ViDA E-Invoicing Requirements: EU 2028–2030 Timeline

The EU's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package is the largest change to EU VAT invoicing since the single market. It turns the e-invoice into the default invoice, links it to transaction-by-transaction reporting, and changes who collects VAT on some platform sales. Most of it is years away, but national e-invoicing mandates built on the same standard are already live. This guide sets out what is law as of October 2026, the dates that matter, and what a business outside the EU should do about it.

What ViDA is: three pillars

ViDA is made up of Council Directive (EU) 2025/516, Council Regulation (EU) 2025/517 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/518. The package was adopted on 11 March 2025, published in the Official Journal on 25 March 2025 and entered into force on 14 April 2025. It has three parts.

1. Digital reporting requirements (DRR)

From 1 July 2030, cross-border B2B supplies inside the EU must be documented with a structured e-invoice, and the key data from each invoice must reach the tax authority almost immediately. This replaces the quarterly or monthly recapitulative statement (EC Sales List). The Commission's stated aim is to tackle carousel fraud by letting tax authorities match the supplier's and the customer's data.

2. Platform economy rules

From 1 July 2028, accommodation and road passenger transport platforms become the deemed supplier for VAT where providers do not charge VAT. Countries may defer this rule until 1 January 2030.

3. Single VAT registration (SVR)

Also from 1 July 2028, the One-Stop Shop (OSS) is extended to more supplies, a new scheme covers transfers of own goods between EU countries, and a mandatory reverse charge applies in more cases where the supplier is not established in the country where VAT is due. The aim is fewer separate VAT registrations across the EU.

ViDA timeline: 2025 to 2035

What changes for B2B invoices on 1 July 2030

The 2030 rules rewrite the invoicing chapter of the EU VAT Directive. The points that change day-to-day work are:

• A PDF stops being an e-invoice. An electronic invoice must be issued, transmitted and received in a structured format that allows automated processing, at least for the data that must be reported. Hybrid formats (a PDF with embedded XML) qualify only if the structured part carries all the reportable data.
• EN 16931 is the default standard. E-invoices must comply with the European standard and its listed syntaxes. Member States can allow other standards for domestic supplies, but not for the cross-border reporting.
• No customer consent needed. Issuing an EN 16931 e-invoice to a business or non-taxable legal person no longer requires the recipient's acceptance.
• 10-day invoicing deadline for intra-EU supplies of goods and reverse-charge supplies, counted from the chargeable event (or from receipt of a payment on account).
• Reporting at the moment of invoicing. The supplier sends the invoice data to its tax authority when the invoice is issued, or should have been. The customer reports its side within 5 days of receiving the invoice, unless its Member State opts out of customer reporting.
• Summary invoices survive, with a time limit. Several supplies chargeable in the same calendar month can go on one invoice, issued no later than 10 days after the end of that month.
• New mandatory fields, including the supplier's bank account details and, on a corrective invoice, the number of the invoice being corrected.
• Input VAT at risk. Member States may make holding a compliant e-invoice a condition for deducting VAT, and the intra-EU exemption for goods can be refused if the supplier fails to report correctly.

Worked example. A Dutch VAT-registered business ships EUR 40,000 of goods to a French VAT-registered customer on 3 September 2030. It must issue an EN 16931 e-invoice by 13 September and report simultaneously. If France retains customer reporting and the invoice arrives on 13 September, the customer reports by 18 September. A PDF-only system cannot invoice this shipment compliantly; zero-rating also depends on correct reporting and the other exemption conditions.

National e-invoicing mandates already running

Since 14 April 2025, EU countries can require e-invoicing for domestic B2B sales by businesses established in their territory without special EU approval. Several have done so, and their timelines arrive well before 2030.

These mandates are aimed at businesses established in the country. Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance, for example, says a foreign business registered for German VAT without a fixed establishment there can state this on its invoice to explain why it is not issuing an e-invoice. Belgium's rules apply to taxable persons established in Belgium. Even so, if your customer runs on Peppol in Belgium or an accredited platform in France, its accounts payable team will increasingly expect structured data rather than a PDF.

EN 16931 and Peppol: the same rails as UAE PINT AE

EN 16931 is the European standard for the semantic data model of an electronic invoice: it defines the core fields (seller, buyer, VAT breakdown, line items, payment details) and lists the XML syntaxes allowed, chiefly UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII. It was written for public procurement under Directive 2014/55/EU and is now the base for both ViDA and the national B2B mandates.

Peppol is a network and specifications for exchange through certified access points; it is not an EU-wide ViDA-mandated channel. Belgium uses Peppol BIS by default. The UAE uses a Peppol-based model with accredited providers and PINT AE, built on UBL 2.1. Businesses with revenue of at least AED 50m go live on 1 January 2027 (see our UAE e-invoicing timeline).

For a group that trades in both markets, this matters. One invoicing platform that produces UBL-based structured invoices and connects to Peppol can, with country-specific rules on top, cover the UAE mandate, Belgian customers and much of what ViDA will require. Choosing accounting software or an e-invoicing provider with that in mind avoids buying two systems.

Platform rules and single VAT registration from 2028

Deemed supplier for short-term rentals and ride services

The rule covers EU accommodation rented uninterruptedly to the same person for up to 30 nights, and road passenger transport. It starts on 1 July 2028, but countries may defer to 1 January 2030. Platforms are not deemed suppliers where the provider gives its VAT number and declares it will charge VAT. Countries may also exclude qualifying small-enterprise-scheme providers.

Example. A Dubai investor lets a Lisbon flat through a platform for 6 nights at EUR 900. Once Portugal applies the rule, the platform collects any VAT due if the provider has not supplied its VAT number and declaration, subject to applicable exclusions. The investor must still check its own Portuguese obligations.

Fewer registrations for e-commerce

• Wider OSS. The Union OSS will cover more B2C supplies of goods, including domestic sales by a seller not established in the country of consumption, so stock held in one EU warehouse and sold to local consumers no longer needs a local registration for that reason.
• Transfer of own goods scheme. Eligible stock movements between EU countries can be declared through a new OSS scheme instead of registering for those movements in both countries; excluded goods still require separate review. Call-off stock arrangements cannot start after 30 June 2028.
• Mandatory reverse charge. Where a supplier is not established and not registered in the country where VAT is due, and the business customer is registered there, the customer accounts for the VAT.

If you sell to EU consumers today through OSS or IOSS, our guide to EU OSS and IOSS for non-EU sellers covers the current rules that ViDA builds on.

What ViDA means for non-EU suppliers

ViDA does not stop at the EU border. The DRR applies to every taxable person identified for VAT in a Member State, wherever it is headquartered. So the impact depends on how you trade with the EU:

Worked example. A Dubai IT firm bills a German manufacturer EUR 12,000 monthly for managed services subject to reverse charge. From 1 July 2030, if Germany retains customer reporting, the buyer reports within 5 days of receiving the invoice. Manual extraction from a PDF consumes that window; structured data can feed its reporting system.

Data quality matters as much as format. The tax authority will compare your data with your customer's, so VAT numbers, invoice dates, currency, VAT treatment notes such as Reverse charge, and bank details need to be right on every invoice, not corrected at quarter-end.

ViDA readiness checklist

1. 1Map your EU transactionsList each EU VAT registration you hold, every flow of goods and services with EU customers and suppliers, and whether each is B2B, B2C, intra-EU or reverse charge. This shows which ViDA dates apply to you.
2. 2Check national mandates for your customersAsk key customers in Belgium, Germany, France and Poland how they want to receive invoices now. Some will already require Peppol or an accredited platform.
3. 3Audit your invoice dataConfirm your system captures every field EN 16931 needs, including customer VAT numbers, line-level VAT treatment and bank account details. Fix master data at source.
4. 4Test your software's outputFind out whether your accounting or ERP system can generate UBL or CII files and connect to Peppol, either natively or through a certified provider. If you also trade in the UAE, check PINT AE support at the same time.
5. 5Tighten invoicing timingMove towards issuing intra-EU and reverse-charge invoices within 10 days of the chargeable event, and summary invoices within 10 days of month-end, before the rule bites.
6. 6Review 2028 structuring choicesIf you use call-off stock or hold several EU registrations for e-commerce, assess whether the wider OSS and transfer-of-own-goods scheme could simplify your set-up from 1 July 2028.
7. 7Track national transpositionDiarise a yearly review of the countries where you are registered as they publish their ViDA implementing rules, portals and penalties.

Most of this is ordinary invoicing discipline done earlier: clean master data, a structured output and a predictable billing cycle. HOF Partners' invoice processing team can help you get your accounts receivable and payable data ready for structured e-invoicing in the EU and the UAE.