Belgium - NL
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On 28 December 2023, the Belgian government submitted a draft law to amend the VAT Code. Specifically, electronic invoicing or e-invoicing will become mandatory from 1 January 2026. But what exactly is e-invoicing and why is the government making it mandatory?
An e-invoice, short for electronic invoice, is a digital version of a traditional invoice exchanged electronically in a structured format between businesses. E-invoices are created, sent and processed in structured electronic format, often using standardised formats and technologies to enable seamless communication between businesses. Such an e-invoice in structured format is a piece of computer code that is directly readable by dedicated accounting programs. Note that a PDF is considered as a digital invoice but not an e-invoice because it is not a 'structured format'.
The bill lists many benefits of e-invoicing for businesses; faster payments, lower printing and postage costs, cheaper and faster invoice processing, and more secure.
Research by the Office for Administrative Simplification shows that introducing e-invoicing could save companies in Belgium more than EUR 3.6 billion.
Another important reason for the mandatory introduction of e-invoicing is that it allows the government to check invoices faster. This will lead to less VAT fraud.
Good news! All Billtobox users have the option of sending their invoices in electronic format via the Billtobox network or via Peppol.
The smartest way to receive, process and pay inbound invoices, generate and send outbound invoices, get paid and maintain a complete overview.
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