The first and most important pillar of ViDA revolves around e-invoicing and digital reporting. From 1 July 2030, structured e-invoicing becomes mandatory for all cross-border B2B transactions within the EU, including the obligation to digitally report invoice data to tax authorities. This is the most significant change that ViDA brings.

The legal framework is laid down in three legal texts published in the Official Journal of the EU on 25 March 2025: Directive EU 2025/516, Regulation EU 2025/517 and Implementing Regulation EU 2025/518.

Currently, many businesses still send cross-border invoices as PDF or paper and periodically file an EC Sales List (Intracommunity Transactions) with the tax authority. ViDA replaces this model entirely.

From 2030, every intra-EU B2B transaction will require:

1. The invoice must be a structured e-invoice based on the EN 16931 standard. A PDF will no longer qualify as a valid invoice document for these transactions.
2. The sender reports invoice data within 10 days of issuance to the tax authority (Digital Reporting).
3. The recipient reports receipt within 5 days of receiving the e-invoice. This is a prerequisite for VAT recovery.
4. The EC Sales List is abolished. The periodic listing becomes redundant as reporting data is derived directly from e-invoices.

DRR covers a broad range of cross-border transactions:

• Intracommunity supplies and acquisitions of goods
• Cross-border services (including B2B services with reverse charge)
• Triangular transactions (triangulation)
• Energy trading (gas, electricity, heating, cooling)

Domestic transactions are not covered by the EU-wide obligation for the time being. However, member states may introduce a national DRR regime, and many are already doing so or planning to. In the Netherlands, EY advised in January 2026 to introduce mandatory DRR for domestic transactions from 1 January 2032.

EN 16931 is the European standard for the semantic data model of e-invoices. Originally developed for B2G invoicing (business-to-government), this standard is now being adapted for B2B use under ViDA.

On 13 February 2026, the European standardisation body CEN formally approved the update of EN 16931-1. The key changes for ViDA are three new mandatory data elements:

1. Sender bank account (IBAN): the bank account number of the invoicing party becomes mandatory.
2. Payment schedule: for partial payments, the agreed dates and amounts must be included.
3. Corrective invoice reference: for credit notes and corrective invoices, a sequence number and reference to the original invoice must be provided.

The working group CEN TC 434 coordinates these adaptations. The Netherlands participates in this working group via NEN. Peppol BIS Billing V3, the invoice format used on the Peppol network, is already based on EN 16931 and will be updated to support these new elements.

ViDA effectively introduces the Peppol 5-corner model as the architecture for European e-invoicing with digital reporting. In the current 4-corner model, the sender transmits an invoice via two Access Points to the recipient. The 5-corner model adds a fifth corner: the tax authority.

Sender ──▶ Access Point (C2) ──▶ Access Point (C3) ──▶ Recipient
                    │                        │
                    └──▶ Tax authority ◀──────┘
                          (Corner 5)

With every invoice, a summary (the DRR message) is automatically sent to the tax authority. Because both the sending and receiving member state receive the data, a 100% match between sales and purchase transactions becomes possible. This makes VAT carousel fraud (where invoices are fabricated or duplicated) virtually impossible.

The 5-corner model is already operational in countries such as France (via PPF/PA), Slovakia, and the UAE. ViDA makes it the EU-wide standard.

The current EC Sales List is a periodic listing (monthly or quarterly) that businesses file with the tax authority for intracommunity transactions. This system has an important weakness: there is a delay of weeks to months between the transaction and the report, creating room for fraud.

ViDA DRR replaces the EC Sales List with continuous reporting directly from e-invoices. The transition happens automatically: as soon as you send invoices via a ViDA-compliant channel, the reporting data is included and the separate EC Sales List is no longer needed.

The EY report on ViDA implementation in the Netherlands advises against introducing the optional ICA reporting (5-day reporting for intra-community acquisitions) by 2030. As an alternative, the report proposes shortening the VAT return period from quarterly to monthly. The ongoing 5-corner Peppol pilot, in which the Dutch Tax Authority participates, could make this reporting redundant by giving the Tax Authority direct access to transaction data via Peppol.

The reported data is stored in a renewed EU-wide VIES system (VAT Information Exchange System). This system is being expanded with:

• A central transaction database for all DRR reports
• Integration with CESOP (payment data) and customs systems
• Automated cross-checks between member states

The first version of the renewed VIES is expected in 2027.

An important detail: under ViDA, the recipient no longer needs to consent to receiving e-invoices. Currently, businesses in some member states can refuse e-invoices and demand a paper invoice. ViDA abolishes this option for transactions covered by DRR. An e-invoice complying with EN 16931 is automatically legally valid.

Although the EU-wide DRR obligation only applies from 2030 for cross-border transactions, member states are free to go earlier and broader. Many countries are already introducing national e-invoicing and reporting obligations:

By 1 January 2035 at the latest, all national systems must be aligned with the ViDA standard.

See the country pages for details per country.

On 24 September 2025, the European Commission published an Implementation Strategy with a roadmap and action items for the DRR rollout. In October 2025, Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra hosted an Implementation Dialogue with 38 stakeholders, where the need for a harmonised DRR transmission model was the central theme. Participants stressed that member states should not each develop their own reporting format, but that a coordinated approach is needed. SMEs called for attention to the impact of the new obligations on smaller organisations.

If you already invoice via Peppol, you have a head start. Your invoices already comply with EN 16931 and are sent via the network that forms the basis for the 5-corner model. The PSB of eConnect will be updated to handle DRR reporting automatically as soon as the obligation takes effect.

In practice, little changes for you: you continue sending invoices as you are used to. The additional reporting to tax authorities runs behind the scenes. The PSB determines based on the recipient and transaction type whether DRR reporting is required and handles it automatically.

Want to know if your invoicing process is ready for the DRR obligation? Get in touch.

• What is ViDA?
• Continuous reporting and CTC models
• Implementation timeline and country overview
• Peppol BIS Billing V3
• What is Peppol and how does the network work?
• EY report ViDA: the Netherlands heads towards mandatory e-invoicing