The mandate map

Dates in this lesson were checked against official sources and reputable summaries on 17 October 2026. Mandates move: countries postpone, add tolerance periods and change thresholds. Treat every date as something to re-verify on the national tax authority's site before you plan or sign off, and record where and when you checked.

France: approved platforms from 1 September 2026

France's reform is live. From 1 September 2026, every VAT-registered business established in France must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large companies and mid-sized companies (ETI) must also issue them. Small and medium-sized companies and micro-enterprises must issue from 1 September 2027. The same calendar applies to e-reporting, the transmission of transaction data the e-invoice doesn't cover, such as international B2B and B2C sales, and of payment data for services.

Invoices must travel through an approved platform (plateforme agréée, PA) registered with the tax administration (DGFiP), which transmits invoices between parties and sends the required data to the administration. A public portal (Portail Public de Facturation, PPF) keeps the directory of companies (annuaire) that platforms use to address invoices. Accepted formats are structured or hybrid: UBL, CII and Factur-X. Reports in July 2025 named the DGFiP as France's Peppol Authority, and platforms use the Peppol network to exchange invoices with each other; a French company doesn't join Peppol directly, its platform does. Secondary sources also report that the government announced no penalties for non-compliance during 2026; confirm on official pages before relying on it.

Belgium: Peppol by default since 1 January 2026

Belgium made structured B2B e-invoicing mandatory for VAT-registered businesses established in Belgium from 1 January 2026. The default channel and format are the Peppol network and Peppol BIS, unless both parties agree another compliant method. Reports describe a tolerance period for the first quarter of 2026 and fixed penalties of EUR 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 for repeated failures. Near-real-time e-reporting to the tax authority is planned for 2028, but at the time of writing it was reported as a draft and not yet enacted.

Germany: receive since 2025, issue from 2027

Germany uses a post-audit model with phased obligations for domestic B2B invoices. Since 1 January 2025 every domestic business must be able to receive e-invoices that follow EN 16931, such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. From 1 January 2027, businesses with prior-year turnover above EUR 800,000 must issue them; from 1 January 2028, all businesses must. Until then, transition rules allow paper or other electronic formats in many cases, and EDI invoices are allowed during the transition with the recipient's consent. Small invoices up to EUR 250 are exempt. Germany has no central platform or reporting obligation for B2B invoices yet; Peppol is one of several allowed channels.

Poland: the national KSeF platform

Poland centralizes B2B invoices in its national e-invoice system, KSeF. Under the law signed in August 2025, issuing structured invoices in KSeF became mandatory from 1 February 2026 for companies whose 2024 sales exceeded PLN 200 million and from 1 April 2026 for most others, with the smallest taxpayers following on 1 January 2027. Receiving through KSeF started on 1 February 2026 for everyone. Polish sources describe a transition period through the end of 2026 for some penalties. Invoices to Polish public bodies can also go over Peppol.

Mexico: CFDI clearance

Mexico has required electronic invoices (CFDI) for years. Every invoice is sent to an authorized certification provider (PAC), which validates it and assigns a UUID on behalf of the tax authority (SAT); the stamped XML is the legal invoice. Version 4.0 of the CFDI is the current version. Cancellation follows rules: in some cases the SAT approves directly, in others the customer must accept the cancellation, and a cancellation with reason code 01 must name the UUID of the substitute invoice.

The EU's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)

The ViDA package was adopted on 11 March 2025 and entered into force on 14 April 2025. From entry into force, EU member states can introduce mandatory domestic e-invoicing under specific conditions, without asking for a derogation. From 1 July 2030, digital reporting requirements apply, mainly to cross-border B2B supplies within the EU, with e-invoicing based on EN 16931. Member states with their own real-time reporting systems must align them with the EU model by 1 January 2035.