ViDA explained: EU cross-border e-invoicing by 2030

ViDA, short for VAT in the Digital Age, is an EU package in force since April 2025. Its biggest change arrives on 1 July 2030: invoices for business sales between EU countries must be structured e-invoices, and their data is reported to tax authorities.

National reforms get the headlines: Belgium, France and Germany each have their own dates. ViDA sits above them. It changes the EU VAT rules themselves, so it reaches businesses that sell to business customers in another member state, wherever it is based in the EU. This explainer draws on the European Commission's ViDA pages; it is a summary, not advice for your specific case.

The package in brief

The Council of the EU adopted ViDA on 11 March 2025. It was published in the Official Journal on 25 March 2025 and entered into force on 14 April 2025. The main legal text is Council Directive (EU) 2025/516, which amends the EU VAT Directive, and two regulations complete the package.

The Commission describes three parts:

1. Digital reporting based on e-invoicing. Invoice data for cross-border business sales flows to tax authorities close to the moment of the sale.
2. VAT rules for the platform economy. Some online platforms become responsible for the VAT on services sold through them.
3. A single VAT registration. Businesses selling to consumers in several EU countries need fewer separate registrations.

The key dates

Date	What changes
14 April 2025	ViDA enters into force. Member states may introduce mandatory e-invoicing for domestic transactions, under conditions.
1 July 2028	Platform rules for short-term accommodation rental and passenger transport by road, which member states may postpone to 1 January 2030. The one-stop-shop schemes for sales to consumers are extended.
1 July 2030	Digital reporting for cross-border business sales inside the EU. E-invoicing becomes mandatory and the default for those invoices.
1 January 2035	Deadline for national reporting systems that existed before 2024 to align with the EU model.

What changes for cross-border invoices in 2030

Today, a business selling to a VAT-registered customer in another EU country sends an invoice in whatever form the two agree on, often a PDF, and later lists those sales in a periodic summary for its tax authority, known as a recapitulative statement or EC Sales List.

From 1 July 2030, both halves change:

• The invoice becomes structured data. It must follow the European standard on electronic invoicing, EN 16931, in one of its approved syntaxes. A PDF, even a neat one, no longer counts as the invoice for these sales.
• The summary is replaced by reporting. Invoice data is reported to tax authorities transaction by transaction, and the Commission says this replaces the recapitulative statement system.

For a seller, the practical point is that cross-border invoicing stops being a document you design and becomes data your invoicing system must produce correctly. The explainer on EN 16931 covers what that standard asks for.

What it means at home

ViDA's 2030 obligation covers sales between member states. Domestic invoicing stays a national matter, but ViDA changed the rules for it too. Before the package, a member state that wanted to make e-invoicing compulsory needed a special exception from the EU. Since April 2025, member states may introduce it under the conditions ViDA sets, with or without a digital reporting system.

That is why national timelines are moving now. Belgium requires structured e-invoices between businesses from 2026, as described in Belgium's e-invoicing mandate. France is phasing in its reform from September 2026 (France's e-invoicing reform), and Germany has its own schedule (Germany's e-invoicing timeline).

ViDA also sets a direction for those national systems. A national reporting system introduced after 1 January 2024 must follow the EU model from July 2030, and older systems have until 1 January 2035 to converge. Over time, the national patchwork is meant to narrow toward one European approach.

Where Peppol fits

ViDA sets the standard for the invoice data, not the network that carries it. Peppol is one common way to exchange EN 16931 invoices between businesses, and several EU countries already rely on it for domestic e-invoicing. Software and service providers that already exchange EN 16931 invoices start from a stronger position, but each country's choices will shape the details. The basics are in what Peppol is.

What to do before 2030

1. Count your cross-border business sales. If you invoice VAT-registered customers in other EU countries, the 2030 change applies to you.
2. Get your customer data right. Valid VAT numbers, full legal names and complete addresses matter even more once invoices are checked as data.
3. Ask your invoicing provider about EN 16931. Find out whether your software can produce a compliant e-invoice, and how it will report.
4. Watch your own country's timeline. A national mandate may reach you well before 2030.
5. Keep an eye on the official guidance. The Commission publishes implementation material over time, and details will be added before 2030.

Frequently asked questions

Does ViDA apply to small businesses?

The Commission's ViDA pages frame the 2030 rules by transaction type and list no size threshold, so a small business that sells to business customers in other EU countries should check whether the rules apply to it as national guidance appears.

Does ViDA require Peppol?

No. ViDA requires invoices that follow the European standard, EN 16931, in an approved syntax. Peppol is one network that can carry such invoices, and several countries use it, but ViDA itself does not name a network.

Will EC Sales Lists disappear?

For intra-EU business sales, the Commission says digital reporting from July 2030 replaces the current recapitulative statement system. Until then, keep filing them as your country requires.

Can my country make e-invoicing compulsory before 2030?

Yes. Since ViDA entered into force on 14 April 2025, member states may introduce mandatory e-invoicing for domestic transactions under the conditions the package sets. Several are already doing so.