Why VAT is becoming a technology project
The EU’s VAT in the Digital Age package – ViDA – was adopted on 11 March 2025 and consists of Directive (EU) 2025/516 together with accompanying regulations. It is the largest change to EU VAT since the single market, and it does something unusual: it turns a tax obligation into a systems obligation. Invoices stop being documents you produce and become structured data you transmit.
The dates look distant. They are not. Companies that sell across borders will need e-invoicing capability, master data that is actually correct, and ERP systems that can report near-real-time. Those are procurement and IT programmes, and they take years, not quarters.
The three pillars of ViDA
1. Digital reporting and e-invoicing
From 1 July 2030, structured electronic invoices become the rule for intra-EU cross-border B2B transactions, with transaction data reported digitally to tax authorities. The paper-and-PDF era ends for those flows. By 1 January 2035, member states with their own domestic real-time reporting systems must align them with the EU model.
2. The platform economy
From 1 July 2028, platforms facilitating short-term accommodation rental and passenger transport by road become deemed suppliers for VAT purposes where the underlying supplier does not charge VAT – meaning the platform collects and remits it. Member states may defer this to 1 January 2030. If you run a marketplace in these sectors, the VAT liability moves onto your balance sheet.
3. Single VAT registration
Also from 1 July 2028, the One Stop Shop is extended and a mandatory reverse charge is introduced for supplies by businesses not identified in the member state of taxation. The aim is that companies should be able to trade across the EU with one VAT registration instead of a dozen.
What has already changed
One change took effect immediately: member states no longer need a derogation from the Commission to make domestic e-invoicing mandatory, and they no longer need to obtain the buyer’s acceptance for an e-invoice. That is why national mandates are now spreading quickly across Europe. In practice, most companies will meet e-invoicing through a national mandate before the 2030 EU deadline ever bites.
Practical example: a Swedish company selling into three EU markets
A Swedish manufacturer sells B2B into Germany, France and Poland. Today it issues PDFs from its ERP, registers for VAT locally where required, and files returns through a local agent in each country.
Under ViDA, that company will need to issue structured invoices in a compliant format for its cross-border sales, transmit transaction data to the tax authority, and check whether its local registrations can be collapsed into a single VAT registration once the reverse charge and extended OSS arrive in 2028. It will also discover something uncomfortable: the reporting only works if customer VAT numbers, addresses and product classifications in the ERP are clean. Data quality becomes a compliance issue.
Common mistakes companies make
Reading 2030 as the deadline. National e-invoicing mandates arrive far earlier. Your operational deadline is set by the countries you sell into, not by Brussels.
Treating this as the finance team’s problem. ViDA touches the ERP, the invoicing engine, master data and integrations. Without IT, finance cannot deliver it.
Assuming your invoicing software is ready. “We can send a PDF by email” is not e-invoicing. Structured formats and transmission channels are the requirement.
Marketplaces ignoring the deemed supplier rules. If you facilitate accommodation or road passenger transport, VAT collection may become your legal obligation in 2028.
Recommended actions
Map every country you sell into and the e-invoicing mandate status in each. Ask your ERP or invoicing vendor for a concrete ViDA roadmap with dates, and put it in the contract. Run a data-quality review of customer VAT numbers, addresses and product codes. Model whether single VAT registration would let you close local registrations from 2028. If you operate a platform in the affected sectors, model the deemed supplier scenario now – the cash-flow and pricing effects are material.
Frequently asked questions
Does ViDA apply to domestic invoices in Sweden?
The EU digital reporting obligation targets intra-EU cross-border B2B supplies. Domestic e-invoicing is a matter for national law – but ViDA removed the barriers to member states making it mandatory, which is why domestic mandates are spreading.
Are small companies exempt?
There is no general small-business exemption from the cross-border e-invoicing requirements. If you make intra-EU B2B supplies, you are in scope.
What counts as a compliant e-invoice?
A structured electronic invoice that can be processed automatically, in line with the European standard on electronic invoicing. A PDF attached to an email does not qualify.
Conclusion
ViDA rewards companies that start early and punishes the ones that wait for the deadline year. The winners will be those whose invoicing data is clean, whose systems can transmit structured invoices, and who used the reform to reduce the number of VAT registrations they maintain. The rest will be firefighting in 2030 – and paying for it.
Lawgent helps companies establish, sell and scale across Europe on solid legal ground – including the VAT, invoicing and contractual changes that come with ViDA. Book a free first hour and we will map what applies to your markets.
