XRechnung is a standard for converting invoice information into an XML data file.The XML data file constitutes an electronic invoice.The standard allows invoices to be received and processed by different software systems.

The XRechnung standard is maintained by the Coordination Office for IT Standards (KoSIT) on behalf of the IT Planning Council.

Mandate Information

The German government published the  e-Bill law in April 2017 and the Ordinance on electronic invoicing in federal public procurement in September 2017, mandating the reception and processing of electronic invoices for all federal contracting authorities.

The B2G timeline was:

• 27 November 2018: Mandatory for top federal state authorities to receive and process electronic invoices.
• 27 November 2019: Mandatory for all subordinate institutions and sectorial contracting authorities on the federal level.
• 27 November 2020: Mandatory for the issuance of electronic invoices to all federal public contracting authorities.

On 17 April 2023, the German Ministry of Finance (BMF) proposed new additions to the German VAT ACT (UStG). The proposed changes concerned  the implementation of mandatory B2B e-invoicing. In July 2023, This was formalised through the publication of the Growth Opportunities Act. The act, which will make domestic B2B e-invoicing mandatory, was officially passed by the Bundesrat (Germany’s upper house of parliament) on 22 March 2024, having previously been passed by the Bundestag (Germany’s lower house of parliament) on 23 February 2024.

The B2B timeline is:

• 1 January 2025: All domestic businesses will be required to receive and process electronic invoices 
• 1 January 2027: Domestic businesses with an annual turnover exceeding €800k must issue invoices electronically 
• 1 January 2028: All domestic businesses must issue invoices electronically

The German initative does not include a central platform. The mandate purely focuses on digitalisation resulting in the exchange of invoices between the supplier and the buyer.

An electronic invoice must conform to the EN 16931-2 (syntax), that is Universal Business Language (UBL) or UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice (CII) or a format mutually agreed by the invoice issuer and recipient,  providing it’s interoperable and complies with the EN 16931-1 (semantic data model).

ZUGFeRD, a PDF/A-3 hybrid with an embedded CII, is also compliant with the EN 16931 from versions 2.0.1 onwards and is already widely used in the German market.

From January 2025, invoices such as paper, PDF and electronic formats which do not comply with the EN 16931 will be considered as “other invoices”. These will be permissible until the end of the calendar year of 2026 and will be invalid thereafter.

Invoice recipients must provide an email account to receive an electronic invoice, although the invoice issuer and recipient can also agree on other electronic transmission protocols that is PEPPOL, AS2, SFTP and so on.

Details

Restrictions

• Vertex e-Invoicing does not support B2C and B2B in Germany.
• Self-billed invoices are not supported. See Germany: Invoice Types Codes.

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