Since 1 January 2026, emailing a PDF invoice to another Belgian business is no longer compliant. Structured electronic invoicing through the Peppol network has become mandatory for nearly all VAT-registered businesses, and now that the grace period is over, fines are being issued. The good news: one of the simplest (and cheapest) answers to this Belgian obligation is a piece of software that happens to be... Belgian.
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Since 1 January 2026, invoices between Belgian VAT-registered businesses must be structured electronic invoices exchanged through the Peppol network. A PDF sent by email no longer counts.
- The tolerance period ended on 7 April 2026; fines range from 1,500 to 5,000 euros per infringement.
- Hermes, the free public solution, shut down at the end of 2025: every business now needs a private access point.
- Odoo includes a free, unlimited Peppol access point, even on its free One App plan.
- Small businesses can deduct 120% of their compliance costs until 2027.
Since 1 January 2026, a PDF by email is no longer enough
The framework was set by the law of 6 February 2024 and its royal implementation decree of 8 July 2025: between Belgian VAT-registered businesses, invoices must be structured electronic files compliant with the European standard EN 16931 (Peppol BIS format), transmitted through the Peppol network. In other words, exchanged directly between the software of both companies, without human intervention. A paper invoice or a plain PDF sent by email no longer qualifies as a compliant B2B invoice.
This was not entirely unexpected: for public procurement (B2G), e-invoicing has been mandatory since March 2024. On 1 January 2026, the same logic was simply extended to all transactions between businesses.
Who is covered, who is exempt?
The rule is broad: every Belgian business with an active VAT number is covered, whatever its size, including small businesses under the VAT exemption scheme (turnover below 25,000 euros) and farmers under the special regime, at least for receiving invoices.
The exemptions are limited:
- businesses carrying out only transactions exempt under Article 44 of the VAT Code (medical, social, cultural sectors...);
- foreign VAT payers without a permanent establishment in Belgium;
- bankrupt businesses;
- flat-rate taxpayers, who benefit from a deferral until 1 January 2028;
- sales to private consumers (B2C), for which structured invoicing is not mandatory.
The fines are active
The administration allowed a tolerance period during the first three months of 2026, reserved for businesses able to demonstrate reasonable compliance efforts. That period officially closed on 7 April 2026. Since then, non-compliance exposes you to flat-rate fines: 1,500 euros for a first infringement, 3,000 euros for a second, 5,000 euros for each one after that.
Hermes has shut down: no more free safety net
Until late 2025, the government offered Hermes, a free public gateway that converted Peppol invoices into PDFs for businesses not yet equipped. Hermes was decommissioned in mid-December 2025 (archives remained available until 31 March 2026). In short: in 2026 there is no public fallback anymore. Every business must be connected to the Peppol network through a private access point.
Peppol, explained simply
Peppol is not a piece of software, it is a standardised exchange network. The easiest comparison is the email or telephone network: each business picks its operator (an accredited « access point »), and all operators are interconnected. It does not matter which provider your customer uses: invoices flow from one system to another, in a format every machine understands.
Born in 2008 as a pilot project funded by the European Commission, the network has been managed since 2012 by OpenPeppol, an international non-profit incorporated... under Belgian law, based in Brussels. The obligation is Belgian, and so, in part, is the network.
Odoo: the free, unlimited Peppol access point
This is where Odoo changes the game. While most providers charge per subscription or per document sent, Odoo is itself a certified Peppol access point (and SMP), natively built into the software since Odoo 17 (late 2023): sending and receiving electronic invoices is free and unlimited, including in the Community edition.
Activation in practice
In the Invoicing or Accounting app, Peppol registration takes a few fields: country, company number (CBE/VAT), contact email and phone. According to the official documentation, activation is effective within about a day. Odoo supports the required formats, including Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, the one Belgium mandates. Your outgoing invoices then travel straight onto the network, and supplier invoices arrive in your accounting on their own.
What it really costs
- One App Free: 0 euros, one app of your choice (Invoicing, for instance), unlimited users. Enough to be Peppol-compliant;
- Standard: 24.90 euros per user per month (annual billing), with the full suite of Odoo apps (accounting, CRM, website, inventory...);
- Custom: 37.40 euros per user per month, for advanced needs (Studio, multi-company, API).
Official prices, checked in August 2026, hosting and support included. For a freelancer whose only urgent need is « being Peppol-compliant », the free plan covers the essentials. Rare enough in the software world to be worth pointing out.
The limitations you should know about
- Peppol registration through Odoo is limited to a list of eligible countries (Belgium is obviously on it);
- a company can only be connected to the network through one access point at a time: if you are already registered elsewhere, you will need to migrate;
- on older Odoo versions (16 and earlier) or heavily customised on-premise setups, availability must be checked case by case;
- compliance does not stop at the tool: accurate customer data (CBE/VAT numbers), internal validation processes and archiving remain your responsibility.
By the way: Odoo is Belgian
Founded by Fabien Pinckaers in the early 2000s as TinyERP and renamed Odoo in 2014, it is now one of the country's finest tech success stories: headquartered in Grand-Rosière (Walloon Brabant), valued at more than 7 billion euros (January 2026), with over 170,000 customers, around 28 million users and roughly 8,000 employees, more than 1,500 of them in Belgium. For a Belgian tax obligation, it is hard to find a shorter supply chain than a Walloon ERP running on a network managed from Brussels.
The tax break few businesses use
Compliance is partly subsidised through taxation. Two federal measures accompany the obligation:
- a 120% enhanced deduction (tax years 2024 to 2027) for small businesses and the self-employed, on invoicing software subscriptions and consultancy fees directly linked to e-invoicing: every euro spent deducts 1.20;
- a 20% digital investment deduction since 1 January 2025 on capitalised investments related to electronic invoicing.
The 120% deduction expires at the end of 2027: if a software migration is on your roadmap, the fiscally ideal window is now.
2028: Peppol was only step 1
On 18 July 2026, the Council of Ministers approved a draft bill that would introduce near-real-time VAT e-reporting on 1 January 2028: every invoice would automatically be reported to the tax administration through the Peppol network (the so-called « 5-corner » model), on both the supplier and the customer side. In exchange, the annual client listing would disappear. The text still has to complete its parliamentary journey (publication expected in the autumn of 2026), but the direction is clear, and Belgium would be two years ahead of the European ViDA timetable (2030).
The practical consequence: investing today in invoicing that speaks Peppol natively also means being ready for 2028, without another migration.
Our experience in the field
At Webedia, we guide Belgian SMEs through this transition: auditing their Peppol situation, configuring Odoo (invoicing, accounting, CBE/VAT data), migrating data from the old invoicing tool and training the teams. For example, we migrated Simelec Pro from WordPress to Odoo: website and business management united in a single tool. It is a house conviction: for many SMEs, a website or webshop built directly in Odoo, connected to CRM, inventory and Peppol invoicing, makes more sense than a stack of disconnected tools. We deliver such projects end to end.
Not sure whether your invoicing is compliant, or hesitating between keeping your current tool and centralising in Odoo? Let's talk: an honest assessment takes less than an hour. Our digital consultancy covers precisely this kind of decision.
FAQ
Is a PDF invoice sent by email still valid?
Between Belgian VAT-registered businesses, no: since 1 January 2026, only structured electronic invoices transmitted through Peppol are compliant. PDFs remain possible towards private consumers (B2C) or for internal use.
Am I exempt from electronic invoicing?
Only in limited cases: exclusively Article 44-exempt activities, foreign VAT payers without a permanent establishment, bankrupt businesses, or the flat-rate scheme (deferred until 1 January 2028). The small-business VAT exemption (under 25,000 euros) does not exempt you.
What are the fines for non-compliance?
1,500 euros for a first infringement, 3,000 euros for a second, 5,000 euros for each subsequent one. The tolerance period closed on 7 April 2026.
Is Peppol really free with Odoo?
Yes: Odoo is its own Peppol access point and adds no per-document cost, including on the free One App plan (Invoicing app, unlimited users). You only pay if you want several apps (Standard plan at 24.90 euros per user per month).
Do I have to replace my whole system to be compliant?
No. Compliance only requires a Peppol access point: through your current accounting software if it offers one, through a specialised provider, or through Odoo as a single app. Centralising invoicing, accounting and website in one tool is an efficiency choice, not a legal obligation.
Sources
- efacture.belgium.be: official federal e-invoicing portal (obligation, exemptions, end of tolerance on 7 April 2026)
- FPS Finance: e-invoicing
- Official Odoo 19 documentation: electronic invoicing and Peppol
- Odoo: Electronic invoicing in Belgium
- Odoo: official pricing (checked on 7 August 2026)
- OpenPeppol: About
- AVP: Odoo valued above 7 billion euros (January 2026)
Written in August 2026. Regulations evolve (2028 e-reporting still in progress): legal details and prices are those verified at publication date.