Peppol in Belgium: mandatory e-invoicing explained

Since 1 January 2026, a PDF invoice sent by email is no longer enough between two VAT-registered Belgian businesses. The invoice must be electronic and structured, exchanged directly from software to software, in practice over the Peppol network. The tolerance period covering the first three months of 2026 is over. And if you only work for private clients, don't file the subject away too quickly: the obligation also covers the invoices you receive.

Who is affected

The obligation applies to every VAT-registered business established in Belgium, for the invoices they send each other. Small businesses under the VAT exemption scheme are in principle covered too. Businesses not established in Belgium, even if they are VAT-identified here, are not.

For a tradesperson or building contractor, that gives three concrete cases:

• you invoice a renovation to a private client: that invoice is not covered, so a PDF or paper invoice is still fine;
• you invoice a company or another contractor, for subcontracting for instance: the invoice must be electronic and structured;
• you buy your materials from a Belgian wholesaler: you must be able to receive its electronic invoices, even if you only invoice private clients yourself.

How it works

Structured invoices travel over Peppol, a decentralised network that the FPS BOSA compares to a telecommunications network. Your invoicing or accounting software connects to it, usually through a Peppol service provider, and your customer or supplier does the same on their side. The invoice travels in a structured format (UBL) that the receiving software can read directly.

Attachments that complete an invoice (a progress statement, a delivery note) are legally part of the invoice: they travel with it, inside the UBL file, not in a separate email.

The official site einvoice.belgium.be publishes a list of software solutions, some of them (partly) free or low-cost for businesses that send few invoices.

Tolerance over, penalties possible

During the first three months of 2026, the FPS Finance did not penalise businesses that could show they had taken timely steps. That general tolerance is over. A targeted tolerance for self-billing (invoices drawn up by the customer) ran until 30 June 2026 inclusive. Today a fine remains possible, and each situation is assessed individually.

If your customer is technically unable to receive an electronic invoice, you still have to invoice, on paper or as a PDF for example, and it is up to them to get in order without delay.

The tax incentives

To offset the cost of switching, two measures exist for SMEs and the self-employed: the investment deduction for digital investments rose to 20% from 1 January 2025, and for tax periods 2024 to 2027, small SMEs and self-employed people who pay for invoicing software by subscription can apply an increased cost deduction of 120%.

What about keeping invoices?

The rules have not changed: you keep the structured electronic invoice for the full legal retention period, and you must be able to make it readable throughout, through a PDF or a viewing tool. Ask your software provider how they handle it.

What Batizzy does

In Batizzy, each pro connects their own Peppyrus account, a Peppol access point, from their settings. An issued invoice can then go out in UBL to its recipient, after their Peppol identifier (company or VAT number) has been checked. Invoices received on that account are collected once a day. You can also download an invoice's UBL file to send it another way.

Your invoices to private clients keep going out by email, as a PDF, with a link to the invoice.

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