Ireland and EU e-invoicing: deadlines and affected businesses
The deadline depends on the legal entity, the transaction and whether it is sending or receiving an invoice. Belgium, Poland and France have obligations already in force in 2026. Germany has separate receiving and issuing dates. Ireland starts its first phase on 1 November 2028, with issuing duties for specified large corporates and receiving duties for all businesses in Ireland.
Does an EU customer’s deadline automatically apply to a UK supplier?
No. Check the national rules for the transaction and both parties. A customer asking for a structured invoice is different from a legal obligation on the supplier.
A country calendar, with the scope beside the date
This calendar was checked on 19 September 2026. It covers five countries relevant to UK practices with Irish or EU clients. Use the linked national guidance to check exemptions and the transaction involved before assigning a deadline.
| Country | Who and when | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | From 1 January 2026, structured invoicing applies to covered domestic B2B transactions between Belgian VAT-liable businesses. | Check the business and transaction exemptions. Consumer invoices and international transactions are not simply the same B2B case. Belgian government guidance. |
| Poland | KSeF became mandatory from 1 February 2026 for businesses with 2024 sales above PLN 200 million including VAT, and from 1 April for other covered businesses. | A temporary exception permits invoices outside KSeF through 31 December 2026 when the monthly sales total on those invoices does not exceed PLN 10,000 including VAT. Check the detailed scope rather than treating every small business as exempt. Polish tax authority. |
| Germany | Receiving structured invoices for covered domestic B2B transactions has applied since 1 January 2025. General issuing transition relief runs through 2026; businesses with prior-year turnover no more than €800,000 have relief through 2027. | Check the transaction exceptions and permitted transitional formats. An issuing transition does not postpone the receiving requirement. German finance ministry FAQ. |
| France | From 1 September 2026, businesses in scope must receive e-invoices; large and intermediate-sized enterprises must issue them. Issuing extends to SMEs and micro-enterprises from 1 September 2027. | Separate domestic e-invoicing from transaction and payment e-reporting. Business size and transaction type affect the duties. French tax authority timetable. |
| Ireland | From 1 November 2028, specified VAT-registered large corporates must issue e-invoices for domestic B2B transactions and report selected data. All businesses in Ireland must be able to receive structured e-invoices. | Revenue defines the first issuing cohort by Large Corporates Division management and Irish establishment or fixed establishment. Revenue Phase One guidance. |
Ireland: receiving and issuing have different scopes
An Irish business outside the large-corporate issuing cohort still needs a way to receive structured invoices from 1 November 2028. It should ask its accounting software provider how incoming data reaches the books and where the original structured record is stored.
A business in Revenue’s defined large-corporate cohort also needs an issuing and reporting process. Treat those as separate workstreams with named owners. Revenue’s implementation document sets out the wider phased programme; later phases should be checked against Revenue’s detailed guidance as it is published.
What changes across the EU in 2030?
The EU’s VAT in the Digital Age package, known as ViDA, introduces digital reporting requirements for cross-border B2B transactions from 1 July 2030. It does not make every domestic rule identical on that date. The European Commission sets a separate January 2035 deadline for alignment of existing domestic real-time reporting systems. Read the Commission’s timetable.
Peppol is an exchange network used by several e-invoicing arrangements. It is not a substitute for checking the country’s required format, transaction scope and reporting rules. A provider should explain both how it exchanges the invoice and which legal requirement that process serves.
Build a client register that leads to an action
For each affected client, record these fields:
- The legal entity, establishment and VAT registrations.
- The countries of its suppliers and customers, and the transaction types.
- The separate send, receive and reporting obligations.
- The date, official source and last verification date for each obligation.
- The software route, person responsible and one completed test transaction.
For example, an Irish subsidiary may need receiving capability in November 2028 even when its UK parent has a later domestic deadline. Do not copy the subsidiary’s obligations onto every invoice issued by the parent. Check the entity and supply.
Keep the ordinary document workflow working
Clients may continue to receive PDFs and receipt photos alongside structured invoices. Give each supported document type a collection route, a reviewer and an accounting destination. Also decide how to recognise a duplicate when the same purchase arrives as structured data and as a PDF copy.
Datamolino’s invoice workflow covers document collection, captured invoice detail, saved coding and optional approvals before accounting export. Confirm country-specific structured-invoice support before adding a Peppol route to a client’s process. For the operational checklist, see handling a mixed document inbox.
Is an emailed PDF an e-invoice?
A PDF can be an electronic document, but the mandates discussed here require structured invoice data that software can process. A readable PDF alone does not meet that definition.
