Since 18 March 2023, within the context of a public procurement or concession contract, all economic operators must, with some exceptions, issue and submit their invoices in the form of a compliant electronic invoice:

As a reminder, public procurement legislation considers as a public contract any contract concluded in writing:

• between an economic operator and a public sector body; and
  
• which has as its object the execution of works, the supply of products or the provision of services.
  

Thus, it is also a public contract in the case of:

• contracts which only concern small amounts, for example EUR 1,000 or even less; or
• contracts concluded via:
  • a negotiated (direct) procedure between a public sector body and an economic operator without a public tender process; or
  • any other procedure that would put different economic operators in competition.

Economic operators can send their electronic invoices:

• via Peppol (Pan European Public Procurement OnLine); or
• if they are not or not yet connected to Peppol, by using one of the 2 types of online forms available on MyGuichet.lu, namely:
  • a form which allows to manually enter in the fields of the form the elements of an invoice and then to transmit these data; or
  • a form that allows you to upload an already compliant electronic invoice and then to transmit it.

Other transmission channels than Peppol or MyGuichet.lu are not permitted. It is therefore not permitted, for example, to send compliant electronic invoices via email.

Who is concerned

Economic operators concerned

Any economic operator that issues invoices to a contracting authority or entity in the context of a public contract or a concession contract.

Exclusions

By way of derogation, the requirement to issue electronic invoices does not apply to public procurement contracts entered into:

• for the purpose of development cooperation;
• by diplomatic missions or consulates;
• as part of Luxembourg’s participation in international fairs and exhibitions held abroad; or
• as part of State visits, official visits or working trips abroad.

Prerequisites

The MyGuichet.lu platform is a useful option for economic operators that have no access – or do not yet have access – to the Peppol delivery network.

On the other hand, economic operators that already have an account with the Peppol network can use it to issue and submit their electronic invoices directly.

Preliminary steps

To submit electronic invoices through MyGuichet.lu, the economic operator must have a MyGuichet.lu business eSpace.

How to use MyGuichet.lu

There are 3 possible scenarios:

• The person submitting the application is a new user on MyGuichet.lu and does not yet have a business eSpace:
  
  Creating a business eSpace is a 2-step process that involves:
  1. Registering the user;
  2. Setting up the business eSpace.

A guide for new users is available in the form of a video tutorial or as a PDF document.

• If the person submitting the application is already a MyGuichet.lu user and has a private eSpace: they will need to create a new business eSpace.

A guide for new users is available in the form of a video tutorial or as a PDF document.

• If the person submitting the application already has a business eSpace for the company they represent: the existing business eSpace can be used.

Refer to the help section on MyGuichet.lu.

Deadlines

In the framework of a public procurement or concession contract, the obligation for economic operators to issue and transmit compliant electronic invoices via one of the authorised channels (Peppol or MyGuichet.lu) applies to all economic operators since 18 March 2023.

In addition, the obligation for public sector bodies to receive and process compliant electronic invoices applies:

• to central contracting authorities, e.g. ministries, since 18 April 2019; and
• to sub-central contracting authorities, e.g. communes, and contracting entities since 18 April 2020.

In addition, all public sector bodies have been required to be connected to the Peppol network since 18 December 2021 so that they can receive compliant electronic invoices via Peppol.

How to proceed

Issuing and submitting the electronic invoice

The economic operator, or their agent, completes the form online via MyGuichet.lu. They:

• manually enter the constituent elements of an invoice in the fields of the form; and
• then transmit this data to the recipient of the invoice.

The procedure can be completed with or without authentication.

Procedure with authentication

The economic operator, or their agent, who submits the request with authentication must have:

• a business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu; and
  
• a LuxTrust product (e.g. Token, Smartcard or Signing Stick); or
• an electronic identity card (eID); or
  
• a digital ID issued by another EU country (eIDAS).

Procedure without authentication

The economic operator, or their agent, who submits the request without authentication needs a one-time access code (token) for each invoice.

The token must be requested in advance from the public sector body with which the public contract or concession contract has been concluded (contracting authorities or entities or concession authority).

Entering the information

The data fields in the form required to produce an electronic invoice must be filled in manually. In particular, the following information must be provided:

• the identity of the economic operator issuing the invoice;
• the identity of the public-sector organisation that the invoice is being issued to;
• details about the invoice:
  
  • information appearing on the invoice: invoice number, date of issue, etc.; and
  • information on the payment of the invoice;
• contents of the invoice:
  • one or several 'rows', with each row providing details relating to a single item or specific VAT rate;
  • amounts are calculated automatically based on the data that is entered.

Once they have filled in the form, the user must submit it.

The user will then receive confirmation that their invoice has been submitted to the back office system that distributes electronic invoices to public-sector bodies. Once the invoice has been processed by the back office system:

• if the invoice has been submitted successfully to the final recipient: the user will be sent 2 messages:
  • the 1^st contains the original of the transmitted compliant electronic invoice, i.e. the XML file which is the invoice and which is the only file that is legally binding;
  • the 2^nd contains a PDF document containing the essential data extracted from this same compliant electronic invoice;
• if, for any reason, the invoice cannot be sent to the final recipient: the user will receive an error message.

Mandatory documents

In the case of a procedure without authentication, it is mandatory to attach the order form.

In addition and whatever the procedure used, the economic operator may attach to their application :

• plans;
• timesheets;
  
• other documents that explain the content of the invoice; or
• any other document that they consider appropriate.

Attachments can only be submitted in PDF format and cannot exceed a maximum size of 15 MB.

Financial aid

As part of the introduction of the requirement to submit electronic invoices for B2G (Business to Government) transactions, small and very small enterprises may be entitled, under certain conditions, to:

• financial aid for digitalisation under the SME Packages - Digital scheme; and
• personalised assistance:
  • from the House of Entrepreneurship;
  • from the eHandwierk services at the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts.

Good to know

• Economic operators who have questions about electronic invoicing specifically can contact the eFacturation helpline at (+352) 247-72155 or by email at info@efact.public.lu.
• A tutorial is also available to guide businesses through the electronic procedure.
• Economic operators who have questions about MyGuichet.lu in general and its functionalities (not specific to electronic invoicing) can contact the MyGuichet.lu helpdesk and also consult the help section on MyGuichet.lu.
  
• Economic operators who wish to receive more information on private service providers who offer access points to Peppol or on invoicing or accounting software editors who offer software already connected by default to Peppol, can contact:
  • the House of Entrepreneurship of the Chamber of Commerce; or
  • the eHandwierk services at the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact