EU e-invoicing mandates: country-by-country deadlines

On 11 March 2025 the EU Council adopted the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package; it entered into force on 14 April 2025. ViDA does two things that matter to every business.

First, it redefines what an "electronic invoice" is: from now on it must be a structured format that complies with the European standard EN 16931. A plain PDF on its own no longer counts as an electronic invoice. Second, it lets each EU country make domestic business-to-business (B2B) e-invoicing mandatory without first asking Brussels for special permission, which is why so many national mandates are appearing at once.

ViDA also sets an EU-wide layer: from 1 July 2030, cross-border (intra-EU) B2B transactions must use structured e-invoices with near-real-time digital reporting. Countries that already run their own systems (such as Italy and France) have until 1 January 2035 to align them with the EU model.

The table below summarises the current position for the main EU markets. "Receive" is the date from which a business must be able to accept a structured e-invoice; "Issue" is the date from which it must send them (often phased by company size).

If you sell to businesses in a country with a live mandate (Italy, Romania, Belgium, and soon Poland and France), you will need to send and receive invoices in a structured format, not just a PDF. In several countries the smallest businesses get extra time, but the duty to receive an e-invoice usually arrives first and applies broadly.

Cross-border invoices have their own timetable: the EU-wide requirement for intra-EU B2B kicks in from 2030. Until your specific date, a compliant invoice PDF (with the correct VAT treatment, including reverse charge) remains valid in most situations.