{"id":718719,"date":"2024-01-05T10:44:10","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T16:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spscommerce.com\/?p=718719"},"modified":"2025-09-24T12:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T17:34:15","slug":"e-invoicing-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spscommerce.com\/eur\/blog\/e-invoicing-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"E-Invoicing in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated – June 3rd, 2024<\/i><\/p>\n

Electronic invoicing in Germany isn\u2019t all that simple. Specific regulations vary across the country, so here\u2019s everything you need to know, including important deadlines per state.<\/p>\n

Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As with other countries in the European Union (EU), the\u00a0EU e-invoicing Directive 2014\/55\/EU<\/a>\u00a0made it clear that Germany had to make business-to-government (B2G) e-invoicing mandatory from April 18th<\/sup>, 2020. In this blog\u00a0you will read everything you need to know about e-invoicing in Germany, including important deadlines by state.<\/p>\n

German E-Invoicing Standards: XRechnung vs. ZUGFeRD<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As of April 18th<\/sup>, 2020, all government agencies in Germany have to be able to receive and process e-invoices according to a standard in line with EU requirements. The e-invoicing regulations of the German federal government stipulated that XRechnung is the preferred standard for B2G e-invoices. This standard was developed by the German Coordination Office for IT Standards (KoSIT) and is an invoice format based on XML. The current XRechnung standard allows two XML formats for electronic invoicing: UBL or\u00a0UN\/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice (CII).<\/p>\n

Although XRechnung is preferred by the Federal Government, ZUGFeRD can also be used, as ZUGFeRD also complies with the\u00a0European Standard. It consists of two components: a PDF file and an embedded XML file. ZUGFeRD is based on the UN\/CEFACT CII standard and the\u00a0ISO standard PDF\/A3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The German Peppol Authority: KoSIT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

KoSIT became the German\u00a0Peppol\u00a0authority in June 2018, with the responsibility of maintaining XRechnung.\u00a0KoSIT<\/a>\u00a0is part of the\u00a0E-Government<\/a>\u00a0department within the core administration of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and is a permanent organization of the National IT Planning Council.<\/p>\n

KoSIT’s main tasks are to assist the IT Planning Council in adopting IT interoperability and IT security standards, as well as to manage joint federal and state e-government projects.<\/p>\n

Deadline Compliance<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You might assume that all government agencies in Germany have been able to receive e-invoices since April 18th<\/sup>, 2020. In reality, there are still public authorities\u2014especially in the municipal sector\u2014that cannot yet receive and process electronic invoices. This has to do with the federal structure, as all 16 federal states have their own constitutions, parliaments, and governments. In other words, it is usually the responsibility of each individual federal state to apply European requirements.<\/p>\n

The structure, scope, and timing of electronic invoicing implementation is defined by the E-invoicing Act (E-Rechnungsgesetz) along with the associated ordinances of the respective state authorities in the individual federal states.<\/p>\n

At state level, however, 16 separate laws and ordinances had to be drafted, optimized, and implemented on the basis of the EU Directive and the European Standard. To date, there are still federal states that have yet to issue regulations, and the ordinances that have already been issued may vary.<\/p>\n

B2B E-Invoicing Obligation in Germany<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From 2025, B2B companies in Germany will be obliged to receive e-invoices. The reason for this is the amendments to Section 14 UStG, in which a mandatory electronic invoice is also to be introduced in the B2B sector. On August 31, 2023, the Federal Cabinet approved this draft of the Ministry of Finance for the Growth Opportunities Act. On November 17, 2023, the Bundestag also passed the Growth Opportunities Act.<\/p>\n

On February 23, the Bundestag approved the compromise on the Growth Opportunities Act. After intensive political disputes between the federal and state governments, the Bundestag passed the Growth Opportunities Act without the climate protection investment premium on Friday, February 23, 2024.<\/p>\n

On March 22, 2024, the Bundesrat approved the Growth Opportunities Act. According to the current draft of the Growth Opportunities Act, all domestic companies must be able to receive and archive electronic invoices from January 1, 2025. The e-invoice articles therefore remain unchanged.<\/p>\n

For B2B (business-to-business) transactions, the requirements currently in the legislative process mean the end of paper invoices and unstructured PDFs. There is probably not much time left for implementation:<\/p>\n