The rules have kept changing since receiving e-invoices became mandatory in January 2025. When we find a change that affects one of your invoicing functions, we email the person on your team who looks after it, with what changed for them and where it says so.
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On 2 September 2026, KoSIT released new checks for XRechnung, one of Germany's two accepted e-invoice formats, so an invoice that passed validation in spring can fail now. We count it as one change, and it affects three of your invoicing functions at once.
KoSIT's XRechnung release of 2 September 2026: the release page, github.com
| 1 rule | ||
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing functions | ||
| Outbound invoicing | 1 | |
| Inbound invoicing | 1 | |
| Connectivity | 1 | |
| Tax engine | 0 | |
| Master data | 0 | |
| Archiving | 0 | |
| Total work items | 3 |
1 New XRechnung checks
What in this rule affects your outbound invoicing
A temporary check, BR-TMP-2, is now fatal, so an invoice you send that breaks it now fails the check and can be rejected, where in spring it would have passed. Invoices you receive are checked the same way, so one that breaks it now fails too, and four more temporary rules arrive as warnings, to be raised later. The release moves to Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.21.
One change, released on 2 September
Miss a change like it, and the first sign may be an invoice your customer rejects and a payment left waiting.
Germany was still changing its e-invoicing rules in late 2024, weeks before receiving e-invoices became mandatory on 1 January 2025, so companies had to get ready against rules that hadn't settled.
We've counted 12 changes to Germany's rules since January 2025, and the dates for issuing e-invoices are still ahead, by turnover, from 1 January 2027 above €800,000 of prior-year total turnover and from 1 January 2028 for the rest.We've counted 12 changes to Germany's rules since January 2025, and the duty to issue applies by turnover, from 1 January 2027 above €800,000 of prior-year total turnover and from 1 January 2028 for the rest.
Germany's rules come from Parliament through the law, from the finance ministry's letters and its FAQ, and from KoSIT and FeRD, the bodies behind XRechnung and ZUGFeRD, Germany's two accepted formats, each on its own calendar.
We've counted 22 changes since 1 January 2024, and this is where each of them came from.
None of the 12 changes since January 2025 came through the law, so anyone watching only the law would have missed all of them.
In Germany your invoices move through the software and partners you chose, on whatever route you agree with each customer and supplier, and each of them looks after its own part.
So checking that a change has reached all of it is likely left to you.
After your first message, we send you a form, about an hour's work, where you tell us who looks after each of your invoicing functions.
We then have a short call with whoever signs off on your side, so they know what each person will hear from us and what we don't do.
When we find a change, each person it affects hears from us what to check or prepare, and where it says so. We keep a record of each change we find and who we sent it to, so it never rests on one person remembering.
Give legal or tax advice. What we send is our reading of what a change means for your invoicing, with the source beside it so you can check it.
Look beyond our sources. We read 24 of Germany's sources every week, and we tell you about the changes we find there and nowhere else.
Decide for you. What to do about a change, and when, stays with you and the people who look after your invoicing.
Tell us who looks after your invoicing today, and whether that's one person, several, or a team for each function.
Thank you, your message is sent. You will get an answer by email.