---
title: "E-Invoicing for Small Businesses: What Really Applies"
description: "Small businesses must be able to receive e-invoices, but they are relieved when it comes to issuing them. What applies – and how to set yourself up simply."
type: "wissen"
product: "documents"
slug: "e-rechnung-pflicht-kleinunternehmer"
source_language: "de"
target_languages: ["de", "en", "es", "pl", "tr"]
published: "2026-06-10"
status: "publish"
faq_json: [{"q":"Do small businesses have to issue e-invoices?","a":"According to the current legal situation, small businesses under § 19 UStG are exempt from the obligation to issue e-invoices. They may voluntarily write e-invoices."}, {"q":"Do small businesses have to be able to receive e-invoices?","a":"Yes. The obligation to receive has applied since January 1, 2025 to small businesses as well, when they receive services from other domestic businesses. An email inbox is sufficient for this."}, {"q":"Is it enough to print out a received e-invoice?","a":"No. E-invoices must be retained in the structured electronic original. A printout or a mere PDF image does not meet the requirements."}, {"q":"What about invoices to private customers?","a":"Invoices to end consumers (B2C) do not fall under the e-invoicing obligation. The regulation concerns transactions between domestic businesses."}, {"q":"Is voluntary switching worthwhile?","a":"Often yes: those who work in a structured way early on save themselves the pressure of switching later and benefit immediately from automatic processing and better findability."}]
language: "en"
source_id: "wissen/e-rechnung-pflicht-kleinunternehmer"
source_hash: "cc5fda13588fbd30cddbedcd17e54969502aaa801cb1ecf42974c73a0a9862b3"
---

Small businesses under § 19 UStG are, according to the current legal situation, exempt from the obligation to issue e-invoices themselves – they may continue to write paper or PDF invoices. However, they must still be able to receive e-invoices: the obligation to receive has applied since January 1, 2025 for all domestic businesses in B2B, regardless of size.

## The two sides of the obligation

With e-invoicing, it pays to consider issuing and receiving separately:

- **Issuing:** Here, small businesses have been relieved by law. You may write e-invoices, but you don't have to.
- **Receiving:** Here there is no exception. If a supplier sends you an XRechnung or ZUGFeRD invoice, you must be able to accept it and store it properly.

In practical terms, this means: even as a small business, you need a way to receive and file structured electronic invoices. An email inbox is considered sufficient for receiving them.

## Why "print and file" isn't enough

An e-invoice is a structured data record. It is precisely this original that must be retained – unchanged and over the entire retention period. A printout is only an image and does not replace the original. So anyone who merely prints received e-invoices and deletes the attachment risks gaps in a later audit.

The clean solution is digital filing that secures the original: in the [GoBD archive of webRichtung documents](https://www.webrichtung.de/module/documents/), documents are retained unchangeably with Object Lock for 6, 8, or 10 years. Account and users cost €0 – you only pay per processed document from €0.09 (€0.06 in batch). Especially for small businesses with a manageable volume of receipts, this often stays at just a few euros per month.

## A simple workflow for small businesses

1. **Set up a dedicated invoice inbox** (e.g. rechnung@your-company.de) and give it to suppliers.
2. **Connect the inbox to the filing system:** documents automatically imports incoming attachments – the email context such as sender and receipt date is retained as audit context.
3. **Review instead of sort:** the platform reads and classifies each document; you can later find invoices by content, date, or amount.
4. **Archive:** completed items move into the archive and remain searchable there.

## Switching voluntarily – when it makes sense

Many small businesses switch earlier than they have to – for good reason: business customers increasingly ask for structured invoices, and anyone who is digitizing their incoming side anyway has already done most of the work. You can find the basics of the obligation and the timeline in the overview article [E-Invoicing Obligation: What Applies from When](/de/wissen/e-rechnung-pflicht.html).

## Common pitfalls

- **E-invoices in the spam or shared inbox:** without a dedicated invoice inbox, structured invoices end up where no one looks for them.
- **Attachment deleted, only printout kept:** this means the original subject to retention is missing.
- **Underestimating ZUGFeRD:** it looks like a normal PDF, but contains embedded XML – it is precisely this file that must be preserved.
- **Putting everything off until later:** the obligation to receive already applies; anyone who waits is now accumulating gaps in their receipt records that can hardly be closed later.

The good news: with a connected inbox and automatic archiving, these pitfalls are off the table – without having to change your daily work routine.

This article provides general information and does not replace legal or tax advice.