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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Act 241/2019 — a right, not a mandate

In 2019 Finland adopted legislation that is unique in the world: Act 241/2019, in force since 1 April 2020, grants every Finnish taxable person the enforceable legal right to demand from a vendor the issuance of an EN 16931-compliant invoice. Not a universal mandate as in Italy or Poland — an individual right, simple to invoke invoice by invoice.

Mechanism — a right, not a mandate

Act 241/2019's main originality is to turn e-invoicing into a enforceable civil right rather than a universal obligation. Concretely:

  1. No immediate switch. On 1 April 2020 nobody was required to send e-invoices to everyone. A Finnish company remained free to send paper or PDF as long as no customer demanded otherwise.
  2. Activated by buyer request. Every Finnish taxable person (active Y-tunnus) may send a formal request to a vendor to issue EN 16931 invoices. The request triggers the vendor's obligation to switch this particular buyer.
  3. Reasonable lead time. The vendor has a reasonable lead time (case law converges on 30 days) to equip with a Finvoice or PEPPOL channel and issue EN 16931-compliant e-invoices. Beyond that, justified refusal of payment.
  4. Format at vendor's choice. The vendor picks the format (Finvoice 3.0 OR PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0) as long as it is EN 16931. The buyer cannot impose a precise format — only require a compliant format.

Origin — 2014/55/EU transposition beyond B2G

Finland, like every Member State, had to transpose in 2018-2019 Directive 2014/55/EU requiring public buyers to be able to receive EN 16931 e-invoices. The Finnish Parliament (Eduskunta) chose to go further: the transposition law, named Laki sähköisestä laskutuksesta julkisissa hankinnoissa (241/2019), was enriched with a section 4 § extending the right to all B2B.

The Eduskunta Economic Affairs Committee report (Talousvaliokunnan mietintö TaVM 41/2018 vp) justifies the extension with three arguments:

  • Market maturity. More than 90% of Finnish companies were already on Finvoice — the friction of extending to the rest of the market was minimal.
  • VAT fraud prevention. Structured e-invoices ease automated cross-checks at Vero.fi. Extending to B2B without a universal mandate avoids over-regulation while stimulating adoption.
  • Alignment with the Real-Time Economy. The joint Tieke + Vero.fi + Valtiokonttori RTE programme assumes an end-to-end structured data chain — Act 241/2019 provides the legal lever to activate that chain on demand.

Who is affected?

  • Every Finnish VAT taxable person (active Y-tunnus) — companies, corporations, foundations, registered NGOs.
  • Out of scope: very small activities below the Finnish VAT threshold (alvtoiminta-raja €15K/year since 2025, also €15K before), if not VAT-registered. Households, private individuals and domestic activities are not concerned.
  • Foreign vendor: Finnish law applies to transactions subject to Finnish VAT. A French vendor invoicing a Finnish B2B buyer on intra-EU may be solicited if the VAT is due in Finland (reverse charge or fixed establishment).
  • Special case — public authorities: already covered by the 2010 Valtiokonttori mandate + the 2018 transposition of Hankintalaki (Public Procurement Act). Act 241/2019 just extends the existing public-sector mechanism to private B2B.

Conditions for exercising the right

  1. Written request. The legally strongest form is a written request (email, letter, contractual message via vendor portal). It must mention Act 241/2019 and provide the OVT-tunnus or PEPPOL identifier.
  2. Reception format. The buyer must provide a valid reception address:
    • OVT-tunnus (12-17 alphanumeric chars) for Finvoice;
    • iso6523-actorid-upis (e.g. 0037:FI12345678) for PEPPOL.
  3. Reasonable lead time. Typically 30 days for the vendor to equip. Case law recognises an extended period (60-90 days) if the vendor has no e-invoicing setup at all, but must then demonstrate active implementation (quote with operator, signed contract, etc.).
  4. Individual character. The right is exercised relationship by relationship. A vendor may be required toward buyer A but not toward buyer B.
text example-request.txt 
Asia: Pyyntö EN 16931 -muotoisesta verkkolaskusta
Subject: Request for EN 16931 invoice

Hyvä Toimittaja,

Lakiin 241/2019 perustuen pyydämme, että lähetätte meille
verkkolaskut joko Finvoice 3.0 -muodossa OVT-tunnukseen
0037FI12345678901, tai PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 -muodossa
osoitteeseen 0037:FI12345678.

Pursuant to Act 241/2019, we ask that you send us invoices in
e-invoice format, either as Finvoice 3.0 to OVT-tunnus
0037FI12345678901, or as PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 to identifier
0037:FI12345678.

Voimaantulopäivä / Effective date: 30 päivän kuluessa / within 30 days
Säädös / Legal reference: Laki 241/2019, in force since 1.4.2020

Ystävällisin terveisin,
Helsinki Trading Oy (Y-tunnus 0987654-3)

Consequences for the vendor

If the vendor does not act after the reasonable lead time:

  • Invoice refusal. The buyer may refuse to pay a paper or PDF invoice received after the right was exercised. The 30-day SEPA B2B late interest clock does not start.
  • Commercial litigation. A non-compliant vendor faces litigation before the District Court (käräjäoikeus) or the Market Court (markkinaoikeus) for contractual breach.
  • No tax fine. Unlike a universal mandate there is no fine from NAV / Vero. The sanction is strictly contractual.
  • Reputation. In practice, major Finnish buyers (S-Ryhmä, K-ryhmä, Wärtsilä, Kone, Nokia, Valmet Automotive, Stora Enso, UPM) have systematically required e-invoices since 2020 — a non-compliant vendor is quickly delisted.

Common pitfalls

  • Thinking it's a universal mandate. Act 241/2019 does not require anyone to issue e-invoices spontaneously. Without a formal request from the buyer, the status quo (paper/ PDF) remains legal. This is the main nuance vs Italy SdI (universal clearance) or Poland KSeF (mandate 2026).
  • Confusing B2B right and B2G mandate. B2G has been mandatory since 2010 for the central state (Valtiokonttori). Act 241/2019 adds B2B "on demand" — both regimes coexist.
  • Imposing a precise format. The buyer cannot demand Finvoice or PEPPOL — only "EN 16931 compliant". The vendor remains free to serve whichever format suits it.
  • Not providing the reception address. The request must include OVT-tunnus or PEPPOL ID — without it, it is inoperative. Many novice buyers send incomplete requests.
  • Confusing EN 16931 and generic UBL or XML. A generic UBL that does not comply with EN 16931 business rules (BR-, BR-CL, BR-CO) is invalid. Check compliance with an EN 16931 validator (Tieke publishes a public one).