Belgium's Peppol mandate for businesses billing with Stripe

By evoicely · Last checked 19 October 2026

Since 1 January 2026, invoices between businesses established in Belgium must be structured e-invoices, in principle sent over the Peppol network in the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format. A Stripe PDF, even emailed automatically, is no longer the legal invoice. You need to get a Peppol version of each Stripe invoice and credit note to your Belgian business customers.

The rules in short

• Who: businesses established in Belgium, invoicing other Belgian businesses.
  • This includes businesses using the small-business VAT exemption scheme.
  • VAT-registered businesses that aren't established in Belgium are outside the obligation.
  • Invoices to consumers are out of scope.
• When: every in-scope invoice drawn up from 1 January 2026, even for a sale made before that date.
• Format and channel: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (UBL) over Peppol is the standard.
  • You may also send a PDF or paper copy, but only the structured e-invoice is the legal invoice.
  • Your customer can't reject an invoice because no PDF was attached.
• If your customer isn't reachable on Peppol: you may use another secure electronic method you both agree on. That invoice is valid, and the customer is the one at risk of a penalty.
• Penalties: both a supplier who isn't ready and a customer who can't receive risk penalties.

Source: einvoice.belgium.be: From when is e-invoicing mandatory? and its B2B FAQ (FPS Finance).

How Peppol delivery works

Peppol is a network of certified access points. You don't connect to your customer directly. Your access point looks up the customer's identifier in the Peppol directory (SMP) and delivers to their access point. Two things follow from that:

• You need an access point. You can use one directly through its API, or through an app or accounting tool that uses one. Becoming an access point yourself requires OpenPeppol certification, which rarely makes sense for a small business.
• You need your customer's Peppol identifier. For Belgian companies this is usually derived from their enterprise number (KBO/BCE), using scheme 0208, for example 0208:0123456789. FPS Finance advises against asking customers for it; you can look it up in the Peppol Directory using the enterprise or VAT number.

Getting a Stripe invoice onto Peppol

Stripe Invoicing doesn't generate or transmit e-invoices itself (Stripe docs). The steps are:

1. Collect the identifiers. Put the customer's VAT number in Stripe tax_ids. Stripe has no Peppol ID field, so store it in Customer metadata (Stripe suggests peppol_participant_id) or look it up from the enterprise number.
2. Convert. Map the Stripe invoice to Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 UBL. Lines, VAT categories, discounts and rounding must pass both the EN 16931 rules and the Peppol rules. Stripe credit notes become UBL credit notes that reference the original invoice.
3. Validate. Check the file against the Peppol BIS 3.0 schematrons before sending. Access points reject invalid documents.
4. Send. Send through your access point, then record the delivery status and any rejection.
5. Archive. Keep the UBL file, which is the legal invoice.

Your options are a Stripe Marketplace app that does all of this (Stripe's preferred partner, Billit, is Belgian; there are others), an access-point API wired to Stripe webhooks, or your own code on top of an access point.

Common questions

Do I also need to receive invoices over Peppol?

Yes. In-scope Belgian businesses must also be able to receive structured e-invoices, so in practice you'll want to be reachable on Peppol too.

My company is outside Belgium but has Belgian customers. Does this apply?

Not if you have no establishment in Belgium. Some Belgian customers may still prefer receiving invoices over Peppol, and the EU's ViDA package extends e-invoicing to cross-border B2B from 2030.

Can I keep emailing the Stripe PDF as well?

Yes, as a courtesy copy. It just isn't the invoice anymore.

Where evoicely fits

Peppol BIS 3.0 via an established access point is evoicely's planned second format, after the German formats. evoicely will convert each Stripe invoice and credit note, validate it, send it, and keep the file with its validation report. It's planned, not available yet. Join the waitlist.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check what applies to your business with your tax advisor.