The German parliament passed The Growth Opportunities Act (Wachstumschancengesetz – the Act) today, concerning various tax matters, including a nationwide B2B electronic invoicing mandate.
Originally the Act was set for a vote at the end of 2023 with January 2024 as enforcement date. However, the lack of consensus by the parliament in various provisions of the Act delayed its adoption. The Bundestag approved the Act on 23 February 2024, and today’s Bundesrat vote finalized the parliamentary process.
The implementation timeline for this mandate has been confirmed as follows:
- 1 Jan 2025: Mandatory receipt and voluntary issuance of e-invoices
Mandatory receipt of e-invoices for domestic B2B transactions will be required for all businesses. Additionally, businesses will have the option to issue e-invoices that are compliant with the approved syntaxes based on CEN 16931 on a voluntary basis, without the Buyer’s consent.
- 1 Jan 2027: Mandatory issuance of e-invoices will be implemented for businesses with an annual turnover of at least 800,000 Euros.
- 1 Jan 2028: Mandatory issuance of e-invoices will be extended to include all remaining businesses.
Following this approval, the Act will be signed by the President, and subsequently published in the official gazette. For more details on the German e-invoicing, you can visit our blog.
