Peppol in Belgium: why invoices from your foreign subscriptions still don't arrive on their own

Updated on 2026-10-11 · Paperkeep

Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses exchange structured electronic invoices, usually over the Peppol network. Invoices from your Belgian suppliers therefore land directly in your accounting software. Invoices for online subscriptions billed from abroad do not: you still have to fetch them yourself.

1. What the rule says

The obligation applies between a Belgian VAT-registered supplier and a Belgian VAT-registered customer. The official e-invoicing website states that taxable persons not established in Belgium, without a permanent establishment, are not subject to the obligation, even if they are identified for VAT in Belgium.

Source: Who has to use e-invoicing? (FPS Finance, e-invoicing website, in French).

2. What it changes for you

• Belgian supplier (telecom, energy, accountant, Belgian hosting company): the invoice arrives through Peppol in your software. Nothing to do.
• Supplier established abroad (a lot of software, online tools and advertising platforms bill from another country): the invoice remains a PDF, or just a receipt, in the billing area of your account.

To know which case applies, look at the issuer's address on an old invoice. If in doubt, it is up to the supplier to tell you whether it has a permanent establishment in Belgium.

3. The invoices you still have to fetch

They are often small monthly amounts paid by card: online work tools, storage, domain names, advertising, software subscriptions. One by one they are minor; over a quarter, they are the documents your accountant asks for most often.

1. List your subscriptions from your card statements.
2. For each one, open the “Billing” page of the account.
3. Download the invoices for the period and name them: date, vendor, amount.
4. Send the folder to your accountant with the rest.

4. Doing it in one click

Paperkeep is a free Chrome extension. On a service's billing page, click its icon: it finds the invoices, downloads them and names them, for example 2026-09-06_service_15-00EUR.pdf, in Downloads › Factures. Nothing leaves your computer: no account, no server.

Install Paperkeep (free)

And later?

The European Union plans to extend electronic invoicing to transactions between member states around 2030. Until then, and for suppliers outside the Union, the PDF to download remains the rule.

This page gives general information and does not replace your accountant's advice.