- The EU plans for implementing e-invoicing were stalled due to lack of agreement, but the German Bundesrat paved the way for e-invoicing in Germany with the approval of the Growth Opportunities Act in March.
- An e-invoice is a structured electronic format that allows for electronic processing and must comply with the European standard for electronic invoicing (CEN standard 16931) or be agreed upon bilaterally between the issuer and recipient.
- The e-invoicing requirement initially applies to domestic transactions between domestically based companies, including those without tax identification.
- Excluded from the requirement are transactions with non-business consumers, transactions with foreign companies, tax-exempt transactions without input tax deduction, tickets, and small invoices (up to 250 euros).
- E-invoicing is a mandatory requirement for the recipient to claim input tax deduction, and non-compliance can lead to penalties and material issues.
- The deadline for transitioning to e-invoicing is December 31, 2026 (extended to 2027 for smaller companies), and a software tool will be required for creating the data set. ERP software providers are expected to offer suitable tools, and there may also be tools provided by the tax authorities.
Source: umsatz-steuer-beratung.de
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
