The mandatory introduction of e-invoicing for all VAT-registered businesses
selling to UK business customers from April 2029 will be a fundamental change,
says the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).
The government announced the requirement in the Autumn Budget 2025 policy
documents.
It said: 'Continued collaboration between the government and the private sector
is essential for driving innovation. To drive productivity further, the
government will require the use of electronic invoicing for all VAT invoices for
business-to-business and business-to-government transactions from 2029, with a
roadmap to be published at Budget 2026.'
The CIOT is cautioning the government against rushing into mandatory e-invoicing,
calling for the use of thresholds and staged implementation to try to mitigate
the impact of such significant digital change.
E-invoicing is a digital exchange of invoice information directly between the
supplier and customer's accounting systems; invoices sent electronically by
email with a pdf or jpeg format attachment will no longer suffice.
CIOT spokesperson Alison Kerrey said:
'E-invoicing is a fundamental change for businesses. This goes further than
Making Tax Digital, because it is not just digital record keeping, it is
communicating digitally with customers and suppliers.
'We are particularly concerned that those businesses that only issue and
receive a handful of invoices per year will face disproportionate costs.
'The CIOT support moves to increase the adoption of e-invoicing. But if there
is to be a mandate, there need to be real benefits to HMRC and UK businesses
and sensible, realistic implementation.'
Internet link: CIOT