European digital VAT landscape – overview

• Eight EU Member States now have domestic B2B e-invoicing in force, and five more have set dates. B2G e-invoicing applies in practically every Member State, while e-reporting models still range from real-time clearance to periodic listings.
• 2027 is the next major wave: Germany, Slovakia, Norway, Hungary’s mandatory eÁFA, Serbia’s pre-filled VAT return, French SMEs and, most likely, Spain.
• Most new mandates cover only businesses established in the country, so mapping each entity’s scope is critical for multinationals until ViDA brings intra-EU B2B e-invoicing to all Member States on 1 July 2030.

Extended article

The digital VAT landscape in Europe has changed significantly in 2026. Several major mandates went live this year:

• Belgium: domestic B2B e-invoicing via Peppol on 1 January.
• Croatia: Fiscalisation 2.0 on 1 January.
• Poland: KSeF in February and April.
• Greece: its two phases in March and October.
• France: from 1 September, all businesses must be able to receive e-invoices, and large and mid-sized companies must issue them.

Together with Italy and Romania, eight EU Member States now have a domestic B2B e-invoicing mandate in force. Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain have legislated or announced dates.

Recent developments

In Belgium, the Council of Ministers approved a preliminary draft law on 18 July 2026 introducing near real-time e-reporting of invoice data from 2028. Under the draft, both supplier and customer would report, and the annual client listing would be abolished. The text still has to go through the Data Protection Authority, the Council of State and Parliament (KPMG – Belgium: proposal to introduce e-reporting of invoicing data from 2028). Whether Belgian VAT registrations of non-established businesses should be included from 2028 is still under debate (vatcalc – Belgium 2026 e-invoicing; 2028 e-reporting law). [kpmg.com] [vatcalc.com]

In Greece, phase 2 of mandatory B2B e-invoicing took effect on 1 October 2026 for businesses with turnover up to EUR 1 million. The transition period to 31 December 2026 applies only to businesses that file a declaration through myDATA by 12 October 2026. The scope covers domestic B2B, B2B with customers outside the EU, and B2G (PeppolNews – Greece’s e-invoicing phase 2). [peppolnews.com]

In France, Decree No. 2026-677 and the order of 27 July 2026 completed the regulatory framework. The certified platforms (PDPs) are now officially called Plateformes Agréées, and the timetable is unchanged (Guide Plateforme Agréée – Décret du 27 juillet 2026). [guide-plat…-agreee.fr]

The 2027 wave

The next major round of go-lives is in 2027:

• Germany (1 January): domestic B2B E-Invoicing. Non-established entities are out of scope. No E-Reporting.
• Slovakia (1 January): domestic B2B and B2G e-invoicing via Peppol, with the supplier’s provider reporting invoice data at issue. Non-established businesses are out of scope until 30 June 2030 (LookupTax – E-invoicing in Slovakia). [lookuptax.com]
• Norway (1 January): businesses must issue e-invoices to each other, and by 1 January 2030 they must be able to receive them and keep digital books (Regjeringen – entry into force of the new e-invoicing rules). [regjeringen.no]
• Hungary (1 January): filing VAT returns through the eÁFA system becomes mandatory, replacing the current ÁNYK filing process (vatcalc – Hungary eVAT mandatory 2027). [vatcalc.com]
• Spain: Royal Decree 238/2026 sets B2B e-invoicing to apply 12 months (turnover above EUR 8 million) and 24 months (all other businesses) after the Ministerial Order. With the draft order taking effect on 1 October 2026, that points to 1 October 2027 and 1 October 2028 (Cedesa – RD 238/2026 calendar). [cedesa.es]

Beyond 2027

Ireland starts with VAT-registered large corporates in November 2028, extends to businesses trading cross-border within the EU in November 2029, and moves to full ViDA in July 2030 (Revenue – VAT Modernisation timeline). Outside the EU, the United Kingdom will make e-invoicing mandatory for all VAT invoices from 1 April 2029, using Peppol and without real-time reporting at first (e-invoicing.org – United Kingdom). [revenue.ie] [e-invoicing.org]

Spotlight: Serbia

Serbia shows where European digital VAT is heading: one central platform for invoices, transport documents and, eventually, the VAT return. The pre-filled VAT return was postponed by one year. It now first applies to the January 2027 period for monthly filers and the January–March 2027 period for quarterly filers (vatcalc – Serbia pre-filled VAT returns delay). Amendments to the VAT rulebook published on 31 July 2026 introduce a preliminary VAT return generated from the e-invoicing system (SEF), a new VAT return form aligned with it, and revised VAT record-keeping requirements (KPMG – Serbia: amendments to VAT rulebook adopted). [vatcalc.com] [kpmg.com]

Electronic delivery notes (e-Otpremnica) are already mandatory for:

• the public sector
• private businesses supplying goods to or receiving them from the public sector
• all movements of excise goods, and their carriers

All other businesses must comply from 1 October 2027. The grace period for data errors ended on 30 June 2026 (Knjigovodstvo24 – e-Otpremnica guide). A further amendment to the e-delivery law was published in Official Gazette 80/2026 (Ministry of Finance – eOtpremnica). [knjigovodstvo24.com] [eotpremnic…ura.gov.rs]

Pre-filled VAT returns are spreading

Once tax authorities hold transaction-level data, pre-filled VAT returns are the logical next step. Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Albania already provide them, and several other countries are moving the same way. In every system, the pre-filled return is a draft, not a filing. Businesses must reconcile it with their own records, and in Romania significant differences trigger mandatory explanations to the tax authority (VATupdate – Pre-filled VAT returns in Europe). [vatupdate.com]

Practical implications

For multinational businesses, the main challenges are scope and design:

• Entity scope: most new mandates apply only to businesses established in the country, meaning a seat or fixed establishment. Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Poland and Slovakia exclude VAT registrations without an establishment, while Hungary, Romania and Portugal include them.
• Transaction scope: the new e-invoicing mandates are mostly domestic. Cross-border flows are captured through reporting systems until ViDA harmonises intra-EU B2B e-invoicing and digital reporting from 1 July 2030 (e-invoicing.org – Europe tracker). [e-invoicing.org]
• System design: one core invoice data model based on the EN 16931 standard, with country-specific channels (Peppol, certified platforms, clearance), combined with regular reconciliation of tax authority data against the business’s own ledgers, is emerging as the most robust approach.

This overview reflects publicly available information as of 4 October 2026. Several measures are still in draft or depend on implementing rules, so readers should check official guidance before relying on it.