Deadlines and changes to track
- 7 November 2026: The next quarterly update is due for the existing UK MTD for Income Tax cohort above £50,000.
- 23 October 2026: Consultation closes on Bulgaria’s draft VAT Act amendment proposing clearance invoicing and pre-filled VAT returns.
- 30 October 2026: UAE businesses with annual revenue of at least AED 50 million must appoint an Accredited Service Provider for e-invoicing.
- 28 October 2026: UK Autumn Budget. The government has ruled out increasing the main VAT rate.
- 1 January 2027: UAE mandatory e-invoicing begins for businesses in the first implementation group.
- 1 January 2027: The EU deemed-supplier rule extends to certain B2B goods supplied through marketplaces by non-EU-established sellers.
- 6 April 2027: UK MTD for Income Tax expands to qualifying sole-trader businesses above £30,000.
- 6 October 2027: Spain’s approved B2B e-invoicing mandate begins for businesses with turnover above €8 million.
- 1 July 2030: ViDA digital reporting begins for intra-EU B2B supplies, subject to national implementation.
- April 2029: The United Kingdom is planning mandatory e-invoicing.
1. Map Europe’s e-invoicing systems before your data is tested
Europe is not adopting one single e-invoicing model. It is developing three broad families of invoice control.
Family one: true clearance
Under a clearance model, the tax authority or its authorised platform validates the invoice before it is legally issued or recognised.
Examples include:
- Italy’s SdI system.
- Poland’s KSeF.
- Greece’s myDATA MARK.
- Romania’s RO e-Factura.
- Serbia’s SEF.
- Türkiye’s e-Fatura.
- Albania’s developing system.
- Moldova, where e-invoicing went live on 1 October 2026.
- North Macedonia, which is planning a system from 1 April 2027.
This model makes invoice status, transaction timing and data accuracy operational issues. A billing error may not simply require a credit note. It could prevent the invoice from being accepted at all.
Family two: reporting alongside invoice exchange
In this model, businesses exchange structured invoices through certified providers or Peppol. Transaction information is then reported at or shortly after issuance.
Key developments include:
- France’s system went live for larger businesses on 1 September 2026. Small and medium-sized businesses are expected to join from 1 September 2027.
- Slovakia is moving to structured e-invoicing from 1 January 2027.
- Croatia’s Fiscalisation 2.0 has applied since 1 January 2026.
- Belgium has proposed dual-sided e-reporting from 1 January 2028.
- Hungary is developing its digital reporting model.
- Spain approved its B2B mandate on 5 October 2026. Businesses above €8 million turnover must comply from 6 October 2027. Other businesses are expected to follow from 6 October 2028.
Family three: structured invoice exchange only
Here, businesses must exchange structured invoices, but the invoice data is not necessarily transmitted to the authority for every transaction.
Important dates include:
- Germany: issuance for businesses above €800,000 turnover from 1 January 2027 and for all businesses from 1 January 2028.
- Slovenia and Luxembourg: expected from 2028.
- Norway: expected from 2027.
- Portugal: qualified electronic signatures on PDF invoices from 1 January 2027.
- United Kingdom: mandatory e-invoicing planned from April 2029.
Bulgaria has also published a draft VAT Act amendment. It proposes a clearance model from 1 January 2028, penalties from 1 July 2028, and the replacement of VAT ledgers with pre-filled VAT returns. The consultation remains open until 23 October 2026.
Prepare for the ViDA timetable
The European Union’s VAT in the Digital Age framework is based on:
- Council Directive (EU) 2025/516.
- Regulation (EU) 2025/517.
- Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/518.
The legal framework has been in force since 14 April 2025.
From 1 July 2030, intra-EU B2B supplies will require an EN 16931-compliant electronic invoice issued within 10 days. The supplier and customer will also have near-real-time reporting obligations. Recapitulative statements will eventually be abolished.
National systems that were already operating before 2024 must converge with the EU model by 1 January 2035.
Action point: Build a country-by-country e-invoicing register now. Record the transaction type, invoice format, transmission channel, reporting deadline, correction process and evidence-retention period. This will reduce the risk of applying the right process in one country to the wrong process in another.
2. Treat pre-filled VAT returns as a control, not an answer
Pre-filled VAT returns are developing across Europe, but they do not all work in the same way.
Current examples include:
- Spain’s Pre303, which assists with Form 303.
- Greece’s myDATA system, which pre-fills editable amounts.
- Italy’s precompiled VAT documents for limited eligible taxpayers, with the trial extended into 2027.
- Portugal’s provisional return for a restricted resident population. It excludes areas such as imports, exports, reverse charge, cash accounting and special schemes.
- Romania’s RO e-TVA, which creates a post-deadline comparison statement rather than a tax claim title.
- Slovenia’s partially pre-filled return, operating since July 2025.
- Hungary’s eVAT/eÁFA, expected to become mandatory from 2027.
- Poland’s proposed opt-in e-VAT draft return, targeted for the fourth quarter of 2029.
- Serbia’s planned pre-filled model, targeted for 2027.
The central warning is simple: reported does not mean legally correct.
Authority data may not determine:
- Partial exemption.
- Business or private use.
- Fixed-establishment outcomes.
- Capital-goods adjustments.
- Bad-debt relief.
- Chain transactions.
- Import VAT recovery.
- Reverse-charge treatment.
- Marketplace and fulfilment movements.
Use the authority’s draft as a control input. Do not accept it without review.
Run a three-way reconciliation:
- Compare your ERP or accounting result with your digital-reporting submissions.
- Compare both against the authority-prepared view.
- Investigate every material difference and retain evidence of the conclusion.
Protect the purchase side. An input invoice missing from a pre-filled draft does not automatically mean that the VAT is non-deductible. Check the original invoice, the tax point, the supplier data and the relevant local
