Belgium Mandate Grace Period Ends
Belgium’s 3-month grace period for non-compliance has officially ended.
As of 1st April, fines will apply for non-compliant invoices. The penalties are:
- 1st breach: €1,500
- 2nd breach: €3,000
- 3rd and subsequent breaches: €5,000
Belgium went live with its Peppol-based B2B e-invoicing 4 corner mandate on 1st January 2026. The 5th e-reporting corner comes in 2028.
The grace period provided a “soft landing” rather than a deferral, allowing businesses that weren’t fully ready, but could demonstrate genuine efforts to comply, to avoid penalties.
This changed as of the 1st April. This means:
- Belgian VAT-registered businesses must be registered on Peppol
- Invoices must be issued as structured XML (Peppol BIS 3.0 / UBL 2.1)
- Peppol is the default network, unless businesses use alternative transmission channels (like EDI). These legacy connections must comply with the European Norm and exist under bi-lateral agreements between Service Providers
- Every in-scope business must be Peppol-capable
Ramp-up has been rapid, with 93.3% of Belgian companies (1,1200,000 out of 1.2 million businesses) now connected to Peppol*.
Belgium helped SMEs adopt e-invoicing through a 120% tax deduction on implementation costs.
* https://lnkd.in/eHn6pUt5
This content is intended to share insights and practical considerations based on industry experience. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, or financial advice. Regulatory requirements vary by jurisdiction and circumstance, so any compliance-related matters should be reviewed and validated with your own professional advisors.