Electronic B2B invoicing: new Royal Decree sets out the rules
September 2025 - On 1 January 2026, the way Belgian companies draw up and send their business invoices will change radically. A Royal Decree of 14 July 2025 officially lays down these new obligations and also determines the technical standards that your invoices must meet.
For many SMEs, this means that their current invoicing process will have to be thoroughly reviewed.
What exactly is changing?
Until now, e-invoicing was often a choice: some companies already used a digital system, while others stuck with PDF files sent by email or even paper invoices. From 2026, this will be a thing of the past for B2B transactions between Belgian VAT payers. An important difference is that it is not just a matter of sending an invoice digitally, but of creating it in a structured electronic format. This means that the invoice is structured in such a way that computer systems can automatically read and process it without manual intervention.
The role of Peppol BIS
The Royal Decree stipulates that the Peppol BIS format is to be used as standard.
Mandatory: every company must be able to send and receive invoices via Peppol.
Alternative permitted: only if both parties agree and the chosen format complies with European e-invoicing guidelines.
What is Peppol?
Peppol is a secure network that connects companies, governments and their software packages. The advantage is that invoices can be sent quickly, securely and error-free from one party to another, regardless of the accounting package used.
When does the obligation apply?
The e-invoicing obligation only applies if all three of the following criteria are met:
The sender of the invoice is a Belgian VAT payer and is required by law to issue invoices.
The recipient is also a Belgian VAT payer.
The delivery or service takes place in Belgium (with certain exemptions and intra-Community transactions excluded).
For sales to private individuals or foreign companies, electronic invoicing is currently optional. However, it may be useful to work digitally in these cases as well, in order to maintain consistency in the invoicing process.
Consequences of non-compliance
Anyone who disregards the rules will face administrative fines:
1,500 euros for the first offence
3,000 euros for a second offence
5,000 euros for further offences
There is always a minimum of three months between two offences, so that companies have time to adapt. Please note: the existing penalties for errors in invoices remain in place and also apply to electronic invoices.
Impact on VAT deduction
Although the Royal Decree itself does not establish a direct link between e-invoicing and VAT deduction, there is an important point to note for SMEs. According to VAT legislation, VAT may only be deducted if the company receives a formally valid invoice. If paper or incorrectly formatted electronic invoices are no longer considered valid in the future, this could mean that you will not be able to deduct VAT. Practical risk: if, as an SME, you still receive invoices from suppliers that are not in the correct format, this could lead to financial losses in the long term.
New rounding rules
From 1 January 2026, a new method of rounding VAT will apply to structured e-invoices:
Only rounding of the total VAT amount is permitted.
Rounding per invoice line is prohibited.
This may seem like a minor change, but it could have an impact on your accounting system and price calculations.
What does this mean for your SME in concrete terms?
Check your current invoicing software. Is it Peppol-compatible?
Train your team. Make sure your employees know how to correctly create and send e-invoices.
Communicate with your suppliers and customers. Ask them if they are ready to receive and send e-invoices.
Allow for a transition period. The sooner you switch, the less likely you are to incur fines or miss out on VAT deductions.
