Last updated: 2026-09-22
VAT in the Digital Age is an adopted EU package that introduces digital reporting and e-invoicing for intra-EU B2B transactions, makes certain platforms liable for VAT on the supplies they facilitate, and extends single VAT registration. Obligations phase in from 2027 to 2035, with digital reporting from 1 July 2030. Sovos supports ViDA readiness through determination, e-invoicing and VAT reporting on one platform.
What changed most recently
The European Commission published revised Explanatory Notes on the VAT e-commerce rules and a revised One-Stop Shop guide on 19 August 2026, ahead of the January 2027 changes. Final Explanatory Notes for the wider package are expected around the end of 2026 or early 2027.
Published By
Sovos
| Package | VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) |
|---|---|
| Authority | Council of the European Union and the European Commission |
| Legal instruments | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516, Council Regulation (EU) 2025/517 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/518, all of 11 March 2025 |
| Adopted | 11 March 2025; published in the Official Journal 25 March 2025; in force 14 April 2025 |
| Three pillars | Digital Reporting Requirements, the platform economy, and single VAT registration |
| Phasing | From 2025 to 2035, with the principal dates in 2027, 2028, 2030 and 2035 |
ViDA amends the EU VAT Directive and two supporting regulations. It is structured as three pillars, each with its own timetable, and a business can be affected by one without being affected by the others.
| Pillar | What it introduces |
|---|---|
| Digital Reporting Requirements | Structured e-invoicing and near real-time digital reporting for intra-EU B2B transactions, replacing recapitulative statements for those supplies. Member States must align domestic reporting with the EU standard or use interoperable formats. |
| Platform economy | Deemed supplier rules making platforms facilitating short-term accommodation rental and passenger transport liable to account for VAT where the underlying supplier does not charge it. |
| Single VAT registration | Extension of the One-Stop Shop, including to movements of own goods between Member States, wider mandatory reverse charge, and improvements to OSS and IOSS, reducing the need to register in multiple Member States. |
One change took effect immediately on entry into force: Member States no longer need European Commission approval to introduce mandatory domestic e-invoicing. That is why national mandates have accelerated since 2025 and why ViDA and national mandates are separate but related obligations.
The table gives the dated milestones. Where Member States hold discretion on timing, that is stated rather than assumed.
| Phase | Effective date | What applies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry into force | 14 April 2025 | Member States may introduce mandatory domestic B2B and B2C e-invoicing without European Commission derogation | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 |
| E-commerce and OSS updates | 1 January 2027 | Improvements and clarifications to the OSS and IOSS schemes, including OSS coverage of supplies of electricity, gas and heat, and an invoice indication of whether cash accounting applies | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 |
| Single VAT registration | 1 July 2028 | Extension of the One-Stop Shop, including reporting of intra-EU movements of own goods through OSS, and wider mandatory reverse charge where the supplier is not VAT-identified in the customer’s Member State | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 |
| Platform economy, earliest | 1 July 2028 | Deemed supplier rules for short-term accommodation rental and passenger transport platforms apply, with Member States permitted to defer | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 |
| Platform economy, mandatory | 1 January 2030 | Deemed supplier rules apply in all Member States, the latest date to which deferral is permitted | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 |
| Digital Reporting Requirements | 1 July 2030 | Structured e-invoicing and near real-time digital reporting for intra-EU B2B transactions; additional invoice data items apply from this date | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 |
| Domestic system alignment | 1 January 2035 | Member States with domestic digital reporting obligations in place, or granted a derogation, before 2024 must align those systems with the EU standard | Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 |
Digital reporting under ViDA is based on structured electronic invoicing aligned to the European standard for electronic invoicing, rather than on a single centrally operated platform. Data for intra-EU B2B transactions is reported to the taxpayer’s own Member State, which exchanges it under the administrative cooperation arrangements updated by Council Regulation (EU) 2025/517.
The package also adds data items to the invoice, mostly from 1 July 2030: an indication where the triangulation simplification is used, the bank account or other account to which payment is to be made, and a reference to the original invoice number on a corrective invoice. An indication of whether cash accounting applies takes effect from 1 January 2027.
Member States retain latitude in how domestic reporting is implemented, which is why ViDA does not remove the need to comply with national mandates. It sets the standard those national systems must converge on by 2035.
ViDA does not set a single EU-wide penalty regime. Penalties for failing to report, to issue a compliant electronic invoice or to register correctly are set by each Member State under its own law, as they are for existing VAT obligations.
The practical exposure sits elsewhere. Where reporting is transaction-level and near real-time, a discrepancy between what a business reports and what its counterparty reports is visible to administrations without an audit being opened, which changes how errors surface rather than what they cost.
Preparation divides along the three pillars, and the work is not the same in each.
Businesses already subject to a national mandate have done much of the underlying work, which is the practical argument for treating national mandate projects as the first phase of ViDA readiness rather than as separate exercises.
Sovos runs VAT determination, e-invoicing and VAT reporting on one platform, which is the architecture ViDA rewards: transaction-level reporting and periodic returns have to reconcile, and they are harder to reconcile across separate systems. Sovos supports VAT and GST determination across 185+ countries and territories, e-invoicing in 60+, and VAT filing in 71, as of September 2026.
Product specifications are published on the Sovos e-invoicing and CTC page and the VAT page rather than repeated here.
The package entered into force on 14 April 2025 and phases in to 2035. The principal dates are 1 January 2027 for OSS and IOSS improvements, 1 July 2028 for single VAT registration and the earliest platform economy rules, 1 January 2030 for mandatory platform rules, 1 July 2030 for digital reporting on intra-EU B2B transactions, and 1 January 2035 for alignment of existing domestic systems.
No. ViDA sets the standard national systems must converge on, with Member States that had domestic digital reporting before 2024 required to align by 1 January 2035. National mandates such as France’s continue to apply on their own timetables, and ViDA made them easier to introduce by removing the need for European Commission derogation.
Platforms facilitating short-term accommodation rental and passenger transport become deemed suppliers, liable to account for VAT where the underlying supplier does not charge it. The rules apply from 1 July 2028, and Member States may defer to 1 January 2030 at the latest.
Fewer, in many cases. From 1 July 2028 the One-Stop Shop extends to further supplies including intra-EU movements of own goods, and mandatory reverse charge widens where a supplier is not VAT-identified in the customer’s Member State. Whether a specific registration can be removed depends on the transactions behind it.
ViDA digital reporting covers intra-EU B2B transactions and is reported to the taxpayer’s own Member State under a common standard from 1 July 2030. A national mandate covers domestic transactions under that country’s own rules and timetable. Most multinationals will face both.
