What does the German E-Rechnungsgesetz require?
Effective: 2020-11-27 · Authority: Bundesministerium des Innern (BMI)
The E-Rechnungsgesetz (E-Rechnung Regulation) mandated that all federal government entities in Germany must be capable of receiving electronic invoices conforming to EN 16931 from November 2020. It implements EU Directive 2014/55/EU at federal level and uses XRechnung as the primary standard for federal B2G e-invoicing.
How have German states implemented the e-invoice requirement?
Each German state (Bundesland) has implemented its own e-invoice requirements for state-level public procurement, with varying timelines and sometimes different portal systems. Most states accept XRechnung and route invoices through the central PEPPOL infrastructure or state-specific portals like the OZG-RE portal.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is XRechnung and is it mandatory for all German public sector invoices?
- XRechnung is the German public sector e-invoice format based on EN 16931, available in both UBL 2.1 and CII syntax. It is mandatory for federal government invoices and is the de facto standard for state and municipal government invoicing across Germany.
- Can ZUGFeRD be used instead of XRechnung for public sector invoices?
- ZUGFeRD 2.x (Factur-X EN 16931 Comfort profile) is EN 16931 compliant but is not the mandated format for German public sector B2G invoicing. XRechnung is specifically required for federal invoicing. ZUGFeRD is used predominantly in B2B contexts.
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