{"id":19747,"date":"2025-09-30T19:35:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/?p=19747"},"modified":"2025-09-30T19:35:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:35:38","slug":"e-invoicing-for-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/blog\/e-invoicing-for-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Is e-invoicing mandatory for small businesses exempt from VAT?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>You might have already heard the buzz: starting in 2026, sending e-invoices through PEPPOL will be mandatory for all VAT-registered self-employed in Belgium.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And yes, that means the rule also applies to you. Whether you\u2019re running a side hustle (bijberoep\/une activit\u00e9 compl\u00e9mentaire<\/strong>)<strong> or a small business that benefits from the VAT exemption.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">PEPPOL e-invoicing: who, what, where, when?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Electronic invoices are invoices sent in a specific format between businesses (B2B) through a secure network (PEPPOL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be able to send and receive e-invoices, you need to register on the PEPPOL network. Luckily, with Accountable, that\u2019s super easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This requirement kicks in on January 1, 2026 for all VAT-registered businesses. That includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>sole proprietors<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>companies<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>self-employed individuals with a side hustle<\/strong> <em>(bijberoep\/une activit\u00e9 compl\u00e9mentaire)<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>small businesses exempt from VAT (annual revenue &lt; \u20ac25,000)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>student entrepreneurs<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>An example:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2705 James is an IT consultant running a side business, mostly working with large companies (B2B). His yearly revenue from this side hustle is \u20ac15,000, so he applied for the VAT exemption. <strong>However, by law, James is still considered VAT-liable and invoices other businesses. This means he\u2019ll have to send e-invoices starting in 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2705 Amelia is a beautician with a side hustle who only serves private clients (B2C). She doesn\u2019t issue invoices for her treatments. <strong>Still, Amelia needs to follow the e-invoicing rules in order to receive invoices from her suppliers (B2B).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">E-invoicing and VAT exemption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you opt for the VAT exemption for small businesses (because you earn less than \u20ac25,000 per year)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Even then, you\u2019re technically still considered VAT-liable. That means the mandatory e-invoicing rules apply to you as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n    <!-- wp:acf\/blog-annotation -->\n    <div class=\"wp-block-acf-blog-annotation flex items-start gap-4 bg-light-purple py-6 px-4 rounded-lg mb-3 mt-3\">\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"flex-shrink-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/wp-content\/themes\/accountable\/assets\/rebranding-images\/icons\/blog\/widgets\/exclamation.svg\" alt=\"exclamation\">\n        \n        <div class=\"blog-annotation__text\">\n            <p class=\"font-inter text-lg text-purple m-0\"><strong class=\"font-bold\">A small business that is exempt from VAT because its annual revenue is under \u20ac25,000 is still considered VAT-liable.<\/strong> Don\u2019t confuse this with being non-VAT-liable due to the nature of the profession (<a class=\"text-purple underline\" class=\"text-blue-600 hover:underline\" class=\"text-blue-600 hover:underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.minfin.fgov.be\/myminfin-web\/pages\/public\/fisconet\/document\/764d1c99-fe14-4835-a22d-53ae3f22c31c\">Article 44<\/a>: dentists, psychologists, general practitioners, etc.).<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <!-- \/wp:acf\/blog-annotation -->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">E-invoicing for freelancers with a side hustle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Self-employed individuals running a side business have the same e-invoicing obligations as full-time sole traders or companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Starting in 2026, every VAT-liable business in Belgium (including those who opted for the VAT exemption or are running a side hustle) will be required to send e-invoices for transactions between businesses.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Invoicing non-Belgian companies? Then you don\u2019t need to send e-invoices\u2026 at least not yet.<\/em><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/blog\/e-invoicing-within-the-eu\/\"><em>Read more about e-invoicing and clients within the EU here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>From 2026, the new e-invoicing rules apply to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>All VAT-liable Belgian businesses (including small businesses exempt from VAT) who invoice other Belgian companies (B2B).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Even if you only work with private clients (B2C) and don\u2019t issue invoices for them, you still need to be PEPPOL-compliant to receive e-invoices from suppliers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This applies to everyone who falls under the first rule, including side-business freelancers, student entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, companies, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n    <!-- wp:acf\/blog-annotation -->\n    <div class=\"wp-block-acf-blog-annotation flex items-start gap-4 bg-light-purple py-6 px-4 rounded-lg mb-3 mt-3\">\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"flex-shrink-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/wp-content\/themes\/accountable\/assets\/rebranding-images\/icons\/blog\/widgets\/exclamation.svg\" alt=\"exclamation\">\n        \n        <div class=\"blog-annotation__text\">\n            <p class=\"font-inter text-lg text-purple m-0\">Liberal professions like dentists, doctors, psychologists, etc., are <strong class=\"font-bold\">not VAT-liable<\/strong> and don\u2019t need to send e-invoices. Read more about e-invoicing for these professions <a class=\"text-purple underline\" class=\"text-purple underline\" class=\"text-blue-600 hover:underline\" class=\"text-purple underline\" class=\"text-blue-600 hover:underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/blog\/e-invoicing-liberal-professions\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <!-- \/wp:acf\/blog-annotation -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You might have already heard the buzz: starting in 2026, sending e-invoices through PEPPOL will be mandatory for all VAT-registered self-employed in Belgium. And yes, that means the rule also applies to you. Whether you\u2019re running a side hustle (bijberoep\/une activit\u00e9 compl\u00e9mentaire) or a small business that benefits from the VAT exemption. PEPPOL e-invoicing: who, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[269,270],"tags":[411,257],"class_list":["post-19747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-important-things-to-know","category-insights","tag-peppol-3","tag-exempt-from-vat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is e-invoicing mandatory for small businesses exempt from VAT? - Accountable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/blog\/e-invoicing-for-small-businesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is e-invoicing mandatory for small businesses exempt from VAT? - Accountable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You might have already heard the buzz: starting in 2026, sending e-invoices through PEPPOL will be mandatory for all VAT-registered self-employed in Belgium. 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