UK publishes its e-invoicing roadmap for 1 April 2029 and plans Finance Bill powers to require e-invoices

What changed in detail

This is a proposal, not yet law. At Budget 2026 (28 October 2026) the UK government published an e-invoicing implementation roadmap setting out the key decisions, products and delivery milestones for introducing e-invoicing requirements for VAT-registered persons, including public bodies, from 1 April 2029.

The government will introduce legislation in Finance Bill 2026-27 to give HMRC enabling powers. According to HMRC’s tax information and impact note, the Bill will amend Schedule 11 to the VAT Act 1994 so that HMRC can make regulations prescribing when a VAT invoice must be in electronic format, the form and structure of the invoice, and the technology, systems and networks to be used, with power to provide exemptions and transitional provision. The detailed technical requirements will follow in secondary legislation. The enabling powers come into force at Royal Assent; the requirements have effect from April 2029.

The same measure would give HMRC functions to prepare to become the UK Peppol Authority. The note states that it is not yet determined when HMRC will become the Authority, which currently sits within Supply Chain Coordination Limited.

What it means

The 2029 date now has a legal route: primary powers in this Finance Bill, then regulations carrying the actual rules. What businesses still lack is the detail (scope, exemptions, format), which arrives with the secondary legislation, so this is a planning year rather than a build year. The Peppol direction is settled, so procurement can assume a Peppol-capable access point, but the governance handover to HMRC has no date yet.