Finland e-Invoicing Guide

Finland places its e-invoicing duty on public buyers rather than on suppliers. Under section 3 of Act 241/2019, which transposes Directive 2014/55/EU, contracting entities must receive and process e-invoices based on procurement and concession contracts within the scope of the procurement Acts.

The same Act gives contracting entities and businesses with financial-year turnover above EUR 10,000 the right to receive an invoice as an e-invoice on request. Beyond that right, e-invoicing between businesses is voluntary: an invoice may otherwise be issued electronically only with the recipient's consent under section 209 d of the VAT Act.

For central government, the State Treasury only receives e-invoices, and since 1 April 2021 only those that follow the European standard.

The duty to receive e-invoices applied to central government authorities and central purchasing bodies from 1 April 2019 and to all other contracting entities from 1 April 2020, the same day the right to request an e-invoice began. The state has accepted only European-standard e-invoices since 1 April 2021.

Domestic reform is under discussion, but no legislative project is under way. The Ministry of Finance began a study of real-time VAT reporting on 10 April 2024 that runs until 19 March 2027. In November 2025 the Tax Administration supported extending e-invoicing and VAT reporting to domestic B2B sales and purchases, and in May 2026 the State Treasury proposed that the next government legislate so that any e-invoice must follow EN 16931, without making e-invoicing mandatory. EU digital reporting for cross-border transactions starts on 1 July 2030.

Contracting entities must be able to receive and process e-invoices that conform to EN 16931. Since 1 April 2020 a contracting entity, or a business above the EUR 10,000 turnover threshold, can demand an e-invoice from another contracting entity or from a business above the threshold. Smaller businesses can neither demand an e-invoice nor be required to send one.

Invoices must be kept for at least six years from the start of the year following the calendar year to which the transaction belongs, under section 209 n of the VAT Act. Under the Accounting Act, vouchers are kept for six years and books and financial statements for ten. Invoices stored electronically abroad require full real-time online access for the tax authority.

Finland has no clearance step and no real-time reporting to the Tax Administration. E-invoices pass between the parties through e-invoice operators or the Peppol network, and the State Treasury is the Finnish Peppol Authority.

Several formats are in use. The State Treasury receives invoices in UBL 2.1 and CII D16B as well as other commonly known formats, Finvoice 3.0 and TEAPPSXML 3.0 have been updated to the European standard, and Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is also among the supported formats.

Act 241/2019 contains no penalty provisions. The State Treasury's May 2026 proposal would keep e-invoicing optional while requiring any e-invoice to follow EN 16931, but it is a proposal for the next government's legislative programme rather than law.