E-invoice deadlines in construction: which date applies to you

You have had to be able to receive e-invoices (E-Rechnung) since 1 January 2025, and there is no transition period for that. You must issue them from 1 January 2027 if your total turnover in the previous year was above 800,000 euros, and from 1 January 2028 in all other cases. A PDF file sent by email is not an e-invoice.

Receiving: since 2025 with no transition period

Under the BMF letter of 15 October 2024 (a circular of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Bundesministerium der Finanzen), no transition rule applies to receiving, and it has had to be ensured since 1 January 2025 (para. 62; “para.” stands for the numbered paragraphs, Randnummern, of the letter). The requirement is low. It is enough to provide an email inbox, and it does not have to be a separate inbox just for invoices (para. 40).

According to the letter, anyone who does not accept an e-invoice or cannot read it technically has no claim to a replacement invoice in another form. The issuer has met their obligation if they have demonstrably tried to transmit the invoice (para. 42).

Issuing: two key dates and a turnover threshold

The transition rules are in section 27(38) of the German VAT Act (Umsatzsteuergesetz, UStG). They distinguish by year and by turnover:

• Until 31 December 2026: for supplies made in 2025 or 2026, paper is still allowed, as is another electronic format, for example a PDF, if the recipient agrees. The invoice must be sent by that day.
• Until 31 December 2027: for supplies made in 2027, paper or, with consent, another format may still be used if the issuer’s total turnover in the previous year was no more than 800,000 euros. Here too the invoice must be sent by the end of the period.
• From 1 January 2028: the transition rules expire.

Anyone whose total turnover in 2026 was above 800,000 euros must therefore issue an e-invoice for supplies from 1 January 2027. Anyone below that has until the end of 2027. Total turnover is calculated on the basis of consideration received (section 19(2) UStG), and in a tax group (Organschaft) the whole group counts (BMF 2024, para. 64). Your tax adviser (Steuerberater) can give you the figure.

An example with invented figures: a business with a total turnover of 780,000 euros in 2026 may still send PDF invoices for supplies made in 2027, but needs an e-invoice for supplies from 2028. A business with 850,000 euros must switch for supplies from 1 January 2027. From 2028 the threshold no longer matters.

Two conditions apply at the same time. The supply must have been made in the period named, and the invoice must be sent within the respective deadline: by the end of 2026 for supplies in 2025 and 2026, by the end of 2027 for supplies in 2027 (section 27(38) nos. 1 and 2 UStG, BMF 2024, paras 63 and 64). On the wording, a PDF sent in January 2027 for a service performed in December 2026 no longer falls under the first stage. It does not fall under the second either, because the service lies before 2027. The BMF letter does not address this case. For that reason, send invoices for services from 2026 within the same year where you can. When a construction service counts as performed, for example for partial services and acceptance, is for your tax adviser to clarify.

Position in November 2026: no postponement decided

The German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks, ZDH) has demanded since 22 June 2026 that the obligation be moved from 1 January 2027 to 1 January 2028. That is a demand, not a decision. Section 27(38) UStG, in the version retrieved on 13 November 2026, still names the key dates at the end of 2026 and the end of 2027. The BMF lists the same deadlines in its questions and answers as of 29 October 2026 (question 11). Answering a written question in the Bundestag on 21 July 2026, the federal government said it knew of no considerations by the legislature to change the rule and currently did not assume a postponement (Drucksache 21/7311, question 9). No amending law turned up in the official sources retrieved. Plan on the basis of the law as it stands.

What is not an e-invoice

An e-invoice holds its details in a structured data set that software reads. The letter names two usual formats: XRechnung (a pure XML file) and ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1 (a PDF with embedded XML), except for the profiles MINIMUM and BASIC-WL (BMF 2024, paras 25, 29 and 30).

By contrast, paper, PDF files without an integrated data set, image files and emails count as an “other invoice” (sonstige Rechnung) (para. 7). That holds even if the email contains all the mandatory details. Before 2025 such a PDF was an electronic invoice; since then it is not.

Consent, credit notes, service providers

For an obligatory e-invoice the issuer no longer needs the recipient’s consent. In return, the recipient must create the technical conditions for receiving it (BMF 2024, para. 14). The obligation also applies to credit notes and to invoices addressed to recipients that are small businesses under section 19 UStG (Kleinunternehmer) (para. 17). Small businesses themselves may always issue their invoices as an other invoice (section 34a sentence 4 of the VAT Implementing Regulation, UStDV; BMF letter of 15 October 2025, para. 22). Anyone who does not want to produce invoices themselves may commission an external service provider. The supplying business remains responsible for meeting the formal requirements (para. 37). Sending the same file twice does no harm as long as it is the same invoice (para. 39).

Besides the two formats, during the transition period until the end of 2027 the law also names electronic data interchange (EDI) under recommendation 94/820/EC, provided the recipient agrees (section 27(38) no. 3 UStG). This mainly affects businesses that work with large customers over fixed interfaces.

Exception for small invoices

Invoices with a total of up to 250 euros may still be issued as an other invoice after 2027 (section 33 sentence 4 UStDV, BMF 2024, para. 22). What counts is the total amount of the invoice. If you bill several services in one document and the sum is above 250 euros, the exception does not apply (para. 23).

For invoices covering services under section 13b UStG, section 33 sentence 3 UStDV expressly excludes the small-amount rules. Whether the exemption from the e-invoice obligation still applies there is not answered by the sources read. For construction services where the recipient owes the tax, your tax adviser clarifies that.

What applies in case of a breach

The BMF letter of 15 October 2026 states that anyone who issues an other invoice despite the obligation commits no administrative offence under section 26a(2) no. 1 UStG (para. 28). The recipient does have a civil-law claim to an e-invoice (BMF questions and answers, question 12c). For input VAT deduction, the 2024 letter describes the position like this: an other invoice does not meet the requirements of a proper invoice and in principle does not entitle the recipient to deduct input VAT (paras 55 and 56). The issuer can correct it with an e-invoice (para. 57). Under a strict standard the deduction can still be possible if the tax authorities have all the details (para. 58). And the format alone is not challenged if the recipient could assume that the issuer was able to use the transition rule (para. 59).

Whether and how this applies to a specific case is decided by the tax authorities case by case. Your tax adviser can put it in context.

What this means in construction

The obligation covers invoices between domestic businesses (paras 12 and 13). It also covers invoices under section 13b UStG, where the recipient owes the tax (reverse charge) (para. 17). How such invoices are treated for tax purposes is a matter for your tax adviser.

The obligation does not apply to construction services for private clients: for taxable supplies of work and other services connected with land to non-business customers, an other invoice may be issued, and paper is always permitted (paras 19 and 20, section 14(2) sentence 2 no. 3 UStG).

For invoices covering construction services, the BMF letter of 15 October 2026 contains two reliefs. Interim invoices that you issue before your mandatory date do not have to be e-invoices (para. 2). And the bill of quantities may currently be attached as a readable, embedded annex if the data set contains only the trades with their totals (paras 13 and 14). How to prepare for issuing in the office is described in the article Issuing e-invoices: preparing a design practice.

What you can do now

1. Ask your tax adviser for last year’s total turnover and note whether 2027 or 2028 applies to you.
2. Check whether your invoice inbox accepts e-invoices and whether someone can open the files.
3. Ask the maker of your construction software when it will issue e-invoices and in which format.
4. Ask your most important clients and suppliers which format they want to send or receive in future.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Your tax adviser clarifies the individual case. As of 13 November 2026.