Further to the collapse of Belgium’s tax reforms, which placed the proposed B2B e-invoicing commencement date into some doubt, the Belgium tax authorities have now announced a firm date for inception of the country’s B2B e-invoicing mandate.

To this effect, the Belgian Council of Ministers has now approved a preliminary law which strives to implement B2B e-invoicing in Belgium from 1 January 2026.

Some key elements of Belgium’s original plans, including the e-invoicing model, remain. Belgian established entities will be subject to the e-invoicing mandate, and PEPPOL is expected to be the medium for sending and receiving structured invoices.

Critically, there are some differences, however, with Belgian’s revised plans. E-reporting, which took shape in Belgium’s initial plans, is omitted from Belgian’s revised B2B plans. The plans currently focus entirely on e-invoicing. However, the impact of the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposal may influence and modify the trajectory of Belgian’s e-invoicing plans later. Secondly, where Belgium’s initial plans favoured phased implementation, the revised plans advocate a ‘big bang’ approach, with all impacted entities concurrently subject to the new e-invoicing regulations from 1 January 2026.

The law is in draft form only and still requires the Belgian Parliament to formally it before it enters into force.

The press release from the Minister of Finance is available (in Dutch only) at:
https://vanpeteghem.belgium.be/nl/minister-van-peteghem-verplicht-digitale-facturatie-tussen-ondernemingen-strijd-tegen-fraude-en

Belgium is a critical market for Kofax, and we are currently closely following B2B e-invoicing developments in the country.