Greek tax authority AADE has postponed the mandatory B2B e‑invoicing launch to 2 March 2026, with a two‑month soft launch ending 2 May 2026 for large resident businesses. All other resident taxpayers must adopt the system from 1 October 2026, and a new penalty regime and early‑adopter incentives have been announced.

Germany’s national e‑invoicing mandate requires all businesses to receive structured invoices from January 2025 and to transmit them by revenue thresholds, with full coverage by January 2028. The system accepts XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and Peppol BIS formats, all EN 16931 compliant, and mandates 8‑year electronic archiving under GoBD. Non‑compliance can trigger VAT deduction denial, GoBD violations and administrative fines.

Brazil’s new Technical Notes mandate that invoices and payments be linked under the split payment framework, requiring integration between electronic tax documents (DF‑e) and payment data. The system will be tested from 6 April 2026 and go live on 4 May 2026, with XML and invoicing processes needing updates to include transaction data for automatic withholding of IBS and CBS.

The article argues that compliance with country mandates should be seen as a baseline, not the ultimate goal. It emphasizes that true invoicing success lies in data governance and ensuring invoices are accurate, fraud‑free, and defensible in accounting, rather than merely passing XML validation. The author highlights mandates in Poland, France, Belgium, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, and calls for a holistic approach to tax determination and data integrity.

This article explains the technical intricacies of the Peppol discovery process, detailing how participant identifiers are hashed and resolved via DNS to Service Metadata Publishers (SMPs). It highlights key components such as the Service Metadata Locator (SML), SMP metadata signing, and the lack of fallback routing, underscoring the importance of correct configuration for reliable e‑invoicing.

Irish Revenue has clarified that for Phase One of its VAT Modernisation programme, a "large corporate" is defined by management by the Large Corporates Division rather than turnover. From 1 November 2028, all VAT‑registered businesses in Ireland must be able to receive structured e‑invoices, and those within scope must issue EN16931‑compliant e‑invoices and transmit data to Revenue. The programme introduces mandatory electronic invoicing and real‑time reporting for domestic B2B transactions.

Delaying VAT compliance while upgrading to SAP S/4HANA exposes companies to rework, higher costs, and regulatory penalties. Early integration of VAT and e‑invoicing solutions can prevent errors, reduce audit risk, and accelerate time‑to‑value. The article warns that legacy SAP ERP systems will reach end‑of‑support in 2027, urging firms to embed compliance from day one.