In January 2026, EY published the report "ViDA e-invoicing and digital reporting" commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Finance. The 161-page report answers two core questions: which infrastructure should the Netherlands use for e-invoicing and digital reporting under ViDA, and what should the broader implementation look like? The conclusion is clear: Peppol is the recommended infrastructure, and the first legislative steps are expected by late 2026.

The Dutch government presented the report to Parliament in February 2026 and announced a public consultation in the fourth quarter of 2026. This makes the path towards mandatory e-invoicing in the Netherlands concrete.

The EU adopted the ViDA package (VAT in the Digital Age) in March 2025. This obliges all member states to introduce cross-border e-invoicing and digital reporting (DRR) by 1 July 2030 at the latest. Member states may also introduce a domestic mandate on top of that. The Ministry of Finance asked EY to investigate how the Netherlands can best approach this.

EY examined three models for the Dutch infrastructure:

Virtually all interviewed parties (businesses, government, software vendors) expressed a preference for Peppol. This is logical: the Dutch national government already receives approximately 1.2 million e-invoices per year via Peppol, with less than 1% technical error rate. The infrastructure is proven, available and scalable.

The report proposes an ambitious but achievable timeline:

Important: the public consultation in Q4 2026 has been confirmed by the Dutch government in its decision note. This is the first concrete political signal that the Netherlands is genuinely moving towards a mandate.

The report contains striking figures about the Dutch market that underscore the urgency of structured e-invoicing.

E-invoicing delivers significant savings compared to paper or PDF invoices. Per sent invoice, a business saves an average of EUR 5,28, per received invoice as much as EUR 8,40. Given the total Dutch invoice volume of approximately 1.8 to 2 billion invoices per year, the potential saving amounts to EUR 10 to 12 billion. In Italy, where e-invoicing has been mandatory since 2019, the VAT gap decreased by 25%.

At the same time, the report shows that a large part of the business community is not yet ready:

• Only 33 to 35% of SMEs regularly use invoicing software
• 37% of freelancers do their bookkeeping in Excel
• 76 to 78% of SMEs are not aware of Peppol
• 66 to 72% are not aware of the ViDA regulations

The Netherlands has approximately 2.38 million businesses, of which 1.55 million are self-employed. Around 750,000 freelancers are active in the B2B or B2G segment. The gap between potential savings and current adoption makes clear that there is an enormous opportunity for those who start now.

Only 38.6% of invoices to large enterprises are paid on time, compared to over 80% for micro-businesses. Standardised e-invoicing enables automatic matching (purchase order, delivery and invoice), shortens approval processes and can reduce payment terms by 5 to 7 days. The larger the company, the greater the benefit from automated invoice processing.

The report makes a number of concrete technical recommendations:

• EN 16931 as the only standard: no alternative invoice standards alongside the European norm
• Both UBL and CII permitted: businesses choose their preferred syntax
• No consent requirement: the recipient does not need to consent to receiving e-invoices (this expires anyway on 1 July 2030 under ViDA)
• No additional fields: no Dutch additions on top of the ViDA requirements
• Do not introduce ICA reporting: instead, shorten the VAT return period from quarterly to monthly

The report advises exempting a number of groups (temporarily):

• Small business scheme entrepreneurs (250,000 to 300,000 businesses under the small business regulation)
• Entrepreneurs with more than 90% B2C turnover (cash accounting)
• Exempt supplies in sectors such as healthcare, education and financial services, possibly with a later implementation date
• Domestic purchase side: only the supplier reports, not the recipient
• Internal and deemed supplies

Belgium introduced mandatory B2B e-invoicing via Peppol on 1 January 2026. The EY report describes the implementation experiences: invoices not reaching the recipient, software problems with new service providers, and questions from accountants about the transition period. The problems do not lie with Peppol itself, but with the inexperience of service providers that have only recently become active. The number of Peppol service providers in Belgium grew to around 300 after the mandate.

The lesson for the Netherlands: choose a service provider with proven experience in Peppol. The difference between a provider that has been active for years and a newcomer can be significant, especially in the early phase.

Whether you are a freelancer or run a large company, the direction is clear. E-invoicing via Peppol is becoming the standard in the Netherlands. The question is no longer if, but when. Businesses that switch to structured e-invoicing now already save costs and will be ready when the mandate takes effect.

eConnect actively follows the developments around the draft legislation and informs customers as soon as concrete changes are coming. The PSB is already ViDA-ready and offers automatic DRR reporting as soon as it becomes mandatory.

Want to prepare for mandatory e-invoicing? Start today with the free Invoice Portal and experience how simple e-invoicing via Peppol is.

• E-invoicing in the Netherlands: what is mandatory?
• What is ViDA?
• E-invoicing and Digital Reporting Requirements
• ViDA timeline and country overview
• E-invoicing in Belgium
• What is Peppol and how does the network work?