E-invoicing in the Netherlands

Business-to-government (B2G) e-invoicing is mandatory in the Netherlands. All suppliers to central government bodies must issue structured e‑invoices in accepted formats, such as Peppol BIS 3.0 (based on EN 16931 UBL 2.1) and SI‑UBL 2.0 (the Dutch variant of EN 16931). E-invoices must be issued via Peppol, the Digipoort central gateway, or the manual entry portal (Logius), which is available for low-volume suppliers.

E-invoices must be archived for seven years (10 years for property-related invoices). Digital signatures are optional, though digital integrity and authenticity are required.

The Netherlands does not currently mandate e-invoices for business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Businesses can issue B2B e-invoices on a voluntary basis. Buyer consent is required for businesses choosing to do so.

A planned public consultation on B2B e-invoicing could lead to the implementation of a mandate by 2030, aligning with the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) initiative.

As with B2B transactions, there is currently no mandatory e-invoicing requirement for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions in the Netherlands. B2C e-invoices may be issued if the consumer accepts receiving them in acceptable structured formats such as UBL-XML and Peppol. E-invoice content must follow Dutch VAT invoicing rules and include seller and buyer info, tax rates, invoice number/date, and the VAT breakdown.

There are currently no live/real-time reporting requirements for domestic transactions.

Failing to comply with e-invoicing requirements in the Netherlands can lead to audits and financial penalties payable to the Dutch tax authorities.