Invoice Requirements for the United Kingdom (Cross-Border)

The UK applies VAT at a standard rate of 20%. On 28 October 2026 HMRC and the Department for Business and Trade published the e-invoicing implementation roadmap. From 1 April 2029, VAT invoices to UK VAT-registered customers must be issued as structured e-invoices sent over the Peppol network through a certified access point. PDFs, word-processed documents and image files such as JPEG will no longer count as valid e-invoices.

Cross-border transactions are out of scope. GOV.UK states that e-invoices will not be required for cross-border transactions, because a VAT invoice is not required for them, so invoices to customers outside the UK are unaffected. Foreign sellers registered for UK VAT (non-established taxable persons) are in scope, on the same terms as UK-based businesses.

What a VAT invoice must contain does not change, and GOV.UK states that the Peppol Authority will not receive copies of VAT invoices for business transactions. A compliant VAT invoice still shows a unique sequential number, the supplier's VAT registration number, the tax point (supply date), a description of the goods or services, the net amount, and the VAT rate and amount per rate, plus the total. For cross-border B2B services the reverse charge usually applies and the invoice should be annotated accordingly.

Until 1 April 2029 there is no e-invoicing mandate. The exact standard is being settled through a consultation in spring 2027, with final standards expected between October 2027 and April 2028, and HMRC will become the UK Peppol Authority. A separate consultation on reporting e-invoice data to HMRC is open until 20 January 2027, with no decisions taken. Since Brexit, goods moving to or from Great Britain also require a customs commercial invoice (HS codes, Incoterms, origin, weights). Retain invoices for 6 years.