E-invoices on B2B intra-community supplies must be raised and reported within 10 days
From 1 July 2030, businesses must issue structured electronic invoices (based on Directive 2014/55/EU; EN 16931) to their business customers for intra-community supplies (cross EU-border sales) within ten days of the chargeable event. Presently, they are only required to issue paper invoices by the 15th of the month following the chargeable event.
The chargeable event, or ‘tax point’ is generally the earliest of: supply of goods or services; advance or full payment; or issuance of the invoice. Under the new ViDA rules, e-invoices should be issued within 10 days of the receipt of an advance payment.
This requirement is contained within the Digital Reporting Requirements pillar of the VAT in the Digital Age reforms, in effect from 14 April 2025. The invoicing changes are included within Articles 222 and 223 of the to-be amended Directive.
ViDA includes the option to allow e-invoicing third-party service providers to facilitate the submission.
Summary invoices continue
Summary invoices will still be permitted after July 2030. This may only be done once per month per customer, and must issued by the 10th day of the month following the chargeable event (Article 223). Member states may limit the use of summary invoices in fraud sensitive sectors.
Existing pre-clearance e-invoicing to be withdrawn by Jan 2035
Member states may not now introduce pre-clearance requirements to e-invoice issuance. Any existing obligations already in place (e.g. Italy’s SdI) or approved by the Commission prior to 1 January 2024 (e.g. Poland KSeF), must withdraw these approvals by January 2035.
10-day Digital reporting to tax administration
In addition to issuing an e-invoice to the acquirer, the transaction must also be e-reported within the same 10-day deadline to the seller’s national tax administration as part of the digital reporting requirements. Member states have the option to also require resident customers to report their received e-invoices within 5-days of their receipt (so up to 15 days after the chargeable event). This will enable cross-checking by the tax authority to the seller’s reporting. But the default setting in ViDA is that they will require purchase invoice data reporting; member state must opt out.
Where the customer is issuing the invoice on behalf of the seller, it must be reported by the customer within five days of when the invoice should have been raised.
Digital reporting to the tax administration requires new informational requirements, including IBAN bank details and payment terms. This is to allow the tax authorities to track financial flows.
It is up to each country to determine process and requirements for this transmission.
July 2030 withdrawal of ESL’s
This new digital reporting regime will replace EC Sales Listing monthly report. This lists by VAT-registered customer and supplier respective sales and supplies of ICS.
EU VAT in the Digital Age reforms
| EU VAT in the Digital Age | |
| 3 pillars to improve efficiency of VAT for all and reduce fraud | |
| 1. Digital Reporting Requirements; e-invoicing | Jul 2030-35: Mandatory digital reporting of intra-community transactions; obligation to be able to issue and receive intra-community e-invoices; member states free to impose own e-invoicing or real-time reporting but most conform to EU e-invoice standard EN 16931 |
| Read more about EU Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) | |
| Structured e-invoices mandated for intra-community supplies | |
| EC Sales lists replaced by Digital Reporting Requirements | |
| 10-day e-invoicing time limit intra-community supplies | |
| Withdrawal of EU permission requirements for e-invoicing | |
| 2 Platform economy | Jul 2028 / Jan 2030: Travel & accommodation sharing platforms to become deemed supplier / liable to users' VAT. New definitions of the roles of providers, users and platforms to avoid double and no-taxation (voluntary Jul 2028) |
| Read more - Travel & accommodation platforms deemed suppliers for EU VAT | |
| 3 Single VAT Registration; extension of OSS | July 2028: Following the 1 July 2021 introduction of the One Stop-Shop (OSS), extended to cover movement of own stocks prior to cross-border B2C to reduce the foreign, non-resident VAT registrations & returns. Plus to movements of own stock with ending of 'call-off' stock burden |
| More details on Single VAT Registration in the EU | |
| Call-off stock VAT simplification ends | |
| Harmonisation of B2B Reverse Charge rules | |
| Securing IOSS (Mar 2028) | |
