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Belgian business client: the invoice goes through Peppol

Since 1 January 2026, an invoice addressed to a business established in Belgium must be sent as a structured e-invoice, over the Peppol network, including by businesses under the exemption scheme. A PDF by email is no longer enough. The fines provided for are €1,500, then €3,000, then €5,000.

Indexo prepares the Peppol file (UBL format, Peppol BIS Billing 3.0) and checks it with the controls of Check an invoice. Indexo does not send it: you need a Peppol access point, usually your invoicing or accounting software, that accepts importing a UBL file. FPS Finance’s free Hermes platform has been discontinued: compare providers’ offers.

For a private client or a client established abroad, the PDF remains the rule.

Sending via Peppol in three steps

1. Check that your customer is on Peppol: their Peppol address is their company number (0208 followed by the 10 digits). The tool opens the public Peppol directory with that number.
2. Download the Peppol file of the invoice: Indexo prepares and checks it.
3. Import it into your Peppol access point, then mark the invoice as ‘sent via Peppol’: the tool keeps track of what is still to be sent.

No access point yet?

• Ask your accountant first: many accounting packages are already connected to Peppol, often through a simple update.
• Platforms for the self-employed let you send and receive Peppol invoices without full accounting, from a few euros a month. Compare the price, UBL file import, receiving invoices and support in French or Dutch.
• A subscription to e-invoicing software is deductible at 120% until 31 December 2027, for the self-employed and small companies (according to Accountable: check the conditions with your accountant).
• You must also be able to receive Peppol invoices from your suppliers: your access point takes care of that.

Indexo is not a Peppol access point and does not send your invoices: an access point must be approved and run through a server, which would go against Indexo’s principle (nothing leaves your browser).

The mandatory details

A Belgian invoice must show at least the following (Article 5 of Royal Decree No. 1 on VAT):

• the date of issue and a unique number, in a continuous sequence, with no gaps;
• the supplier’s name, address and VAT (or enterprise) number;
• the client’s name and address, and their VAT number if they are VAT-registered;
• the date of delivery or service, if it differs from the invoice date;
• the description and quantity of what is sold, the unit price excluding VAT;
• for each rate: the taxable amount, the rate and the amount of VAT;
• the statement explaining an invoice without VAT: small business exemption scheme, reverse charge or exemption.

Indexo fills in these details for you and flags anything missing before you save the invoice.

Without VAT: exemption scheme, exemption, reverse charge

• Small business VAT exemption scheme (less than €25,000 of turnover a year): no VAT, and the statement ‘Régime particulier de franchise des petites entreprises’. You keep a VAT number.
• Exemption under Article 44 (healthcare, education, certain cultural or social activities): no VAT, with the exemption statement.
• Reverse charge: for building work invoiced to a registered Belgian contractor, or for a service to a business in another EU country, the VAT is due from the client; the invoice carries the statement ‘Autoliquidation’ and the client’s VAT number.
• Client outside the European Union: generally no Belgian VAT on a service to a business. There are many special cases: check with your accountant.

Getting paid faster

Each invoice gets a structured payment reference (+++…+++), calculated from its number, and a payment QR code: your client scans it with their banking app, and the transfer is pre-filled (amount, IBAN, reference). The code follows the European EPC standard for SEPA transfers.

Frequently asked questions

What next?

• My bookkeepingExpenses, bank, VAT and result, in the same workspace.
• Check an invoiceDetails, calculations, VAT and Peppol for an invoice you receive or send.
• VAT returnThe boxes of your return, based on your invoices.
• Self-employed as a secondary occupationWhat you keep, and how far you can go without VAT.
• What rate should I charge?The rate that gives the net income you are aiming for.