On 18 September 2024, Estonia’s Parliament approved changes to the Accounting Act to introduce optional mandatory e-invoicing from 1 July 2025, delayed from January. This bill simplifies requirements for e-invoices, adopting the EU’s EN 16931 standard to encourage digital invoicing across both public and private sectors. It allows B2B customers to insist on e-invoices from their suppliers, streamlining the process and supporting wider adoption.
Estonia Approves Optional Mandatory E-Invoicing from July 2025
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Author: Ema Stamenković
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Fiscal subject related
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Content accuracy validation date:
11.03.2025
Content accuracy validation time:
08:16h
On September 18, 2024, Estonia's Parliament gave the green light to some changes regarding e-invoicing, amending the Accounting Act. These changes are designed to optionally mandate e-invoicing starting July 1, 2025 (pushed back from the initially planned January 2025). This option is open to any taxpayer listed as an e-invoice recipient in Estonia's e-business register. To align the Estonian Accounting Act with the European standard for electronic invoicing (EN 16931), this bill streamlines and clarifies the Accounting Act's rules about e-invoice handling and formatting. While the public sector in Estonia has been required to use e-invoices since 2019, their broader use in the private sector has seen a slower uptake. The aim of this bill is to promote a unified European standard for e-invoices and to push for complete digital invoicing adoption, both within the public sector and across the private sector as well.
Right now, the law allows for two different technical formats for electronic invoices: businesses can choose to follow either the Estonian standard or the European one. However, a proposed change would make the European standard the only acceptable format moving forward. This change would let businesses in Estonia ask their suppliers to send them e-invoices specifically. The proposal also involves changing the meaning of "machine-processable invoice" or e-invoice to match the EU's structured e-invoice format, known as EN 16931. At the moment, companies can use either the Estonian or the EU's standard. The Estonian Information Technology and Telecommunication Union also supports switching to just the EN 16931 format for transactions between businesses. In Estonia, the Accounting Act dictates the basic rules for accounting practices for all officially registered businesses.
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