Focusing in on Late July and August 2025, there have been some notable developments shaping the future of tax, compliance, and digital reporting. From shifts in e-invoicing frameworks to new legislative proposals and high-profile legal disputes, recent announcements highlight how quickly the regulatory landscape is evolving—and how these changes could have far-reaching implications for businesses operating in the region.
- In July 2025, France announced several updates to its e-invoicing framework ahead of the 2026 mandate. The term “Partner Dematerialisation Platform (PDP)” will be replaced with “plateforme agréée” (“approved platform”), referring to state-registered providers authorised to exchange invoice and transaction data with the tax authority. The role of the PDP does not change, just the name
- In France, Chorus Pro will continue as the main portal for business-to-government (B2G) invoicing during the transition, allowing businesses to send public sector invoices without using certified platforms.
- Again in France, their tax authority, the DGFiP, has become the country’s certified Peppol authority, tasked with ensuring interoperability between buyers, sellers, and approved platforms.
- Slovakia has launched a public consultation on a draft proposal to mandate e-invoicing for VAT-related business-to-business transactions, starting with domestic transactions on January 1, 2027, and extending to cross-border B2B transactions from July 1, 2030. The initiative, open for stakeholder feedback until August 19, 2025, builds on earlier consultations and forms part of the country’s broader digitalization and tax reform agenda, which includes stricter rules for electronic registration and reporting of cash-equivalent transactions.
- Italy has launched a landmark VAT case against Meta, X, and LinkedIn, claiming over €1 billion in total and arguing that free user registrations, exchanged for personal data, should be treated as taxable transactions. Italy has not reached a settlement with tech giants, pushing the dispute into a full judicial trial that could take years and potentially influence VAT policy across the EU. The case’s outcome could affect many industries offering free services tied to data collection. Italy plans to seek a non-binding advisory opinion from the European Commission, with discussions expected into 2026. All three companies have appealed, with Meta strongly disputing that platform access should incur VAT.
- UAE: OpenPeppol has released PINT AE v1.0.1 with updated UAE billing and self-billing specifications, mandatory from 18 August 2025, ahead of the country’s mandatory e-invoicing launch in July 2026.
- Nigeria’s has postponed the registration deadline for mandatory e-invoicing for large taxpayers (turnover above N5 billion) from 1 August to 1 November 2025, citing technical issues with the new FIRSMBS network and vendor system challenges. Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) launched its national e-invoicing system, the Merchant-Buyer Solution (MBS), on 1 August 2025 to streamline tax compliance, starting with large taxpayers (annual turnover above N5 billion). Within two weeks, 1,000 companies began integration, with full onboarding required by the extended deadline of 1 November 2025, and major firms like MTN Nigeria transmitting live invoices, supported by service providers acting as system integrators. The phased rollout aims to enhance transparency, revenue assurance, and alignment with global best practices as part of broader tax administration reforms.
- UK: A recent ruling highlights the critical risk of carousel fraud (MTIC) for VAT professionals: in Zed-UK Ltd, HMRC successfully denied over £194,000 in input VAT and imposed a £58,000 penalty under the Kittel principle, ruling that businesses “should have realised” their transactions were part of a VAT fraud chain, even if they claimed ignorance. The case underscores that VAT professionals must enforce rigorous due diligence and risk management across supply chains, particularly in high-risk sectors like electronics, because failure to spot warning signs (such as unusually low prices or suspicious suppliers) can result in significant financial liability.
