Germany 2027: who must issue e-invoices and how to prepare

German businesses have had to be able to receive domestic B2B e-invoices since 1 January 2025. Issuing becomes mandatory in two steps: from 1 January 2027 for companies with turnover above EUR 800,000, and from 1 January 2028 for everyone else. The common formats are XRechnung, a pure XML format, and ZUGFeRD, a PDF with XML inside. Sales to consumers are not covered. If your WooCommerce store is established in Germany, the next deadline is closer than it looks: January 2027 is one quarter away from the end of this year’s planning.

The three dates that matter

Germany chose a gentler model than Poland or Italy: there is no central clearance platform. Invoices go directly between businesses, by email or through a network such as Peppol, as long as the file itself is a compliant structured invoice.

XRechnung and ZUGFeRD

Both are built on the European standard EN 16931.

XRechnung is XML only. It is the standard for invoices to German public authorities and works for B2B as well.

ZUGFeRD is hybrid: a PDF that a person can read with the structured XML embedded inside the file. For stores whose customers still want to see a document, ZUGFeRD is usually the easier sell, because nothing changes visually.

A PDF without embedded XML is not an e-invoice under these rules, no matter how neatly it is designed.

What to prepare in WooCommerce

The data requirements are the same as elsewhere in Europe, so work done for one mandate is not wasted.

• USt-IdNr or Steuernummer for business customers, collected at checkout and validated.
• Structured company data: legal name, street, postal code, city and country in separate fields.
• Tax categories with reasons for exempt, zero-rated and reverse charge sales.
• Payment terms and bank details as fields, not as a paragraph at the bottom of the invoice.
• Sequential numbering with a clear series for corrections.

Flexible Invoices issues invoices, proformas and corrections from WooCommerce orders, validates EU VAT numbers in VIES and applies reverse charge. If you decide to send invoices over Peppol rather than by email, the PEPPOL for Flexible Invoices PRO add-on generates UBL (XML) files in the Peppol standard from the invoice edit screen.

January 2027 is closer than it looks. Get your invoice data in order now with Flexible Invoices PRO, EUR 59 a year for one site, and test structured output before the deadline, not during it.

A realistic timeline for a small store

1. Now: confirm which year applies to you, based on last year’s turnover.
2. October to November 2026: fix checkout data and tax configuration.
3. December 2026: issue test invoices in your chosen format and have your accountant read them.
4. From January 2027: if you are in the first group, issue structured invoices for all domestic B2B sales.
5. During 2027: keep an eye on rejected or disputed invoices and adjust templates.

FAQ

• Do I have to issue e-invoices in 2026? No. Issuing starts in 2027 or 2028 depending on turnover. Receiving has been mandatory since 2025.
• How is the EUR 800,000 threshold measured? By turnover in the previous calendar year. Confirm the details with your tax adviser, because the classification decides your start date.
• Does this apply to sales to consumers? No. Only domestic B2B transactions are covered.
• Can I send e-invoices by email? Yes. Germany does not require a central platform, so email delivery of a compliant file is acceptable. Networks such as Peppol are an option, not an obligation.
• Is ZUGFeRD better than XRechnung? Neither is better. ZUGFeRD keeps a human-readable PDF, XRechnung is lighter to process. Ask your main business customers which they prefer.
• What if a customer sends me an invoice I cannot open? You are required to be able to receive structured invoices. If your accounting software cannot read them, that is the gap to fix first.