Borderless ambitions but national obstacles
Europe’s e-invoicing operators want to see a connected digital ecosystem for trade, one where businesses and service...
The e-invoice in Europe
United Kingdom
In the spring of 2025, the government agency under the country’s tax and business ministry (HMRC) launched a public consultation on the standardisation — or even legislation — of mandatory e-invoicing. Six months later, the incumbent government took a concrete decision on the matter in connection with the presentation of the autumn budget. The United Kingdom will introduce mandatory e-invoicing for all VAT invoices — covering both B2B and B2G transactions — from 2029. The details of the implementation are to be finalised by autumn 2026, but all indications suggest that the reform will be rolled out in phases.
The facts
Digital developments are moving fast and are being accelerated by the ViDA reform, which will make e-invoicing mandatory for all cross-border transactions within the EU from July 2030.
This guide presents the domestic situation regarding e-invoicing in each country.
B2G
Authorities and public entities must be able to receive and process e-invoices that comply with EN 16931 and its approved syntaxes UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII. However, Scotland is slightly different. Since 2014, Scotland has provided a national e-invoice management system via PECOS (Procurement eCommerce Online System) for the public sector. This system manages the whole process from order to invoice processing (P2P).
B2B/B2C
With regard to invoices to the public sector (B2G), only sales to the NHS are currently required to be invoiced electronically, using e-invoices compliant with the EN 16931 standard and transmitted via Peppol. Other public sector organisations are only required to be able to receive structured e-invoices if the supplier chooses to use that format.
However, a mandatory regime is expected in the longer term. A decision has been taken to introduce mandatory e-invoicing for B2B and B2G VAT transactions from 1 April 2029. The reform will be phased in and will cover all VAT-registered businesses by 2030.
FORMAT
No established requirements B2B. However, for B2G, UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII complying with EN16931 apply, as well as special conditions for the NHS (health sector). Suppliers to NHS England are required to send EN16931 based e-invoices via Peppol access points.
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