Preparing VAT software for mandatory e-invoicing: What UK businesses must do now

What e-invoicing means

E-invoicing is the exchange of structured invoice data directly between the buyer's and the supplier's financial systems. The invoice is not a document to read but data that the customer's software can import without retyping.

Today, HMRC treats a PDF sent by email as an electronic invoice, as long as your customer agrees to receive invoices that way. From April 2029, a VAT invoice will have to be a structured e-invoice in the format the government sets out.

What is confirmed so far

• Start date: VAT invoices must be issued as e-invoices from 1 April 2029.
• Send and receive: VAT-registered businesses will need to be able to issue and receive e-invoices.
• Network: Peppol will be the core framework for exchanging e-invoices in the UK, with HMRC set to become the UK Peppol Authority.
• Law: Finance Bill 2026-27 gives HMRC powers to set the detailed rules in regulations.
• Your VAT return: the change covers the format and exchange of invoices, not your wider VAT obligations.
• Reporting to HMRC: not part of the April 2029 rules. HMRC is only consulting on whether invoice data could be reported in future, and no decision has been taken.

Who it applies to

Overseas businesses registered for UK VAT follow the same rules as UK businesses. The rules on when you must issue a VAT invoice do not change.

What Peppol is

Peppol is an international network for sending e-invoices between businesses. You join it through an "access point", usually built into your invoicing or accounting software, and you can then send e-invoices to, and receive them from, any other business on the network, whatever software they use. It works in a similar way to email, but for structured invoice data.

The government says many businesses already using accounting software can expect limited changes, with e-invoicing provided by their existing software. For those without suitable software, free or low-cost products are already available.

The official timeline

What to do now, and what to wait for

Do now:

• Check which of your sales need a VAT invoice, so you know how many invoices are in scope.
• Keep accurate customer details, including names, addresses and VAT numbers.
• Ask your invoicing or accounting software provider about their Peppol plans.
• If you invoice by hand or from a word processor, note that you will need software that can send e-invoices.

Wait for:

• The final standards and requirements, due between October 2027 and April 2028.
• Exemption details, if you cannot reasonably use computers or the internet.

There is no need to buy new software now for April 2029, as the detailed requirements are not yet set.

If you are digitally excluded

The government is developing an exemption for VAT-registered businesses that cannot reasonably use computers, software or the internet, for example because of age, health, disability, location or religious beliefs. It will follow the same approach as the Making Tax Digital exemption, with details by April 2028.

What does not change: your VAT return

E-invoicing changes how invoices are sent and received. You will still keep digital records, total your sales and purchases into the nine VAT boxes, and file your VAT return through Making Tax Digital software, just as you do now. Invoices from April 2029 will simply arrive as data rather than PDFs.

If you want a simple way to file your VAT return today, and after 2029, see how bridging software files from your spreadsheet.

Final thoughts

April 2029 is fixed, Peppol is confirmed and the detail arrives by April 2028. Use the time now to tidy your customer data and ask your invoicing software provider about their plans, but do not rush into buying anything before the standards are set. Your VAT return carries on as before.

Disclaimer: This guide gives general information, not advice for your business. The detailed e-invoicing rules have not yet been published, so check GOV.UK for updates.