Peppol in Belgium: the B2B e-invoicing mandate explained

Since 1 January 2026, almost every invoice between two VAT-registered businesses established in Belgium has to be a structured electronic invoice. In practice that means Peppol: an invoice in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format, sent over the Peppol network from your provider to your customer's provider.

This guide is for Belgian businesses, freelancers and expats, and for foreign suppliers who want to know whether the rule reaches them. Every date and amount below comes from the FPS Finance and the Belgian Official Journal (Moniteur belge), checked on 14 November 2026.

What the Belgian mandate requires

If you are a VAT taxable person established in Belgium and you invoice another VAT taxable person established in Belgium, you must issue a structured e-invoice, and you must be able to receive one. Issuing and receiving both started on the same day, 1 January 2026, for businesses of every size.

Who must send and receive Peppol invoices

The FPS Finance lists the groups that are in scope, those that only have to receive and those that are out. The distinctions matter, because "small" does not mean "exempt" in Belgium.

In scope for both sending and receiving

• Every VAT taxable person established in Belgium (registered office or fixed establishment) that invoices another Belgian-established VAT taxable person.
• Businesses on the small business franchise scheme (annual turnover up to €25,000). The FPS re-confirmed on 7 April 2026 that they are in scope, after media reports suggested otherwise.
• A Belgian company acting as fiscal representative under its own Belgian VAT number. It is not in scope when it acts under the non-resident's number or the special global representative numbers.

Receive only

• Flat-rate taxpayers (art. 56 of the VAT Code) do not have to send structured invoices but must receive them. The flat-rate regime itself ends by 1 January 2028 at the latest.
• The special agricultural regime (art. 57) applies the obligation "at least for receiving B2B invoices". A royal decree governs the structured electronic purchase slip that the buyer issues instead.
• Bankrupt taxable persons do not have to send structured e-invoices. The official list does not exempt them from receiving, so ask the curator or a tax adviser.
• A business that invoices only consumers but buys from Belgian businesses must still be able to receive.

Out of scope

• B2C invoices to private consumers.
• Cross-border invoices, both to and from foreign businesses.
• Businesses whose activity consists only of supplies exempt under art. 44 of the VAT Code. Mixed businesses that are only partly exempt are in scope.
• Non-established businesses: a company with no seat and no fixed establishment in Belgium is excluded even if it holds a Belgian VAT number. The FPS applied this from 1 January 2026, and the law of 10 February 2026 put it in statute. These businesses have to tell their Belgian counterparties themselves that they have no fixed establishment.

Which invoices count: the issue date, not the supply date

The rule follows the invoice, not the delivery. Every in-scope invoice drawn up, issued or sent from 1 January 2026 must be structured, even if the goods or services were supplied in 2025.

A few practical consequences:

• Credit notes on a structured e-invoice must also be structured. A credit note on a 2025 PDF invoice may stay a PDF if the customer accepts.
• A cash-register ticket does not replace the B2B invoice. If a business customer needs an invoice, it has to be a structured one.
• A PDF copy may travel alongside the e-invoice voluntarily, but the structured invoice is the only legal invoice.
• Attachments (timesheets, delivery notes) go inside the UBL file, in pdf, png, jpg, csv, xlsx or ods form, not in a separate e-mail.

Formats: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 by default

The default is Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, an application of the European standard EN 16931 in UBL syntax. Every Peppol participant must at least be able to receive it. You can use another EN 16931-compliant format or channel only by mutual agreement, and a customer cannot impose its own portal on you without your express written consent.

If you want to see what a Peppol invoice contains, or check one before you send it, our free e-invoice validator runs the official EN 16931 and Peppol BIS rules in your browser. The Peppol format guide explains the structure field by field.

How Peppol works in Belgium

Peppol is a decentralised "four-corner" network. You (corner 1) hand your invoice to your Peppol service provider (corner 2), which delivers it to your customer's provider (corner 3), which passes it to your customer (corner 4). The providers are also called access points. Usually the provider is built into your invoicing or accounting software, so you never see the network itself.

You cannot register on Peppol directly. Registration is only possible through a certified Peppol service provider, and some software lets you choose which access point it uses. FPS BOSA has been the Belgian Peppol Authority since 1 January 2016.

The FPS says an invoice usually arrives within minutes or hours; if it is more than one working day late, contact your software vendor.

Your Peppol ID: 0208 plus your enterprise number

In Belgium it is agreed that every business is registered on Peppol at least under its enterprise number from the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (KBO/BCE), with the scheme code 0208. Service providers are contractually obliged to do this, and refusing can cost them their certification.

That convention is what makes Belgian Peppol practical: you can address any Belgian customer as 0208: followed by its enterprise number, without asking for a separate Peppol ID. Other identifiers, such as the VAT number, may be registered as well, but only voluntarily and by agreement.

Checking whether a customer is on Peppol

The FPS points to the Peppol Lookup tool, where you can search by name or by enterprise number in the form 0208:[enterprise number]. It shows whether a company can receive documents over Peppol, not whether it can send. The public Peppol Directory at directory.peppol.eu is the other common check. Our Peppol Directory guide shows how to search both and what a "not found" result means.

What if your customer cannot receive

Not every Belgian business was ready on 1 January 2026. For that case there is a fallback rule: if your customer technically cannot receive a structured e-invoice, you are not obliged to issue one. You issue paper or another electronic format instead, such as a PDF (electronic formats need the customer's consent). The FPS applied this administratively from 1 January 2026, and the law of 10 February 2026, published on 20 February 2026, put it in statute.

The customer does not escape: a business that cannot receive is itself in breach and can be fined.

The tolerance periods are over

The FPS Finance granted two temporary tolerances, and both have ended:

• General tolerance, 1 January to 31 March 2026. No penalties for offences specific to the new obligation, if the business could show it had taken timely and reasonable steps. The invoice still had to be issued in another format. The FPS confirmed on 7 April 2026 that this period is over, and no general postponement was ever granted.
• Self-billing tolerance, until 30 June 2026 inclusive. No fine where self-billed invoices went by other means while the software vendor was still implementing them. Since then, exceptional technical problems are assessed case by case through the FPS contact form.

Fines and the right to deduct VAT

An offence only counts as a second or later one if it is found at least three months after the previous fined offence.

For the buyer, a structured e-invoice is in principle required to deduct input VAT on an in-scope purchase. The FPS applies "substance over form": deduction is not refused if the material conditions are met, and if it was the supplier who was not ready, the customer keeps the deduction based on the alternative invoice.

No free government tool, and Hermes is reportedly gone

Belgium deliberately chose a market-based model. The FPS Finance says it opted for "a decentralised, market-oriented approach" and does not offer a free government invoicing tool for B2B. It publishes a list of compatible software solutions instead.

The former Hermes service run by FPS BOSA, which delivered e-invoices to recipients not yet on Peppol, was reportedly discontinued on 31 December 2025. That is reported by software vendors and advisory firms; we could not find an official BOSA page confirming it. Either way, do not plan around it.

Tax incentives for small businesses

Two incentives reduce the cost of getting connected:

• 120% cost deduction. For taxable periods 2024 to 2027, SMEs and self-employed people using subscription formulas can deduct 120% of invoicing packages and of consultancy costs for the new obligations. An e-invoicing surcharge on an existing subscription qualifies if it is shown separately on the invoice. Depreciation never qualifies. A "small SME" here is one that does not exceed more than one of: €11,250,000 turnover, €6,000,000 balance sheet total, 50 employees.
• Digital investment deduction. From 1 January 2025 the investment deduction for digital investments rose to 20%.

What comes next: e-reporting in 2028 and ViDA in 2030

Near-real-time e-reporting of B2B transactions to the tax authority is planned for 1 January 2028, but it is not law. The FPS FAQ says the measure is in the federal coalition agreement with 2028 as the timing, but "must still be transposed into Belgian law". A preliminary draft was reportedly approved by the Council of Ministers on 18 July 2026. Treat 2028 as a plan, not a deadline.

At EU level, the ViDA package brings mandatory e-invoicing and digital reporting for intra-EU B2B transactions from 1 July 2030. Belgium says it will implement that reporting in national law by 1 July 2030 at the latest. Our deadlines calendar tracks both.

Invoicing public bodies (B2G)

Invoices to Belgian public authorities have their own rules. Electronic invoicing is compulsory for public contracts published after 1 March 2024, generally from €3,000 excluding VAT and below that for federal authorities. These invoices also travel over Peppol, via the government's Mercurius platform.

Choosing a Peppol provider

Most Belgian businesses connect through their invoicing or accounting software rather than a standalone access point. Before you choose, check three things: that the software both sends and receives over Peppol, that it registers you under 0208 plus your enterprise number, and what it costs per month or per document.

A few options and what their own sites say (as of Nov 2026):

• Accountable offers a €0 plan with Peppol registration and unlimited Peppol sending through its mobile app.
• Dexxter includes Peppol in every plan, from €23 a month excl. VAT for businesses that are not VAT-liable.
• Billit sends and receives over Peppol, with paid plans from €7.50 a month for 25 documents.
• Odoo markets free, unlimited Peppol sending and receiving in Belgium.
• Teamleader Focus sends and receives Peppol invoices for Belgian entities.
• Exact Online is listed as a partner on the FPS e-invoicing portal.

Plans change often, so check with the vendor. Our Belgian Peppol software comparison covers more providers, and the free e-invoicing options page lists the €0 plans.

This page explains the rules; it is not legal or tax advice. For edge cases such as mixed exempt activities, judicial reorganisation or fiscal representation, ask a Belgian tax adviser or accountant.