Netherlands (2017 eInvoicing Country Sheet)

Legislation

Although the legislation on B2G eInvoicing in public procurement in the Netherlands is foreseen for 2018, the Dutch government announced that, from January 1st 2017, all suppliers of the national government must only submit invoices electronically for every new procurement contract [1]. By the end of 2018, this rule will apply to all government departments and agencies that buy in goods or services.

The Dutch government had already implemented part of the Directive 2010/45/EU in national law in 2012 (Implementation of the Billing rules Directive of 15 March 2012), simplifying rules in the field of billing regarding the levying of VAT and harmonizing the requirements for the invoicing and eInvoincing.

eInvoicing platform and eInvoicing management solutions

The Dutch government provides Digipoort , which is a digital network for exchange of messages, including eInvoices, with the Government authorities in the Netherlands (B2G, B2C). Digipoort is the primary eInvoicing platform used by public entities and economic operators in the Netherlands. It is managed by Logius, which is a department of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Although it is not mandatory, the use of Digipoort is recommended by the government.

Simplerinvoicing was established by private parties in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It is not a service provider as such but it is a set of agreements between e-invoicing service providers and accounting service providers, which enable the exchange of invoices between these parties. 

Approach for receiving and processing eInvoices

Economic operators can submit eInvoices in three ways[2]:

1. Using the government solutions and services provided by Logius (government service). In this way, economic operators can submit eInvoices manually via webforms or establishing a direct link between their proprietary solutions and the Digipoort;
2. Using the Simplerinvoicing network. Simplerinvoicing is a network of accounting software vendors and solution providers that have made arrangements for exchanging standardised eInvoices. The network can be used both for B2B and B2G exchanges. It is managed by the SIDN, a not-for-profit organisation, whose main responsibility is to register the Dutch (.nl) internet domain. It also allows for cross-border invoicing as it is connected to PEPPOL since 2013;
3. Using market solution providers. Economic operators can submit eInvoices via solution providers that have established direct link with Digipoort. Logius provides a list of solution providers on their website. E-invoicing via service is suitable for suppliers: sending mid-volume invoices; to support fully automated e-invoicing process; or that have no possibility for direct connection to Digipoort.

Once received by public entities, the processing of eInvoices is carried out in a semi-automated way. The processing of eInvoices by public entities depends on the maturity of their levels of automation and IT systems. Some agencies process eInvoices automatically; others manually.

Public entities in the Netherlands are able to receive eInvoices in three formats:

1. UBL-OHNL is a standard that describes the messages for public procurement of all goods and services, except hiring of temporary staff. UBL-OHNL is based on the international standard UBL. The standard UBL-OHNL will eventually be replaced by SI-UBL;
2. SI-UBL is a subset (200 elements) of all the UBL specification (2400 items). The SI-UBL standard is used by the SimplerInvoicing; and
3. SETU (HR – XML) standard describes the messages (including eInvoices) in the context of data exchange for hiring temporary staff. This is currently the highest volume of invoices to (central) government.

Additional information

The Dutch government is currently preparing a specific plan for the implementation of the upcoming European standard on eInvoicing. The next version of OHNL will be EN16931-1 compatible and be mandated for central and sub-central government.

[1]  The Cabinet of the Minister for Economic Affairs announced this deadline during its Spring Reporting 2016, after consultation with the business community.

[2] Further information can be found in the Logius webpage

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Last updated:  Nov 29, 2017 17:33