Global VAT & Indirect Tax News

Belgium will require all VAT‑registered businesses to exchange B2B invoices electronically via the Peppol network using the BIS Billing 3.0 standard from 1 January 2026. A Q1 2026 grace period allows technical setup without penalties, while non‑resident firms and B2C transactions are exempt. Penalties for non‑compliance start at €1,500 and increase to €5,000 for subsequent offences.

Greek tax authority AADE has postponed the mandatory B2B e‑invoicing launch to 2 March 2026, with a two‑month soft launch ending 2 May 2026 for large resident businesses. All other resident taxpayers must adopt the system from 1 October 2026, and a new penalty regime and early‑adopter incentives have been announced.

Germany’s national e‑invoicing mandate requires all businesses to receive structured invoices from January 2025 and to transmit them by revenue thresholds, with full coverage by January 2028. The system accepts XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and Peppol BIS formats, all EN 16931 compliant, and mandates 8‑year electronic archiving under GoBD. Non‑compliance can trigger VAT deduction denial, GoBD violations and administrative fines.

Brazil’s new Technical Notes mandate that invoices and payments be linked under the split payment framework, requiring integration between electronic tax documents (DF‑e) and payment data. The system will be tested from 6 April 2026 and go live on 4 May 2026, with XML and invoicing processes needing updates to include transaction data for automatic withholding of IBS and CBS.

The article argues that compliance with country mandates should be seen as a baseline, not the ultimate goal. It emphasizes that true invoicing success lies in data governance and ensuring invoices are accurate, fraud‑free, and defensible in accounting, rather than merely passing XML validation. The author highlights mandates in Poland, France, Belgium, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, and calls for a holistic approach to tax determination and data integrity.

The UAE has introduced a comprehensive e‑invoicing mandate under Cabinet Decision No. 100/2025, requiring all VAT‑registered businesses to issue structured electronic invoices in the PINT AE format via a 5‑corner DCTCE model. The phased rollout begins with a pilot in July 2026 for large enterprises, with subsequent deadlines for large taxpayers, SMEs, and government entities through 2027. Penalties range from AED 5,000 per month for non‑implementation to AED 100 per invoice, up to AED 5,000 per month.

This article explains the technical intricacies of the Peppol discovery process, detailing how participant identifiers are hashed and resolved via DNS to Service Metadata Publishers (SMPs). It highlights key components such as the Service Metadata Locator (SML), SMP metadata signing, and the lack of fallback routing, underscoring the importance of correct configuration for reliable e‑invoicing.

Irish Revenue has clarified that for Phase One of its VAT Modernisation programme, a "large corporate" is defined by management by the Large Corporates Division rather than turnover. From 1 November 2028, all VAT‑registered businesses in Ireland must be able to receive structured e‑invoices, and those within scope must issue EN16931‑compliant e‑invoices and transmit data to Revenue. The programme introduces mandatory electronic invoicing and real‑time reporting for domestic B2B transactions.