Belgium Will Make The B2B Electronic Invoice Mandatory
The proposed measures to implement electronic invoicing in Belgium have been postponed due to a lack of agreement on tax reform.
The initial plan to make B2B electronic invoicing mandatory from July 2024 will not be enforced.
B2B e-Invoicing in Belgium
Belgium has not reached an agreement on its major tax reform.
The Belgian federal government has been unable to reach an agreement on tax reform due to disagreements among the ruling party coalition. No major tax reform is expected during the current legislative term. It is likely that we will have to wait until the summer elections of 2024.
The government had proposed introducing mandatory electronic invoicing for domestic transactions among businesses, starting in 2024 and continuing until 2026. Following the failure of the reform, the planned timelines will not be met.
However, businesses that wish to do so can choose to use electronic invoicing voluntarily.
Most likely the e-invoice model used will be via Peppol, but this is yet to be confirmed.
e-Reporting in Belgium
For the development of this system, Belgium intends to follow the proposals of the European Union published in the VAT in Digital Age - ViDA project to promote interoperability of information exchange between the countries of the Union.
Watch our webinar on e-Invoicing in Europe in collaboration with PwC where we explain some of the most relevant e-Invoicing legislations that will enter into force soon.
Objectives of the tax reform
From the outset, the objective of adopting electronic invoice and VAT reporting models is to combat tax fraud, which in 2018 accounted for 10.8% less revenue than estimated, about 3.6 billion euros. Specifically, the objectives of the current tax reform presented are:
- Increase the employment rate.
- Encourage entrepreneurship
- Stimulate investments
- Combat poverty
- Increase the purchasing power of families.
The digital plan looks to embrace digital transformation with a particular interest in the dematerialization of transactions and relations between the government, citizens, and companies.
The electronic invoice for B2B transactions results in major improvements in VAT collection by the government and provides major upgrades for companies in terms of cost reduction, efficiency and security. The electronic invoice is also a gateway for business digitalization making them more competitive.
B2G e-Invoicing in Belgium
All suppliers of public entities in Belgium must issue electronic invoices and public entities must be able to receive electronic invoices.
Electronic invoices in Belgium are sent to the public administrations following the Peppol interoperability model. The reception of invoices is conducted through the Mercurius platform which gives access to government entities or directly to the Peppol AP of the public entity.
Electronic invoicing solutions are scalable, and for those companies that have begun the process of digitization of B2G invoices, issuing B2B electronic invoices will not be a major leap.
EDICOM’s Global e-Invoicing Platform
EDICOM has an international e-invoicing and e-reporting solution that opens the door to over 70 public countries: EDICOM’s Global e-Invoicing Platform.
Among the many capabilities of EDICOM’s Electronic invoicing platform, the connection with the Peppol network stands out. This is thanks to its certification as a Peppol Access Point which makes it the ideal solution for invoicing in the Belgian market.
EDICOM coordinates GOVEIN2019 project (Action No: 2019-EU-IA-0046)
*The contents of this publication belong solely to EDICOM GROUP and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.
