Trades & crafts
E-invoicing for tradespeople and craft businesses in Germany
Short answer: craft businesses must be able to receive structured e-invoices since 1 Jan 2025. For issuing, there are transition periods (paper/PDF through end of 2026, or 2027 for businesses with prior-year turnover ≤ €800,000). The full issuing obligation for domestic B2B applies from 1 Jan 2028. For private customers (B2C) nothing changes — no e-invoice mandate.
What applies when for trade businesses
- Since 1 Jan 2025 — must receive structured e-invoices; issuing in paper/PDF (with consent) still allowed.
- Through 31 Dec 2026 — paper/PDF (with consent) still allowed for all issuers.
- 2027 — paper/PDF (with consent) for businesses with prior-year 2026 turnover ≤ €800,000; larger ones must issue structured e-invoices.
- From 1 Jan 2028 — structured e-invoice for all domestic B2B issuers. B2C remains unaffected.
B2B vs B2C: who is your client?
The mandate only applies to domestic B2B transactions — when the client is a business (GmbH, sole trader, freelancer etc.). For private individuals (homeowners, private persons) paper or PDF remains fine. Many trade businesses have mixed client lists; the obligation is per-invoice depending on who the recipient is.
The practical format for tradespeople: ZUGFeRD/Factur-X
- Looks like a normal PDF. The client opens a familiar PDF invoice — no new viewer software needed.
- Contains the EN 16931 data set invisibly. The client's accountant or ERP reads the embedded XML automatically.
- Sent by email. No portals, no Peppol network — the PDF file is delivered as an email attachment as before.
What a trade business needs for implementation
- Provide the invoice data as a JSON payload: client data, services, quantities, units, prices, VAT rate — the same information as on the paper invoice, but as structured JSON.
- Generate the e-invoice: fakturai takes the JSON payload and returns a technically checked ZUGFeRD/Factur-X file. No XML knowledge, no local software.
- Validate before sending: check the file against EN 16931 in the free validator.
- Archive: keep the original file GoBD-compliant (8 years).
Validate an e-invoice for free
Kleinunternehmer (small business exemption) and the e-invoice mandate
The German small-business VAT exemption (§ 19 UStG) affects VAT liability — it has no impact on the e-invoice mandate. Kleinunternehmer in trade must also receive structured e-invoices (since 2025) and will need to issue them in B2B (from 2028). The only difference: the invoice carries no VAT amount — the EN 16931 VAT category code (E or Z) must be correctly set.
What fakturai does not replace
fakturai generates and checks the technical format and structural compliance per EN 16931 with a KoSIT-aligned accept gate. Content and tax correctness (service description, VAT rate, Kleinunternehmer notice etc.), GoBD-compliant archiving and accounting treatment remain your responsibility. fakturai is not tax advice and makes no legal, tax or delivery guarantees.
Next step
Free German e-invoice validator · Create an API key
Related: E-invoicing for small businesses · Transition periods 2025–2028 · Send e-invoice by email · ZUGFeRD vs XRechnung vs EN 16931