Plain-English guide

E-invoicing is coming. What does your business need to do?

From November 2028 invoices between Irish businesses start moving to a structured electronic format. Most small businesses have time, but every business will need to be able to receive them.

4 min read · Last reviewed 24 Sep 2026

An e-invoice is not a PDF attached to an email. It is a data file in a European standard format (EN 16931), sent through the Peppol network straight from one accounting system into another, with the key details reported to Revenue at the same time. PDFs and scanned invoices will not count once a business is in scope.

The timeline

1 Nov 2028Large corporates (businesses whose tax affairs Revenue's Large Corporates Division manages) must send e-invoices for domestic business-to-business sales and report them in real time. From the same date every business must be able to receive e-invoices.
Nov 2029The obligation extends to all VAT-registered businesses that trade with businesses in other EU countries.
1 Jul 2030EU-wide (ViDA): e-invoicing and digital reporting for sales between businesses in different EU countries, with invoices due within 10 days of the sale.

Sources: Revenue, implementation of e-invoicing (8 Oct 2025); Revenue press release (10 Feb 2026). Revenue has not yet published the full technical specifications, and it is still exploring a free option for small businesses to receive e-invoices. This page is reviewed every six months.

Two-minute check

What does your business need to do?

Answer five questions to see your plan. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Is your business VAT registered?
Do you sell to businesses (not only to the public)?
Do you sell to businesses in other EU countries?
Has Revenue told you that the Large Corporates Division manages your tax affairs?
How do you keep your books?
M.A. Whately clients can ask the practice to check their software and add the deadlines that apply to them to their Compliance Calendar.