Foreign Suppliers: How to Send E-Invoices to Austrian Government Agencies

If you're an EU business without an Austrian VAT registration or local presence, and you've just won a contract with an Austrian federal ministry or agency, you might assume the B2G e-invoicing mandate doesn't apply to you. It does — and the practical route for compliance is different from what a domestic Austrian supplier would use.

Yes, the Mandate Covers You Too

Since 18 April 2020, when Austria completed its transposition of EU Directive 2014/55/EU (anchored domestically in §368 of the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018, BVergG 2018), all suppliers to Austrian central government contracting authorities — foreign businesses included — must submit invoices as structured, EN 16931-compliant electronic invoices for contracts above the relevant EU public procurement thresholds. There is no exemption for not having an Austrian presence. For background on the mandate itself, see our Austria e-invoicing complete guide.

Austria's transposition of the directive was scoped narrowly — the obligation applies to central government contracting authorities above EU threshold values, rather than every public body in the country. If you're unsure whether your contracting authority is in scope, ask your contact there directly; agencies handling procurement above EU thresholds will already know they're covered.

Why ebInterface Usually Isn't Your Format

Austria accepts two structured formats for B2G invoices: its domestic ebInterface standard and Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. In practice, ebInterface submission is built around an Austrian VAT number (UID-Nummer) and direct interaction with the USP (Unternehmensserviceportal) — Austria's federal business portal. Both assume a level of Austrian administrative integration that a foreign supplier without local registration typically doesn't have.

That's why, for foreign suppliers, Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is the practical default, not just an alternative.

The USP Registration Problem

USP login normally requires an Austrian electronic identification method (such as ID Austria, the successor to Handy-Signatur) or access tied to an Austrian company register entry. If you don't have an Austrian presence, obtaining these credentials is a real obstacle — and it's one you can sidestep entirely by using Peppol instead of trying to register directly on USP.

The Practical Route: A Peppol Access Point

Because Peppol is a federated network, you don't need an Austrian account to reach an Austrian government agency through it. The steps:

1. Connect to a Peppol Access Point in your own country. Most accounting and invoicing platforms with Peppol support (common across the EU given Belgium's, Italy's, and Poland's own Peppol-based mandates) already have this built in, or can add it via a certified access point provider.
2. Confirm the agency's Peppol identifier. Your contracting authority can supply their Peppol participant ID, or you can look them up via a Peppol directory once you know their name and that they receive via the Austrian network. The Bundesrechenzentrum (BRZ) acts as Austria's federal Peppol Authority and is the central receiving point for many federal agencies.
3. Send in UBL format. Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoices sent over the Peppol eDelivery Network use the UBL syntax — your access point provider handles the underlying transport (AS4) and routing; you just need your invoicing software to generate a valid Peppol BIS 3.0 / UBL document.
4. Make sure the invoice is EN 16931-compliant. This is the semantic standard both ebInterface and Peppol BIS 3.0 are built on — the mandatory fields (buyer/seller identifiers, procurement reference, line items, VAT breakdown) are the same regardless of which format carries them.
5. Include the correct procurement reference. Austrian agencies reject invoices missing the Auftragsnummer or EKID tied to the contract — get this from your contracting officer before you submit your first invoice.

What You Don't Need

• An Austrian VAT registration, unless your underlying supply already requires one for VAT purposes (a separate question from e-invoicing format).
• A USP account, if you're submitting via Peppol rather than direct portal upload.
• ebInterface software support — Peppol BIS 3.0 support is enough, and it's the same format you'd use to invoice Belgian, Italian, or Polish public and, increasingly, private-sector counterparties.

When You Might Still Need USP

If your invoicing software doesn't support Peppol but does support direct portal upload, or if the specific Austrian agency you're supplying only accepts direct e-Rechnung.gv.at submissions for smaller contracts, you may need to pursue USP access after all. In that case, budget extra lead time to sort out Austrian eID access, or route the relationship through an Austrian-based intermediary or accounting partner who can submit on your behalf.

Source

European Commission, eInvoicing in Austria; e-Rechnung.gv.at, ebInterface technical formats.

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Last updated: September 2026. See our Austria service providers guide for more on the BRZ's role as Peppol Authority, or our ebInterface vs Peppol comparison if you do have an Austrian VAT number and are deciding between formats.