Submission of a compliant electronic invoice or credit note under a public procurement or concession contract

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In the context of a public procurement or concession contract, all economic operators must, with some exceptions, issue and submit their invoices as compliant electronic invoices.

From a legal point of view, a credit note is to be considered as an invoice and is subject to the same legal obligations. Economic operators must therefore also issue and transmit their credit notes as electronic credit notes that are compliant with legal requirements.

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 or credit notes:

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

Who is concerned?

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.

Economic operators who already have access to Peppol:

  • can use it directly to transmit their electronic invoices or credit notes; and
  • therefore, in principle, do not need the alternative technical solutions offered by MyGuichet.lu.

Economic operators concerned

Any economic operator that sends an invoice or credit note 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 or credit notes 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 economic operator concerned or their agent must have a business eSpace on the MyGuichet.lu platform. To create an eSpace, an authentication product is required, i.e.:

  • a LuxTrust product; or
  • a Luxembourg identity card with an activated electronic certificate; or
  • an eIDAS means of identification from another Member State of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA).

Economic operators wishing to use an eIDAS means of identification from another European country will find all the necessary information on the specific help page on this subject.

Exceptionally, economic operators who do not have or cannot readily obtain one of the authentication products mentioned above may use an online form without authentication. Where an economic operator opts to use the form without authentication, they must enter a one-time code at the very start of the form before they can begin to fill out the form. This code has to be requested beforehand from the recipient of the invoice or credit note.

However, it is always preferable, as far as possible, to use the form with authentication.

The form without authentication has numerous disadvantages. In concrete terms, it means that the economic operator:

  • cannot:
    • use the form's pre-fill function with the information already recorded in their business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu;
    • receive the various acknowledgement sheets and confirmations directly in their business eSpace;
  • has to obtain a one-time code in advance from the recipient of the electronic invoice or credit note;
  • must add an order form (or some other document establishing the contractual relationship) as an attachment to the online form.

How to proceed

Legal requirements

The obligation for economic operators to send compliant electronic invoices or credit notes via one of the authorised channels (Peppol or MyGuichet.lu) applies to all economic operators under a public procurement or concession contract since 18 March 2023.

From a legal point of view, a credit note is to be considered as an invoice and is subject to the same legal obligations. Economic operators must therefore also issue and transmit their credit notes as electronic credit notes that are compliant with legal requirements.

Accepted standard formats

You can currently upload the following standard formats to the online forms on MyGuichet.lu:

Filing of an XML document

The economic operator, or their agent, must first provide the following information:

  • the identity of the economic operator; and
  • the government administration department to which the invoice or credit note is addressed;

They can then submit a compliant electronic invoice or credit note by uploading it to MyGuichet.lu. This invoice or credit note must comply with:

  • the latest version of the European standard on electronic invoicing, which defines the semantic data model of an electronic invoice or credit note; and
  • one of the syntaxes appearing in the latest list published by the European Commission.

A tutorial on electronic invoices is also available to guide economic operators step-by-step through the transmission of an electronic invoice that is already compliant.

Attachments

Form with authentication

Before transmitting the electronic invoice or credit note, the economic operator, or their agent, may optionally attach documents such as:

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

Form without authentication

The optional supporting documents mentioned above can be attached to the form without authentication.

However, it is mandatory to attach to the form without authentication an order form (or some other document establishing the contractual link) received in advance from the public sector body to which the invoice or credit note in question is addressed.

These attachments can only be submitted in PDF format and must not exceed a maximum size of 15 MB for each file.

Processing of the invoice or credit note

Once the invoice or credit note has been transmitted, an automatically generated email is sent to confirm that the electronic procedure has been transmitted to the relevant administation.

This simply means that the invoice or credit note and the data provided in the form have first been sent to the back office responsible for processing this data, managed by the Ministry for Digitalisation. However, this does not mean that this data (i.e. the electronic invoice or credit note) has already been transmitted to the final recipient of the invoice or credit note.

It is only after the data has been processed by the back office that the invoice or credit note is transmitted to the public sector body concerned.

In the course of the processing by the back office, 2 situations may arise:

  • if the uploaded electronic invoice or credit note complies with the European standard and is successfully transmitted to the final recipient, a message informs the user that the compliant invoice or credit note has been successfully transmitted to the final recipient;
  • if the uploaded electronic invoice or credit note does not comply with the European standard and/or if, for any reason, it is impossible to forward the invoice or credit note to the final recipient, an error message will be sent to the user.

Messages are always sent to the 'My messages' section of the business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu. They can also be consulted in the 'Messages' tab of the corresponding procedure.

Aid and assistance for companies

As part of the introduction of the requirement to issue and send electronic invoices in the context of public procurement and concession contracts, small and very small enterprises may be entitled, under certain conditions, to:

Good to know

In order to provide companies with guidance regarding electronic invoicing, numerous information tools are available to them.

Questions concerning electronic invoicing in general

The e-facturation.lu website is the State access point for all available information regarding electronic invoicing in Luxembourg. You will find there not only links to thematic dossiers but also practical guides and frequently asked questions.

Questions concerning MyGuichet.lu and its features (not specifically related to electronic invoicing)

If you have any questions concerning MyGuichet.lu and its features (for example, how to connect using an authentication product, how to create a business eSpace, the online form, etc.) which do not relate specifically to electronic invoicing, you can:

Tutorials

Online services and forms

Online services

Submission of an already compliant electronic invoice with authentication in the context of a public procurement or concession contract (filing of an XML document) (form with authentication)

Form with authentication using a LuxTrust product, a Luxembourg identity card with an activated electronic certificate or another eIDAS identification means

Other language(s)

Submission of an already compliant electronic invoice with authentication in the context of a public procurement or concession contract (filing of an XML document) (form without authentication)

Form without authentication that requires the entry of a one-time code to be requested in advance from the recipient of the electronic invoice (to be used only if you do not have any of the many national or foreign authentication products accepted by MyGuichet.lu)

Other language(s)

Who to contact

Helpline e-Invoicing

House of Entrepreneurship

eHandwierk services at the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts

Ministry for Digitalisation

Related procedures and links

Procedures

Links

Further information

Legal references

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