On February 13, 2025, the UK tax authority (HM Revenue & Customs – HMRC) and the Department for Business and Trade launched a consultation titled “Electronic Invoicing: Promoting E-invoicing in Businesses and the Public Sector in the UK.” The government believes that increasing the use of e-invoicing could improve productivity, enhance cash flow, simplify tax reporting, and reduce the tax gap. As such, the government aims to explore various e-invoicing models and how it can encourage its adoption.

Currently, there are no mandatory e-invoicing standards (except for suppliers to the NHS in England). The consultation notes that for e-invoicing to be beneficial, all systems must work together based on common standards. The consultation seeks opinions on the use of standards to support the implementation of e-invoicing and the potential benefits, although at this stage, the government does not intend to specify particular standards for adoption. Additionally, the consultation asks for feedback on whether e-invoicing should be voluntary or mandatory. The document also clarifies that the government does not aim to implement a centralized e-invoicing model that would require suppliers to send and verify invoices on a central platform before sending them to the customer. However, the possibility of implementing a data exchange model on a central platform is noted, which would allow suppliers to issue invoices on a central platform, giving HMRC the ability to read and extract transaction details, while enabling customers to receive and process e-invoices.

In addition to the consultation, the government will organize meetings with business representatives and other events to allow interested parties to contribute to the future development of policy in this area. If a decision is made to introduce an e-invoicing standard, the government commits to working with businesses and organizations representing the sector, including software and accounting sectors.

The consultation will run until May 7.