E-Invoicing Statistics: Mandates and Deadlines by Country
Last updated: 2026-10-28 · 11 sourced statistics
The most useful e-invoicing numbers for a business are dates: when your country requires you to receive, issue or report structured electronic invoices. Adoption surveys and market-size estimates vary widely between publishers, while mandate dates are set in law and published by tax authorities. Italy has the longest-running mandate here, requiring all VAT-registered businesses to issue B2B and B2C invoices through its SDI platform from 1 January 2019. Germany has required every domestic business to be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025, with paper and PDF invoices allowed during a transition that ends in 2026 or 2027 depending on turnover. Belgium and Croatia started their B2B mandates on 1 January 2026, Poland's KSeF became mandatory in February and April 2026, and Greece followed in March and October 2026. France starts on 1 September 2026. The table below gives each date, the businesses it covers and the official page it comes from.
Key takeaways
- Italy has required B2B and B2C e-invoices through the SDI platform since 1 January 2019, the longest-running mandate on this page (European Commission).
- German businesses must be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025. Paper or PDF can still be issued until 31 December 2026, or until the end of 2027 for issuers with prior-year turnover of €800,000 or less (German Federal Ministry of Finance).
- Belgium (all VAT-liable enterprises) and Croatia both began B2B e-invoicing on 1 January 2026.
- Poland's KSeF became mandatory on 1 February 2026 for large businesses and on 1 April 2026 for most others; the smallest firms follow on 1 January 2027 (Polish Ministry of Finance).
- In France, all companies must accept e-invoices from 1 September 2026; small and micro businesses must issue them from 1 September 2027 (French tax administration).
At a glance.
Every figure on this page in one table, each linked to its named source. Scroll down for the full context behind each number.
| Figure | What it measures | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| EN 16931 | Under Directive 2014/55/EU, EU member states must make it mandatory for all public contracting authorities and entities to receive and process e-invoices that comply with the European standard on electronic invoicing, EN 16931. | European Commission, eInvoicing building block: European legislation on eInvoicing | 2014 |
| 1 Jan 2019 | Since 1 January 2019, all Italian VAT-registered businesses have been required to issue and transmit electronic invoices for B2B and B2C transactions through the Sistema di Interscambio (SDI), managed by the Agenzia delle Entrate. B2G e-invoicing has been mandatory since March 2015. | European Commission, eInvoicing in Italy (country page) | 2019 |
| 1 Jan 2025 | Since 1 January 2025, e-invoices are generally required for sales between businesses established in Germany, and every business must be able to receive an e-invoice. Only a structured electronic format that allows electronic processing counts; other invoices are 'sonstige Rechnungen'. | German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), Fragen und Antworten zur Einführung der obligatorischen E-Rechnung (as of March 2026) | 2026 |
| €800,000 | German issuers may still send paper invoices, or PDF invoices with the recipient's consent, until 31 December 2026. For issuers with prior-year turnover of up to €800,000 the transition runs until the end of 2027, and existing EDI processes may also be used until the end of 2027. | German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), Fragen und Antworten zur Einführung der obligatorischen E-Rechnung (as of March 2026) | 2026 |
| 1 Jan 2026 | Since 1 January 2026, all Belgian enterprises liable to VAT must use structured electronic invoices in their transactions with each other. The government announced a tolerance period for the first three months of 2026. | Belgian federal government, e-invoicing portal einvoice.belgium.be | 2026 |
| 1 Jan 2026 | Croatia's B2B e-invoicing mandate began on 1 January 2026 for VAT-registered businesses, which must issue and receive structured e-invoices for domestic B2B transactions. From 1 January 2027 it extends to other entities such as sole traders, liberal professions and public bodies not registered for VAT. | European Commission, eInvoicing in Croatia (country page) | 2026 |
| 1 Feb 2026 | Poland's National e-Invoice System (KSeF 2.0) became mandatory on 1 February 2026 for large businesses and for receiving invoices, and on 1 April 2026 for all other businesses except the smallest. | Polish Ministry of Finance, Krajowy System e-Faktur: Etapy wdrożenia KSeF | 2026 |
| PLN 10,000 | Polish businesses whose invoiced sales total no more than PLN 10,000 a month are exempt until 1 January 2027, when KSeF becomes mandatory for them too. | Polish Ministry of Finance, Krajowy System e-Faktur: Etapy wdrożenia KSeF | 2026 |
| €1,000,000 | Greece's mandatory B2B e-invoicing covers domestic and non-EU B2B transactions. It took effect on 2 March 2026 for entities with gross revenue above €1,000,000 and on 1 October 2026 for all remaining entities. | European Commission, eInvoicing in Greece (country page) | 2026 |
| €2,500 | In Greece, structured e-invoices compliant with EN 16931 have been mandatory since 1 September 2025 for supplies of goods or services above €2,500 to general government bodies. | European Commission, eInvoicing in Greece (country page) | 2025 |
| 1 Sep 2026 | From 1 September 2026, all French companies must be able to receive e-invoices, and large and mid-size companies must issue them and transmit transaction and payment data (e-reporting). Small and medium-sized companies and micro-enterprises must issue e-invoices and e-report from 1 September 2027. | Direction générale des Finances publiques (impots.gouv.fr), À partir de quand suis-je concerné par la réforme de la facturation électronique ? (updated 16 January 2026) | 2026 |
The statistics
Under Directive 2014/55/EU, EU member states must make it mandatory for all public contracting authorities and entities to receive and process e-invoices that comply with the European standard on electronic invoicing, EN 16931.
Source:European Commission, eInvoicing building block: European legislation on eInvoicing2014
Since 1 January 2019, all Italian VAT-registered businesses have been required to issue and transmit electronic invoices for B2B and B2C transactions through the Sistema di Interscambio (SDI), managed by the Agenzia delle Entrate. B2G e-invoicing has been mandatory since March 2015.
Source:European Commission, eInvoicing in Italy (country page)2019
Since 1 January 2025, e-invoices are generally required for sales between businesses established in Germany, and every business must be able to receive an e-invoice. Only a structured electronic format that allows electronic processing counts; other invoices are 'sonstige Rechnungen'.
German issuers may still send paper invoices, or PDF invoices with the recipient's consent, until 31 December 2026. For issuers with prior-year turnover of up to €800,000 the transition runs until the end of 2027, and existing EDI processes may also be used until the end of 2027.
Since 1 January 2026, all Belgian enterprises liable to VAT must use structured electronic invoices in their transactions with each other. The government announced a tolerance period for the first three months of 2026.
Source:Belgian federal government, e-invoicing portal einvoice.belgium.be2026
Croatia's B2B e-invoicing mandate began on 1 January 2026 for VAT-registered businesses, which must issue and receive structured e-invoices for domestic B2B transactions. From 1 January 2027 it extends to other entities such as sole traders, liberal professions and public bodies not registered for VAT.
Source:European Commission, eInvoicing in Croatia (country page)2026
Poland's National e-Invoice System (KSeF 2.0) became mandatory on 1 February 2026 for large businesses and for receiving invoices, and on 1 April 2026 for all other businesses except the smallest.
Source:Polish Ministry of Finance, Krajowy System e-Faktur: Etapy wdrożenia KSeF2026
Polish businesses whose invoiced sales total no more than PLN 10,000 a month are exempt until 1 January 2027, when KSeF becomes mandatory for them too.
Source:Polish Ministry of Finance, Krajowy System e-Faktur: Etapy wdrożenia KSeF2026
Greece's mandatory B2B e-invoicing covers domestic and non-EU B2B transactions. It took effect on 2 March 2026 for entities with gross revenue above €1,000,000 and on 1 October 2026 for all remaining entities.
Source:European Commission, eInvoicing in Greece (country page)2026
In Greece, structured e-invoices compliant with EN 16931 have been mandatory since 1 September 2025 for supplies of goods or services above €2,500 to general government bodies.
Source:European Commission, eInvoicing in Greece (country page)2025
From 1 September 2026, all French companies must be able to receive e-invoices, and large and mid-size companies must issue them and transmit transaction and payment data (e-reporting). Small and medium-sized companies and micro-enterprises must issue e-invoices and e-report from 1 September 2027.
When these numbers don't apply
Aggregate statistics hide a lot. Read these caveats before quoting a figure as if it describes your specific situation.
- This page is a dated timeline, not legal or tax advice. Rules, thresholds and dates change, and each country has exemptions not listed here. Check the tax authority's page or an adviser before relying on a date. Last reviewed 2026-10-28.
- An e-invoice under these mandates is a structured file (for example XML in the EN 16931 data model) that software can read, sent through a defined channel such as Italy's SDI, Poland's KSeF or a certified platform. A PDF sent by email is generally not an e-invoice under these rules.
- Mandates differ in what they require: receiving, issuing, clearing through a government platform before the invoice is valid, or reporting transaction data. A 'start date' can mean any of these, so read each line for the obligation it describes.
- The rules apply to businesses established or VAT-registered in each country, mostly for domestic business-to-business sales. Selling to a business in one of these countries from abroad is usually covered by different rules.
- Several national pages are published in the local language. Where an official site blocked automated reading, we read an Internet Archive copy and recorded the capture date in our notes.
- InvoiceQuickly does not create or transmit structured e-invoices (such as Peppol, KSeF, XRechnung or FatturaPA files). Its invoices are PDF documents, so businesses covered by these mandates need a compliant e-invoicing solution for the sales they cover.
How we compiled this data
Reviewed on 2026-10-28. Every date comes from an official page opened on that date: the European Commission's eInvoicing country pages and legislation page, the German Federal Ministry of Finance FAQ (read through an Internet Archive capture of October 8, 2026, because the live site was unavailable), the Belgian government's e-invoicing portal (Internet Archive capture of October 16, 2026, because the live site blocks automated reading), the Polish Ministry of Finance KSeF site and the French tax administration. We removed the earlier figures that linked to tax-authority homepages, a Billentis cost-saving range from a vendor homepage, and the EU VAT gap figure, which is covered on our VAT statistics page. EU-level ViDA dates and Eurostat adoption figures are on our invoice automation statistics page, so we do not repeat them here. Peppol network counts were not included because OpenPeppol does not publish them on its public pages, and third-party counts disagree.
We hand-collected each figure from its original publisher rather than recycling secondary round-ups, cross-checked the headline numbers against the source documents in 2026-10-28, and link every statistic to the report it came from so you can verify it yourself. Where a publisher issues annual updates, we cite the report edition and flag the year inline.
Frequently asked questions
Which EU countries require B2B e-invoicing?
Among the countries on this page, domestic B2B e-invoicing is mandatory in Italy (since 1 January 2019), Belgium and Croatia (1 January 2026), Poland (1 February and 1 April 2026) and Greece (2 March and 1 October 2026). Germany requires all businesses to receive e-invoices since 2025, with issuing phased in by the end of 2027. France starts on 1 September 2026.
Is a PDF invoice an e-invoice?
Not under these mandates. Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance, for example, counts an invoice as an e-invoice only if it is issued, sent and received in a structured electronic format that allows electronic processing. A PDF is an 'other invoice', allowed in Germany only during the transition and with the recipient's consent.
When do small businesses in Germany have to send e-invoices?
All German businesses must be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025. Issuers with prior-year turnover of €800,000 or less may keep sending paper invoices, or PDFs with consent, until the end of 2027; larger issuers until 31 December 2026.
When does France's e-invoicing reform start?
On 1 September 2026, all companies must accept e-invoices and large and mid-size companies must issue them and e-report. Small and medium-sized companies and micro-enterprises must issue e-invoices and e-report from 1 September 2027.
Does InvoiceQuickly support e-invoicing?
No. InvoiceQuickly creates PDF invoices and does not create or send structured e-invoices through Peppol, KSeF, SDI, XRechnung or similar systems. If a mandate on this page covers your sales, you need a compliant e-invoicing solution for those invoices.
Put these figures to use
- Tax on invoices: sales tax, VAT and GST resources: Guides on the tax details invoices need in different countries.
- What is e-invoicing?: A short definition of structured electronic invoicing and why a PDF alone may not qualify.
- Invoice requirements in Germany: §14 UStG and E-Rechnung: Mandatory invoice details in Germany and the e-invoice transition by year and turnover.
- French invoice requirements and the 2026 e-invoicing reform: The mentions obligatoires on a French invoice and the 2026-2027 e-invoicing timeline.
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