- The German Federal Ministry of Finance released a draft letter on mandatory B2B e-invoicing.
- Since January 2025, only invoices meeting CEN standard EN 16931 are valid for domestic transactions in Germany.
- Transitional regulations are in place until December 2027.
- The new regulations will be included in the German Administrative VAT Guidelines.
- Additional details and practical guidance are expected, but the e-invoice reporting system is not addressed.
- Associations have until August 2025 to provide feedback.
- Clarifications aim to aid implementation, but some issues remain unresolved.
- B2B supplies by small businesses are exempt from e-invoicing; reverse charge and other schemes are not.
- Clarification on exempt supplies with VAT options is missing.
- Supplies involving foreign parts of German taxable persons are treated as domestic.
- Construction industry clarification: invoice correction is not needed for remuneration discrepancies, but required for changes in scope or content.
- E-invoice authenticity, integrity, and legibility must be ensured.
- Storing the structured part of an e-invoice in its original form is sufficient.
- Non-compliant storage systems do not breach VAT regulations.
- Mandatory invoice information is part of the EN 16931 standard core data model.
Source: kmlz.de
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
