E-Invoicing in Austria 2026: Complete Guide to ebInterface and the B2G Mandate

Austria was one of the earliest EU countries to mandate electronic invoicing — and it did so over a decade before most of its neighbours. If you supply goods or services to an Austrian federal government agency, structured e-invoicing isn't a new requirement to prepare for. It's been the law since 2014.

This guide covers exactly who is affected, which formats are accepted, where to submit, and what's still voluntary — plus what the EU's ViDA package means for Austria's B2B future.

Austria's B2G Mandate: Since 2014, Not "Coming Soon"

Under §5 of the IKT-Konsolidierungsgesetz (IKTKonG), suppliers to Austrian federal government agencies have been required to submit invoices exclusively in structured electronic form since 1 January 2014. That made Austria one of the very first EU member states with a binding B2G e-invoicing mandate.

The scope was extended on 18 April 2020, when Austria completed transposition of EU Directive 2014/55/EU: from that date, all suppliers to central government entities — including foreign suppliers without an Austrian presence — must submit EN 16931-compliant structured e-invoices. The public procurement side of the obligation is anchored in §368 of the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 (BVergG 2018).

Who Must Comply

The mandate covers contractual partners of:

• Federal ministries (Bundesministerien)
• Federal agencies and constitutional bodies (e.g. Bundesdenkmalamt, Umweltbundesamt)
• State-owned enterprises in relevant federal procurement categories

Länder (states) and municipalities run their own procurement systems. Several — including Vienna, Lower Austria, and Upper Austria — have adopted their own electronic invoicing requirements, typically also built on ebInterface or Peppol. Check directly with the relevant Landes- or Gemeindebehörde if you supply at that level.

Accepted Formats: ebInterface and Peppol BIS

Austria accepts two structured formats for B2G invoices:

ebInterface

ebInterface is Austria's domestic e-invoicing standard, developed and maintained by the Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKO) — the Federal Economic Chamber. Versions 4.3, 5, and 6 are all in circulation, with ebInterface 6.0 the current version for new implementations. It's deeply integrated into Austrian accounting software, including BMD and RZL.

Peppol BIS 3.0

Since 2018, the Austrian government has also accepted Peppol BIS 3.0 invoices for federal contracts, primarily aimed at cross-border suppliers who already have Peppol infrastructure from trading with other EU countries. The Bundesrechenzentrum (BRZ) acts as Austria's federal Peppol authority.

Both formats are built on the same underlying European semantic standard, EN 16931, which Austria has adopted at the federal level for contracts above EU public procurement thresholds.

See our ebInterface vs Peppol BIS comparison for help deciding which format fits your situation.

Where to Submit: USP and e-Rechnung.gv.at

Austria operates two central platforms for B2G e-invoicing:

• USP — Unternehmensserviceportal (usp.gv.at): the federal business service portal, used to authenticate and access e-invoicing services
• e-Rechnung.gv.at: the dedicated e-invoicing submission portal, operated under the BRZ, supporting direct upload, web forms, and web services

Suppliers authenticate through USP (typically with FinanzOnline credentials) before submitting invoices via portal upload or through the Peppol network.

B2B and B2C: Still Voluntary

Unlike Germany, Italy, France, or Poland, Austria has no B2B or B2C e-invoicing mandate. Structured invoicing between businesses is optional and depends on mutual agreement — though many Austrian businesses already use ebInterface or Peppol voluntarily, especially when trading with German or other EU partners who do have mandates.

Austria and the EU's ViDA Package

The EU's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package was adopted by the Council on 11 March 2025 and entered into force on 14 April 2025. Its most relevant milestone for cross-border trade is 1 July 2030, when structured e-invoicing and digital reporting become mandatory for cross-border intra-EU B2B transactions.

Austria has not yet announced a domestic B2B e-invoicing mandate or date. The Bundesministerium für Finanzen (BMF) has signalled it expects to align with a Peppol-based approach for cross-border reporting, similar to Belgium and the Netherlands, but no formal domestic legislation has been published. If a domestic B2B mandate does follow, it would build on the ebInterface/Peppol infrastructure already required for B2G.

Practical Steps for B2G Suppliers

1. Get a FinanzOnline account if you don't already have one — required for USP registration
2. Decide between ebInterface and Peppol: if you already use Peppol for German or Belgian B2G work, reuse that connection; if you only supply Austrian government bodies, ebInterface 6.0 is simpler
3. Register at e-rechnung.gv.at with your Austrian VAT number (UID-Nummer)
4. Configure your accounting software — see our Austria software comparison for vendors with native ebInterface support
5. Reference the correct procurement ID (Auftragsnummer/EKID) on every invoice — Austrian agencies reject invoices missing this reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to use ebInterface, or can I just use Peppol? A: Either is accepted for federal B2G invoices. Peppol is generally more practical if you already trade with other EU countries that require it.

Q: Is e-invoicing mandatory for invoices to Austrian businesses (B2B)? A: No. B2B e-invoicing in Austria remains voluntary as of mid-2026.

Q: Does the EU's ViDA package change anything for Austria right now? A: Not yet for domestic transactions. ViDA's cross-border B2B digital reporting requirement only becomes mandatory on 1 July 2030, and Austria hasn't set a domestic B2B mandate.

Q: Who maintains the ebInterface standard? A: The Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKO), Austria's Federal Economic Chamber. Documentation is available at ebinterface.at.

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Last updated: June 2026. We track official sources (BMF, USP, WKO, European Commission) and update this guide when the rules change.