Germany Enforces Mandatory E‑Invoices for Businesses from 2025

From 1 January 2025 all VAT‑liable companies in Germany must be able to receive electronic invoices, and from 1 January 2027 firms with annual turnover above €800,000 must also issue them to business customers (the requirement extends to smaller firms on 1 January 2028). Accepted formats are the XRechnung XML standard and the hybrid PDF‑XRechnung ZUGFeRD format, both already promoted by the public sector.

Publishers and booksellers are among the first groups affected; they must shift from paper invoices bundled with book deliveries to fully digital billing. Detlef Bauer, product manager for metadata and search at Libri, notes that many incoming invoices still fail conformity checks under the Growth Opportunities Act, the VAT Application Decree and EU norm EN 16931, forcing recipients to reject them for tax‑credit purposes. Companies are urged to update their accounting software and train staff to create, receive and process compliant e‑invoices to avoid penalties.