UK e-invoicing from April 2029: what is known so far

E-invoicing becomes compulsory for UK business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) invoices from April 2029. The government announced the date at Autumn Budget 2025, on 26 November 2025. As of 24 June 2026 there is no law and no technical specification, so nothing is required of you yet.

What was announced?

The government said UK B2B and B2G invoices must be e-invoices from April 2029. That is the whole of the firm news. The legislation and the technical detail are still to come, so the start date is announced but not yet law.

The open questions include the data format, how invoices will be exchanged, whether HMRC will receive a copy and which businesses go first. Anyone selling you a "2029 compliant" product today is guessing at a specification that does not exist.

Where things stood at 24 June 2026:

• Scope: B2B and B2G invoices in the UK.
• Start date: April 2029 (announced).
• Law: not yet.
• Technical rules: not yet published.
• Announced: Autumn Budget, 26 November 2025.

What is an e-invoice?

An e-invoice is structured data sent from one accounting system to another, not a document a person reads. A PDF attached to an email does not count. The buyer's software reads the supplier name, VAT number, line items, VAT rate and totals automatically, without anyone retyping them.

A PDF is not an e-invoice, even though it is electronic. Nor is a scanned paper invoice or a Word document saved as a PDF. Those are pictures of an invoice that a person, or a scanning tool, has to read.

Who this affects

On the announcement as it stands, any business that issues invoices to other businesses or to government bodies is caught. That includes sole traders and small limited companies that invoice trade customers. Sales to consumers are not part of the announcement.

How much work it means depends on how you invoice today.

• Accounting software: may mostly be a software update and new settings.
• Spreadsheet or word processor: a move to software before the start date.
• Paper, or PDFs by email: not e-invoices, so a move to software.
• Consumers only: not covered by the announcement.

From 24 June 2026 to April 2029 is about 33 months. That is enough time to change systems calmly, but not if you leave it to the final year.

What to do now

Nothing is required yet, and there is no point buying anything on the strength of a specification that has not been written. These jobs are worth doing whatever the final rules say:

• Ask your software supplier. Find out whether they plan to support UK e-invoicing and when. Their reply tells you whether they are paying attention.
• Clean up your customer records. Correct legal names, addresses and VAT numbers matter more when a machine reads them. For a refresher, see what is VAT.
• Move off spreadsheets and word-processor invoices. Switching to accounting software now gives you nearly three years to get used to it.
• Keep doing MTD for VAT properly. Our Making Tax Digital for VAT guide explains the current rules.

Until the legislation and technical rules are published, treat any claim of "e-invoicing compliance" as a sales pitch.

What has not changed

• Your invoices today. PDF and paper VAT invoices are still fine, because nothing new is law yet.
• MTD for VAT. It still applies to every VAT-registered business, as it has since April 2022.
• Consumer sales. They are outside the announcement.

How does it compare with the EU?

The EU is moving the same way, but on a later date. Its VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package brings e-invoicing and digital reporting for intra-EU B2B trade from 1 July 2030. If you sell to EU businesses, you may end up dealing with both systems.

For now, UK and EU e-invoicing are separate projects with separate dates. Do not assume one format will satisfy both until the UK detail is out. Our ViDA guide sets out the EU timetable.

Source

The government's earlier consultation and its updates are on gov.uk: Promoting electronic invoicing across UK businesses and the public sector.