E-Invoicing Mandate Checker: When Must Your Business Use E-Invoices?
Pick your country and turnover to see when you must be able to receive, and when you must start sending, e-invoices.
These mandates cover business-to-business invoices. Selling only to consumers means none of the e-invoicing mandates below currently apply to you.
We haven't added this country yet — we only publish a mandate once we've checked an official source for it.
Receive e-invoices from
Must send e-invoices from
(: )
Format(s)
Platform / network
Separately, from ():
How it's calculated
Each country sets its own "must be able to receive" date and "must send" date. Where sending is phased in by business size, the earliest date for which your turnover (or classification) qualifies is shown. Status is calculated from today's date, never typed.
Need invoicing software built for your market? See DevStaq Distribution Manager.
See the AppEU e-invoicing timeline
When each country's e-invoicing mandate takes effect, generated from the same data the checker above uses.
| Country | Must receive from | Must send from | Format(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1 Jan 2025 |
1 Jan 2027
(turnover > EUR 800,000)
1 Jan 2028 |
XRechnung, ZUGFeRD 2.0.1+ (EN 16931) |
| Belgium | 1 Jan 2026 | 1 Jan 2026 | Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (EN 16931) |
| France | 1 Sep 2026 |
1 Sep 2026
(large and mid-cap companies)
1 Sep 2027 (SMEs and micro-companies) |
Factur-X, UBL, CII — via a certified platform (PDP) |
| Poland | 1 Feb 2026 |
1 Feb 2026
(turnover > PLN 200,000,000)
1 Apr 2026 |
FA(2) XML (EN 16931) |
| Croatia | 1 Jan 2026 | 1 Jan 2026 | EN 16931 (UBL 2.1 syntax), Peppol BIS 3.0 |
| Italy | 1 Jan 2019 | 1 Jan 2019 | FatturaPA XML |
| All EU (cross-border B2B) | 1 Jul 2030 — Cross-border B2B e-invoicing and digital reporting across the EU, under the ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) reform. | EN 16931 | |
What counts as an e-invoice (a PDF is not)
A PDF you email to a customer looks like an invoice but isn't an "e-invoice" under any of these mandates — it's an unstructured document a computer can't reliably read. A real e-invoice is structured data (XML, following a standard like UBL or CII, built to EN 16931) that invoicing and accounting software can read, validate and process automatically, without a person retyping numbers from a scanned page. XRechnung and Factur-X/ZUGFeRD both package this structured data — Factur-X/ZUGFeRD specifically embeds it inside a human-readable PDF, which is why it can look like "just a PDF" while still containing a real e-invoice underneath.
XRechnung vs ZUGFeRD
Both are EN 16931-compliant formats used mainly in Germany, but they package data differently. XRechnung is pure XML, with no visual layout at all — it's built for machine-to-machine exchange, typically with public-sector buyers who require it directly. ZUGFeRD (and the near-identical French Factur-X) embeds that same kind of structured XML inside a normal-looking PDF, so a human can open and read it in any PDF viewer while software extracts the same machine-readable data from the file's attachment. If you need to open either format and see what's actually inside it, the XRechnung / ZUGFeRD viewer reads both directly in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
Do these mandates apply to me if I only sell to consumers?
No — every mandate here covers business-to-business (and business-to-government) invoices. Selling only to consumers (B2C) isn't covered by any of them.
What happens if I don't comply with my country's e-invoicing mandate?
Each country sets its own penalties, generally fines for invoices that don't meet the required format once the mandate is in force — check the official source linked for your country for the current rules.
Can I use a PDF invoice instead of a "real" e-invoice?
Generally no — once a mandate applies to you, it requires structured data (XML following EN 16931), not just a human-readable PDF. A plain PDF isn't a valid e-invoice under these rules even if it looks like one.
My country isn't listed — does that mean I have no e-invoicing obligations?
Not necessarily — it means we haven't verified that country's rules yet against an official source. Cross-border B2B e-invoicing across the whole EU becomes mandatory from 1 July 2030 regardless of your country.
Related tools
XRechnung / ZUGFeRD Viewer
Drag in an XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or Factur-X file to see the invoice data in a readable layout — entirely in your browser.
Invoice Generator
Fill in your details and line items to get a formatted invoice you can download as a PDF or print.
VAT Calculator
Add VAT, remove VAT, or work backward from a VAT amount — pick a country for its current standard and reduced rates.
Last updated October 27, 2026.