Germany officially cleared to mandate B2B e‑invoicing

1. EU derogation and legal basis

On 10 November 2022, Germany submitted a formal request to the European Commission asking to deviate from certain provisions of the EU VAT Directive so it could mandate e‑invoicing in the private sector. After examining the request, the Council of the European Union decided to allow Germany to derogate from Articles 218 and 232 of Directive 2006/112/EC, which regulate invoicing form and the need for buyer consent for electronic invoicing.​

The underlying framework for EU VAT rules is set out in Directive 2006/112/EC, which you can consult here: Directive 2006/112/EC – common system of VATopen_in_new. Details of the derogation are specified in the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1551, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 July 2023: Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1551open_in_new.​

2. Who is affected and from when?

Starting 1 January 2025, the derogation enables Germany to mandate e‑invoicing for:​

• Taxable persons established in Germany, including those with fixed establishments, who carry out B2B domestic transactions.

Under the rules Germany plans to implement, in‑scope taxpayers will be responsible for both the issuance and the receipt of electronic invoices for domestic B2B supplies. This makes structured e‑invoicing the default method for documenting relevant business transactions within Germany’s borders.​

3. Formats, EDI and the 2028 end‑state

With the new framework, Germany aims to make electronic invoices the standard form of invoicing while still allowing some flexibility in the early years. In particular:​

• Germany will allow “other EDI invoices” to be exchanged only with the buyer’s consent, in line with the derogation conditions.
• By 1 January 2028, Germany intends to require that only EN 16931‑compliant electronic invoices are issued and received, meaning EDI invoices that do not conform to EN 16931 will no longer be allowed, even with buyer consent.

This staged approach gives businesses time to adapt their systems and processes before EN‑compliant formats become the exclusive standard.​

4. Direction of travel: towards ViDA‑style digitalisation

The steps Germany is taking—obtaining an EU derogation, defining timelines, and converging on EN 16931—are all consistent with the EU’s wider “VAT in the Digital Age” (ViDA) initiative. ViDA aims to modernise VAT through digital reporting and standardised e‑invoicing, and Germany’s model is clearly designed to fit into that future EU framework.​

For businesses, this means that investing in EN 16931‑compliant structured e‑invoicing and scalable digital reporting will not only meet German requirements, but also position them well for forthcoming EU‑wide changes under ViDA.