Sometime in 2022, the Belgian government will introduce a draft bill with more details about how the mandatory B2B e-invoice will be implemented.
More than a decade ago, we experienced an e-invoice boom in Latin America. Now this trend has arrived in Europe. And the last country to adopt this trend is Belgium. Through its Ministry of Finance, Belgium has confirmed that, sooner than later, the use of B2B e-invoices will be mandatory in all its territory.
The government is already working on the draft bill, which will specify the schedule of application and technical details of the system. We expect the draft bill to be introduced sometime in 2022, at which time it will be debated and possible modifications may be made.
What do we know right now?
The application of the mandatory B2B electronic invoice is expected to be phased in. Large companies will be the first ones required to adopt it. On the other hand, medium and small sized companies will have more time to adapt to the new regulation.
As far as the model to follow, everything suggests that Belgium will decide to use a clearance model, as has been done by countries like Italy and France. In the clearance model, electronic invoices are first sent to the public administration to be validated. This way, the government has real time control of the B2B e-invoices that are issued in the country.
Technically speaking, the invoices must be issued in a structured format that is yet to be determined. This way, integration with government systems as well as company management systems is guaranteed.
The aim of this new regulation is to fight against tax fraud. According to the EU “VAT gap”, tax fraud in Belgium could amount to as much as 3,600 million each year.
Current state of the electronic invoice in Belgium
Currently companies can use the B2B e-invoice as long as the issuer as well as the receiver agree to use this method. It is also essential that control systems are implemented for issuing, receiving and storing e-invoices. When this system is used, hard copies of the invoices do not need to be printed.
If you want to stay ahead of the legislation and implement electronic invoicing at your company, please contact Voxel. We are experts in electronic invoicing in the travel sector with more than 20 years of experience helping companies digitize their invoicing processes. Please contact us at [email protected].
