Germany's e-invoicing timeline 2025–2028 — what to do now

Germany is phasing in mandatory B2B e-invoicing over several years. Unlike Belgium's single 2026 switch, the German rules arrive in steps — and the first one is already here.

The timeline

1 Jan 2025  Every German business must be able to RECEIVE a
            structured e-invoice (XRechnung, PEPPOL BIS, ZUGFeRD).
            Issuing stays optional during a transition.

1 Jan 2027  Businesses with prior-year turnover above €800,000
            must ISSUE structured e-invoices.

1 Jan 2028  The issuing obligation extends to ALL businesses.

For federal public-sector buyers (ZRE / OZG-RE), structured invoicing via XRechnung has been mandatory since 2020.

"Receive" is the part people miss

The 2025 step is easy to overlook because it's about inbound: you must be able to accept a structured invoice from a supplier, even if you still send PDFs yourself for now. If a vendor sends you an XRechnung or PEPPOL invoice today, you need somewhere for it to land.

The formats

• XRechnung — a German CIUS of EN 16931, the

format for public-sector and a common B2B choice.

• PEPPOL BIS — the EU baseline, exchanged over the

PEPPOL network.

• ZUGFeRD / Factur-X — a hybrid PDF with the

structured XML embedded, handy during the transition.

What to do now

1. Make sure you can receive structured invoices today.
2. If your turnover is near or above €800,000, plan to issue before 2027.
3. Standardise on EN 16931 output so you're covered whichever format a

counterparty prefers.

Eurobillr emits XRechnung 3.0 with the correct profile, handles the Leitweg-ID for B2G, and captures inbound structured invoices into your expenses. The full detail is in our Germany e-invoicing guide.

If you trade across the EU, this isn't just a German project — it's the same direction everywhere. See ViDA for the bigger picture.