What You Need to Know About the Upcoming E-Reporting Developments in Belgium

E-Invoicing has become a prominent area of development around Europe. However, recently it has also become equally prominent that e-invoicing is only a stepping stone for a larger overhaul of VAT reporting in the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) reform.

Belgium is the latest country to reinforce this point with their recent approval of a pre-draft law to introduce mandatory electronic reporting (e-reporting) of domestic B2B transactions following a successful rollout of mandatory domestic B2B e-invoicing in Belgium to align with their obligations under ViDA. This expands the requirement for businesses to simply exchange structured e-invoices to the transmission of key invoice data to the Belgian tax authority in near real-time.

This sparks much consideration for businesses operating in Belgium, but also across the EU, who must be fully prepared for the upcoming developments in line with the EU’s ViDA reform.

How Belgium is preparing for ViDA

Although the draft law still requires final formal approval, the implementation of near-real time electronic VAT reporting in Belgium is scheduled for the 1st of January 2028. This shift will completely change how businesses interact with the tax administration. By leveraging the existing Peppol network framework, Belgium is phasing out slow, periodic compliance in favour of continuous transaction controls (CTC).

Belgium’s approach to tax digitalisation is deliberately sequential, building each phase directly upon the infrastructure of the previous one.

1. The 2026 Mandate (Live): Mandatory structured B2B e-invoicing took effect, making it illegal to use standard emails or PDFs for domestic transactions. Invoices must now follow the standard Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (UBL) format.
2. The 2028 Evolution (Upcoming): The tax administration will introduce near real-time VAT reporting. Businesses will automatically transmit a standardised subset of mandatory invoice data to the tax authorities almost immediately after issuance.

However, this approach to e-reporting is not exclusive to Belgium and is increasingly being witnessed across the EU!

How will these changes operate in practice?

Instead of waiting weeks or months to report VAT, transaction data will be sent directly to the Belgian tax authorities shortly after invoices are issued and received.

The current e-invoicing framework in Belgium transmits invoices between two businesses (via Access Points). For e-reporting in 2028, the tax administration will essentially join as a fifth “corner,” receiving specific invoice data near-live.

E-reporting will be required for both sides of the transaction, the seller and the buyer, who will each be required to e-report the necessary transaction data which will allow the tax office to cross-reference data and dramatically cut down on VAT fraud.

 Key Benefits of Near Real-Time Reporting

 The introduction of near-live reporting offers major upgrades for both the public treasury and private enterprises:

– This new system will officially abolish the annual client listing report

– The government designed this framework to target fraud and close Belgium’s compliance gap

– By utilizing the Peppol framework and anchoring data specifications to European standard EN 16931, Belgium aligns itself perfectly with the EU’s impending ViDA reporting rules.

 How can you prepare?

If you foresee these developments in enough time, prepare sufficiently, and have the correct systems in place, these changes can also be a real benefit by modernising VAT processes, improving operational efficiency, reducing potential for errors, and ensuring VAT reporting is done in a smooth, transparent manner.

However, there is also an important principle to bear in mind: rubbish in equals rubbish out. Even the most sophisticated e-reporting platform will only ever be as good as the data it receives. If inaccurate, incomplete, or inconsistent data is generated by your ERP system, it will inevitably lead to reporting errors, compliance risks, and additional administrative effort.

There is no doubt that these proposals may provide major challenges for internal ERP systems such as SAP. While SAP provides robust VAT functionality, standard VAT determination is not always sufficient to deal with complex or evolving VAT requirements. Without the appropriate configuration and ongoing maintenance, businesses risk generating incorrect VAT treatments, resulting in inaccurate invoice data that can flow directly into e-invoicing and e-reporting platforms. As e-reporting authorities increasingly validate transaction data in real time, the principle of “rubbish in, rubbish out” becomes especially relevant as poor SAP VAT determination can quickly lead to compliance errors, rejected submissions, and increased administrative effort.

This is where experienced VAT specialists can add real value by combining technical expertise with practical implementation support to ensure businesses can navigate all VAT compliance developments smoothly while optimising their internal processes.

Meridian has extensive experience in supporting businesses with VAT compliance in the ever-changing ViDA landscape and implementing SAP solutions to assist with data flowing to your e-invoicing or e-reporting solution across the EU.

If you require any assistance in understanding how these upcoming e-reporting developments may affect your business or would like further information in regard to the SAP solutions we offer, please get in touch and we would be delighted to help!