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The European Union is rewriting its VAT rules for the digital age. The « VAT in the Digital Age » package (ViDA), adopted on 11 March 2025, makes structured e-invoicing mandatory for cross-border B2B transactions within the EU from 1 July 2030. Switzerland isn't in the EU — but if you invoice European clients, ViDA will eventually reach you, through those clients.
This mainly concerns Swiss SMEs and freelancers who export goods or services to the EU. Nothing changes overnight, and Switzerland keeps its own rules (see our practical guide to Swiss VAT). But the timeline is set, and some of your EU clients will ask for compliant invoices well before 2030.
ViDA in brief
ViDA is the biggest reform of European VAT in a generation. Legally it is Directive (EU) 2025/516, amending the VAT Directive 2006/112/EC; it entered into force on 14 April 2025 and rolls out in stages through 2035. It rests on three pillars:
- E-invoicing and digital reporting: cross-border intra-EU B2B invoices will have to be issued in a structured electronic format and reported to the tax authority almost in real time.
- Platform economy: short-term accommodation and passenger transport platforms become liable for the VAT on the supplies they facilitate.
- Single VAT registration: a single VAT number, via the expanded OSS portal, will be enough to handle VAT across several EU countries instead of registering in each one.
The timeline: the dates that matter
ViDA's main milestones (2025-2035)
| Date | What changes | Who is affected |
|---|---|---|
| 14 April 2025 | Entry into force. Member States may mandate e-invoicing on their territory without prior EU authorisation. | Member States, local suppliers |
| 1 July 2028 | Expanded single VAT portal; mandatory reverse charge for non-established suppliers; platform rules. | Non-established exporters (incl. Swiss), platforms |
| 1 July 2030 | Structured e-invoicing mandatory and real-time digital reporting for cross-border intra-EU B2B; end of recapitulative statements. | All businesses VAT-registered in the EU |
| 1 January 2035 | Pre-existing national systems (Italy, etc.) must align with the harmonised EU standard. | Member States with legacy systems |
Switzerland outside the EU: are you affected?
First piece of good news: ViDA is EU law, it does not apply directly in Switzerland or to your Swiss VAT. You are not required to overhaul your Swiss invoicing because of ViDA. The question is whether you are affected directly or only indirectly.
Directly affected
You fall within ViDA's scope if you have a foot in the EU for VAT purposes:
- You are VAT-registered in a Member State (fiscal representative, branch, warehouse, e-commerce via OSS/IOSS): then that State's ViDA rules apply to you.
- From 1 July 2028, even without a local VAT number, if you make B2B supplies to VAT-registered EU customers the reverse charge becomes mandatory and you will have to report those transactions.
- You run a platform for short-term accommodation or passenger transport in the EU.
Indirectly affected (the most common case)
The most common scenario for a Swiss SME: you have no EU registration, but your EU clients are subject to ViDA and to national mandates. To close their own automated accounting, they will increasingly require a structured invoice rather than a PDF. Legally, nothing obliges you to comply; commercially, a major client rejecting your PDFs is reason enough to adapt.
An e-invoice is not a PDF
A point that is often misunderstood: under ViDA, a PDF (however neatly designed) is not an e-invoice. An e-invoice is a structured data file compliant with the European standard EN 16931, which software can read and process automatically. Hybrid formats like Factur-X or ZUGFeRD — a PDF with embedded XML — remain valid precisely because they contain that structured part.
Transmission often runs over the Peppol network, of which Switzerland is a full member: the technical infrastructure therefore already exists on the Swiss side. Also new from 2030 is the 10-day rule: the invoice must be issued within ten days of the transaction, with near-simultaneous reporting to the tax authority.
How to prepare now
Keeping invoicing clean with Bill Alps
Whatever happens to formats, one thing stays the same: ViDA rests on clean, structured invoicing data — client identity, VAT number, amounts, rates. Bill Alps already helps you here: issue clear, compliant invoices, record your clients' VAT number and UID/IDE (now shown on the preview and the PDF), and keep a structured history of your sales — exactly the raw material you'll need to adapt to European requirements without starting from scratch.
- ViDA makes structured e-invoicing mandatory in the EU for cross-border B2B from 1 July 2030.
- Switzerland is not bound by ViDA, but your EU clients are.
- You are directly affected if you are VAT-registered in the EU — and, from 2028, via the mandatory reverse charge.
- A PDF is not an e-invoice: you need a structured format compliant with the EN 16931 standard.
- Commercial pressure arrives before 2030: Belgium, France, Germany and Italy already mandate e-invoicing.
- Prepare now: reliable EU VAT numbers, a tool that can produce structured formats, accountant in the loop.