the law is still being amended on this point
- Must be able to receive themNo. Registering on Peppol by choice counts as agreeing to receive
- Belgian company acting for you under its own VAT number
- Must send structured e-invoicesYes, that company is in scope
- Must be able to receive themYes
- Liable representative using your BE number or a BE0796 number
- Must send structured e-invoicesNo
- Must be able to receive themNo
- No Belgian VAT number at all
- Must send structured e-invoicesNo. Peppol stays an option if your customer is on it
- Must be able to receive themNo
The Belgian mandate follows the establishment, not the passport: a fixed establishment brings you in, a VAT number alone does not.
Peppol Belgium registration in five moves
- Check whether you are in scopeThe federal site einvoice.belgium.be explains who is in scope. A foreign company without a Belgian establishment usually ends here.
- Pick software that speaks PeppolThe official list counts more than 250 applications. With some accounting packages and banks, Peppol is part of the price you already pay, so ask your current provider first.
- Let a service provider register youYou cannot join Peppol directly. A certified Peppol service provider, often behind your software, registers you under your Belgian enterprise number (scheme 0208).
- Check that you can be foundSearch the Peppol Directory for 0208 followed by your enterprise number. Being registered on Peppol counts as agreeing to receive structured e-invoices.
- Send one real invoice firstInvoice one customer you know, check that it arrives and that attachments travel inside the invoice file, then switch the rest.
The grace period is over
The FPS Finance gave businesses three months of tolerance, January to March 2026, if they could show they had taken timely and reasonable steps; self-billing got until 30 June 2026. Since then, a business without the means to send or receive structured e-invoices risks 1,500 euro, then 3,000, then 5,000 euro, on top of the existing fines for missing or wrong invoices.
Peppol Belgium for a company selling from abroad
Without a Belgian establishment you are outside the mandate, so a correct PDF or paper invoice to a Belgian customer stays valid; our invoice template for Belgium has every field it needs. Your customer, however, has had to receive structured e-invoices since January, and its software now books Peppol invoices without typing. You may well get the question "can you send it over Peppol?" from finance teams in Belgium. Joining is voluntary for you and works across borders: once you are registered with a Peppol service provider in your own country, you can reach any Belgian business that is on the network, and receive from it.
If you do open a fixed establishment in Belgium, the mandate applies from that moment. Whether an office or a warehouse counts as one is a tax question for your accountant; the official site asks non-established companies to inform their Belgian customers themselves. How registration works step by step is in Peppol registration; whether a Belgian customer is already reachable, the Peppol check tells you by company number. The payment reference Belgian customers expect on an invoice comes from the Belgian structured communication tool.
The Belgian e-invoicing dates on one table
| Date | What happens | Status on 22 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March 2024 | Structured e-invoices for Belgian public contracts, as a rule from 3,000 euro | in force |
| 1 January 2026 | Structured e-invoices between Belgian VAT-registered businesses | in force |
| January to March 2026 | Tolerance for businesses that took timely and reasonable steps | ended |
| 30 June 2026 | End of the leniency for self-billing | ended |
| From April 2026 | Fines of 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 euro for lacking the means to send or receive | applying; see Belgium e-invoicing penalties |
| Taxable periods 2024 to 2027 | 120 percent deduction for Belgian SMEs and self-employed people on e-invoicing subscriptions and advice | applying |
| 1 January 2028 | End of the article 56 flat-rate scheme at the latest; e-reporting of invoice data to the tax authority planned, replacing the annual customer listing | planned, not yet law; see Belgium e-reporting 2028 |
| 1 July 2030 | Intra-EU digital reporting under ViDA, based on e-invoicing; countries with their own real-time reporting align by 1 January 2035 | EU law, still to come |
Who answers the tax side
The rules above tell you whether you are in scope. Your VAT position, a fixed establishment and how invoices land in your books are questions for an accountant who knows Belgian VAT. If you have none in Belgium yet, ask your own accountant first whether you need one: without an establishment, the mandate does not reach you, and a Peppol registration in your own country is enough to receive from Belgian customers.
Short answers on the Belgian mandate
Is there still an e-invoicing grace period in Belgium?
No. The tolerance covered January to March 2026, and until 30 June 2026 for self-billing. There was never a general postponement.
Is Peppol Belgium mandatory for a foreign company?
Only with a fixed establishment in Belgium. A Belgian VAT number without an establishment does not bring you under the mandate, although you may use Peppol by choice.
Is a PDF invoice still valid in Belgium?
Between two Belgian businesses in scope, no: the structured e-invoice is the legal invoice. To consumers, abroad and in other cases outside the mandate, a PDF stays valid; what other countries require is in e-invoicing in Europe, with Germany and France in their own guides.
Do I have to send my invoices to the Belgian tax authority?
Not yet. E-reporting is planned for 2028 in the coalition agreement but was not yet law on 22 October 2026.
What does e-invoicing in Belgium cost?
The government publishes no price. It notes that the cost of meeting the obligation can be zero when Peppol is part of software you already pay for, such as your accounting package or your bank.