E-invoicing mandate: what applies to Stripe users

Since 2025, Germany has had an e-invoicing mandate for invoices between domestic businesses. It is introduced in stages. This page summarizes the situation as of October 2026; it is not a substitute for tax advice.

The dates

Exceptions: invoices up to €250 (small-amount invoices) and travel tickets. Small businesses under § 19 UStG (Kleinunternehmer) do not have to issue e-invoices, but must be able to receive them. Invoices to consumers are not affected.

The legal basis is § 14 UStG as amended by the Growth Opportunities Act (Wachstumschancengesetz), with the transitional rule in § 27 (38) UStG. How the tax authorities interpret the rules is set out in the letters of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) of October 15, 2024, October 15, 2025 and October 15, 2026.

What counts as an e-invoice

An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured format under the European standard EN 16931 that software can read without retyping:

• XRechnung, the German standard from KoSIT, as UBL or CII
• ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1, or Factur-X, a PDF with embedded XML, in the profiles EN 16931, EXTENDED and XRECHNUNG. The MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles do not count.

A PDF alone is not an e-invoice, and neither is the PDF that Stripe creates for every invoice. For a ZUGFeRD PDF, the embedded XML is what counts; the visible part must not contradict it.

How the invoice reaches the customer

The law prescribes the format, not the channel. An email with the XML file is enough, as is a download portal or an interface. Peppol is not required for invoices between German businesses. A government reporting system for invoice data has been announced for the years from 2030, but has not been enacted yet.

What the invoice must contain

The mandatory details under § 14 (4) UStG still apply and must be in the structured part: name and address of both parties, tax number or VAT ID, invoice date and number, quantity and type of the goods or service, date or period of supply, the net amount broken down by tax rate, the tax amount and, where applicable, a note on a tax exemption or reverse charge. For invoices issued after December 31, 2027, businesses that account for VAT on a cash basis must add the note "Versteuerung nach vereinnahmten Entgelten" (taxation based on payments received). Corrective invoices must also be e-invoices.

Retention

Since the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (Viertes Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz), invoices must be kept for eight instead of ten years, unalterable and machine-readable. For e-invoices, the structured XML must be kept; the PDF only in addition if it contains tax-relevant details that are missing from the XML.

What this means for Stripe users

Stripe creates invoices as PDFs. For your business customers in Germany, you will need an e-invoice in addition by 2027 or 2028 at the latest. You do not have to replace Stripe for that:

1. BelegDock creates an XRechnung from every finalized Stripe invoice, with the same number and the same amounts.
2. The official KoSIT validator checks it before it is sent.
3. Your customer receives the Stripe PDF and the XRechnung in one email; the XML is also kept in your workspace.

Which invoice cases BelegDock covers and which it stops is on the scope page. What it costs is under Pricing.

Sources

• § 14 UStG and § 27 UStG (in German)
• XRechnung: versions and validity (KoSIT, in German)
• ZUGFeRD (Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland)
• BMF letters on the introduction of mandatory e-invoicing of October 15, 2024, October 15, 2025 and October 15, 2026 on bundesfinanzministerium.de

This page is a summary, not tax or legal advice. For your individual case, ask your tax advisor.