VAT 2026: what changes for small businesses and how to get ready

There are two ways to read the e-invoicing reform. The press-release version, which talks about modernisation and fighting fraud. And the one we care about here: what does the owner of a small business need to have done, and by when?

What really changes

Until now, a PDF invoice sent by email counted as an electronic invoice in the everyday sense. It will no longer count in the legal sense. A compliant invoice is a structured file — Factur-X, UBL or CII — that goes through an approved platform, with a tracked life cycle.

So three things change: the format of the document, the channel it goes through, and the fact that the tax authority receives the transaction data at the same time.

The timeline, date by date

The rollout happens in two stages. The difference between receiving and issuing is the one people remember least, yet it is the one that sets your deadline.

The rates that stay put

The reassuring part: the reform is about form, not substance. The four rates in force are not changed, and neither are the rules on when VAT becomes due.

• 20% — standard rate, most goods and services.
• 10% — eat-in catering, passenger transport, renovation work.
• 5.5% — food products, books, energy subscriptions.
• 2.1% — reimbursable medicines, newspapers and magazines.

Getting ready in three steps

1. Choose your platform

This is the only decision that shapes everything else. An approved platform receives, issues and archives; switching later is expensive because of the history you have to migrate. If your accountant offers one, the question is settled.

2. Clean up your customer file

A missing or wrong SIREN number blocks issuing. It is the most common rejection reason seen at companies that already issue e-invoices, and it is the kind of housekeeping that takes half a day a year ahead, and three weeks in a rush.

3. Test before the deadline

An invoice rejected on 2 September is not a technical incident: it is a receivable you cannot collect that month.

The most common mistakes

The most frequent one is believing your current invoicing software is enough. Many produce a PDF that looks compliant, without the structured data that is required. The second is waiting until summer 2026: by then, platforms will be flooded with connection requests.