The test is your VAT number
Belgium's e-invoicing mandate does not look at turnover or legal form, only at your VAT number. With an active Belgian VAT number, an invoice to another Belgian business with a VAT number must be a structured e-invoice. The Ministry of Finance says so explicitly for the small business exemption: no VAT on the invoice, still an e-invoice. That matters to many people who moved to Belgium and work for themselves, a designer, developer or consultant registered as a sole trader, or someone with a side business next to a job. Who falls outside, such as those doing only VAT-exempt work or without a VAT number, is on is Peppol mandatory in Belgium and do you need Peppol without a VAT number.
Sole traders and side businesses
I invoice clients in the Netherlands and Germany too. Do those go over Peppol?
Not by Belgian law: the duty covers invoices between businesses established in Belgium. Sending over Peppol abroad is allowed and often welcome, but voluntary until EU-wide rules start in 2030.
I am closing my side business soon. Does it still apply?
As long as your VAT number is active and you invoice businesses, yes. Deregister the VAT number when you stop, and the duty ends with it.
My accountant handles everything. Do I have to do anything?
Your accountant can register you and receive your invoices in their package. If you create your own invoices, your tool must send them as e-invoices. Agree who does what.
What you need at the very least
| Your business | What is enough | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| A few invoices a month to businesses | a simple invoicing package with Peppol | it must send and receive, not only receive |
| Shop, salon or café serving only consumers | a receiving address, often free | who processes the incoming invoices |
| An accountant who does it all | their package, with you registered | agree who creates the outgoing invoices |
| Invoices that start in your webshop or planning tool | a link with a Peppol provider | nothing retyped in a second package |
You do not register yourself: your package or accountant puts you on the network through a certified provider, on your company number with the prefix 0208. The steps are in the guide to Peppol registration; whether you are on it already shows in the Peppol check. Put a Belgian structured communication on every invoice so your bank matches payments by itself, and incoming supplier invoices can be processed automatically: an e-invoice is already structured data.
A 240 euro subscription, per tax bracket
40 percent bracket
- Subscription, 12 times 20 euro
- 240 euro
- Deductible at 120 percent
- 288 euro
- Tax saving at 40 percent
- minus 115 euro
- Net per year
- 125 euro
Net cost per bracket, beside the first fineSame subscription, another tax bracket
- First fine1,500 euro
- Small company, 20 percent182 euro
- Side business, 25 percent168 euro
- 40 percent bracket125 euro
- 45 percent bracket110 euro
- 50 percent bracket96 euro
What it costs you net
Small businesses and the self-employed in Belgium deduct subscriptions to invoicing software, and advice on setting up e-invoicing, at 120 percent for the tax periods 2024 to 2027; depreciation does not count. Belgian personal income tax runs in brackets of 25, 40, 45 and 50 percent, and small companies pay a reduced 20 percent on their first 100,000 euro of profit. The higher the bracket, the less the subscription costs: from 182 euro a year for a small company at 20 percent to 96 euro in the 50 percent bracket. Social contributions are left out; for a full-time self-employed person they lower the cost a little more.
Against that stands a fine of 1,500 euro at the first finding, then 3,000 and 5,000 euro, now that the tolerance ended after the first quarter of 2026; see the news on the e-invoicing penalties. The Ministry's list holds more than 250 solutions, some free for low volumes; the government offers no tool of its own. How to choose without comparing them all is on which software for Peppol, and the bigger picture for companies from abroad in e-invoicing in Belgium.