German Bundesrat Calls For 2-Year e-Invoicing Delay

Germany’s Bundesrat has called for a 2 year delay to January 2027 for the introduction of the obligation for businesses to accept e-invoices. The current proposed schedule, is to require businesses to accept e-invoices from January 2025 (although paper may still be used for 1 year), and then move to e-invoices-only for most business from January 2026.

The Bundesrat is the legislative body representing the 16 federal states at the federal level. It is scheduled to review and approve the proposed e-invoicing law in December. This would follow the current Bundestag review, expected to conclude in November.

Whilst the Bundesrat backs the introduction of mandatory e-invoicing, its concerns include:

• timing for companies to prepare for the proposed launch, and feasibility of the phased switch. This includes details on how current formats may conform during the transition;
• the extent of the costs for businesses to adapt and whether proportionate to the tax benefits, especially the adoption of the standard EN 16931 format;
• plus the challenges for all 16  Länder (federated states) of Germany.