E-invoicing in the Netherlands: what is planned for 2030

E-invoicing is not yet mandatory between businesses in the Netherlands. In a letter to parliament of 11 September 2026, the Dutch government set out a mandate for B2B e-invoices from 1 July 2030 and near real-time VAT reporting of domestic invoices from 1 July 2031. It is a plan, not a law: the bill goes to public consultation this autumn and to parliament before the summer of 2027.

Two things already apply. Suppliers to Dutch central government send e-invoices for contracts signed since 1 January 2017, and every Dutch public body has been able to receive e-invoices in the European format since April 2019. Between businesses a PDF is still a valid invoice, as long as the customer accepts digital invoices.

This guide is written for a company outside the Netherlands that sells to Dutch customers, or plans to: what the Dutch plan says, what is still open, what a foreign supplier needs today, and how it lines up with Belgium next door. The same guide in Dutch, for Dutch business owners, is e-facturatie in Nederland.

The Dutch plan in one table

The letter is called "Contourenbrief elektronisch factureren en rapporteren" and sits in parliament's records as Kamerstuk 31066, number 1576. It follows the EU directive on VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA), which has let member states impose domestic e-invoicing since April 2025 without asking Brussels for permission.

The Netherlands takes the broad route. ViDA itself only requires e-invoices for trade between EU countries from 1 July 2030; the Dutch extend the same date to domestic invoices between Dutch companies.

What a foreign supplier needs today

For a cross-border service to a Dutch business, the VAT usually shifts to the customer under the reverse charge, so your invoice shows both VAT numbers and a reverse-charge note. That part is about VAT, not about e-invoicing: settle it with your accountant.

Who the 2030 mandate covers

Every business that invoices another business, without a separate threshold for small companies. The one large exception is the Dutch small business scheme (KOR), for companies with up to 20,000 euros of turnover a year that charge no VAT: they get no domestic e-invoicing duty. Existing exceptions to the duty to invoice stay where possible.

For a foreign supplier the question that matters is the intra-EU part. From 1 July 2030 ViDA brings e-invoicing and digital reporting for trade between EU countries everywhere in the EU, so a German, Belgian or French supplier of a Dutch company will send e-invoices from that date whatever the Dutch domestic rules say. A supplier from the UK or the US sits outside ViDA, and the Dutch letter does not yet say what it expects from them; a British supplier will meet its own mandate first, in April 2029 (e-invoicing in the UK).

What changes beyond the format

• The deadlineTen days after the supply, according to the letter. Today Dutch rules allow invoicing up to the fifteenth day of the month after the supply.
• The reportingFrom 2031 the data of every domestic invoice goes to the Dutch tax authority, the Belastingdienst, almost in real time. A month-end invoice run will not fit.
• The contentEN 16931 asks for structured fields that many PDF invoices lack, such as a VAT category code on every line.

Peppol in the Netherlands

The Netherlands already runs on Peppol for government invoices. The network is supervised by the Netherlands Peppol Authority, and every Dutch company can be reached through a service provider using its Chamber of Commerce number (scheme 0106) or its VAT number (scheme 9944). Public bodies use their government identifier OIN (scheme 0190). A study for the cabinet recommended Peppol for B2B as well, but the letter calls that question "not yet ready for a decision" and links it to the European Business Wallet that the European Commission is preparing.

Sending over Peppol is a safe bet in any case: the format that travels over Peppol, a UBL invoice under Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, already follows EN 16931.

The Netherlands next to Belgium

If you sell to both countries, Belgium is the test bench for the Netherlands. What you set up for Belgian customers now, a Peppol registration and invoices in UBL, is what Dutch customers will ask for later. The Belgian rules are in e-invoicing in Belgium, and the dates for every other country in e-invoicing in Europe, with Germany in e-invoicing in Germany.

What Dutch customers will ask you before 2030

• Can you send over Peppol?Many Dutch firms already receive over Peppol for their Belgian or government work, and prefer one stream.
• What is your Peppol ID?For a foreign company usually its VAT number or a national company number under its own scheme.
• Can you put our order number on the invoice?Larger buyers match invoices to orders automatically.
• Can you invoice within ten days?If the plan becomes law, that is the Dutch deadline from July 2030.

A supplier that can answer yes to those four now will not notice the Dutch mandate when it comes.

Common mistakes of foreign suppliers

• Waiting for 2030Dutch government customers need e-invoices today, and Belgian customers over the border since 2026.
• Sending a PDF and calling it an e-invoiceIn the Dutch plan, as in Belgium, an e-invoice is a structured file under EN 16931.
• Registering on Peppol to send onlyDutch suppliers will send you e-invoices too; switch on receiving at the same time.