Marketplace invoices are broken: why AliExpress doesn’t issue compliant PDFs and what dropshippers should do in 2025

If you have ever tried to reconcile your AliExpress purchases with your books, you already know the pain. A marketplace order page, a payment receipt, a VAT line here and there, then a courier-generated customs document shows up weeks later. None of it looks like the tidy, compliant supplier invoice your accountant expects. The problem is structural. Marketplaces optimize for consumer checkout, not business documentation, and 2025’s tightening tax rules make the gap more painful for dropshippers than ever.

What AliExpress actually gives you when you click “Download invoice”

AliExpress does offer a VAT invoice in some cases. According to AliExpress’s own help article on EU VAT, invoices are available only for orders where AliExpress collected VAT at checkout, and you can find them under My Orders, All Orders, Download Invoice (as the platform explains in its European Union VAT help page). If AliExpress did not collect VAT, there often is no invoice to download at all.

Even when you get that file, it is essentially a proof that VAT was collected via the marketplace’s Import One Stop Shop flow, not a full supplier invoice showing the original seller’s legal identity, VAT ID, and itemized supply conditions. The European Commission makes clear that a full VAT invoice must include a unique invoice number, supplier and customer details, the customer VAT ID when relevant, unit prices, dates, VAT rates and amounts, and specific notations such as reverse charge where applicable. These baseline rules are spelled out in the Commission’s guidance on VAT invoicing.

This is the core mismatch. AliExpress’s invoice button proves marketplace VAT collection for consumer-style shipments, but it frequently does not deliver a compliant, supplier-level PDF that an accountant can book as a purchase invoice in a standard SME ledger.

Why that falls short of compliance and audit readiness

• EU invoice content rules are strict. The Commission explains that full invoices must carry specific elements to support input VAT deduction and audit trails, such as a sequential number and the supplier’s VAT identification, plus a clear breakdown of VAT by rate and exemptions as needed, as summarized in its page on what a VAT invoice must contain.
• Marketplaces are deemed suppliers for some sales. Under the 2021 e-commerce package, online marketplaces can be treated as the deemed supplier for VAT in certain situations, which is why a platform might collect and remit VAT. The EU’s official One Stop Shop overview states that online marketplaces facilitating supplies can be deemed to have received and supplied goods themselves, and that the Import One Stop Shop was created to simplify VAT on consignments not exceeding 150 euros, as described on the VAT One Stop Shop site.
• IOSS is designed for B2C, not for B2B reclaim of VAT. Guidance aimed at merchants notes that IOSS is for B2C low value consignments with VAT charged at point of sale to speed customs, which is why carriers and advisors emphasize that IOSS applies to consumer shipments rather than business-to-business deductions, as outlined in Avalara’s explanation of IOSS and the Commission’s own OSS guidance above. Business buyers should avoid being charged VAT through IOSS and instead provide valid VAT details to the marketplace. AliExpress even provides a route for EU and UK VAT-registered buyers to add their VAT info so VAT is not charged at checkout, as noted in the same AliExpress EU VAT help article.

The practical outcome is simple. If you run a dropshipping business that needs to deduct input VAT where eligible or just produce clean purchase documentation for audits, the standard marketplace PDF is rarely enough by itself. You need a supplier-style invoice with your business details and a complete, printer-friendly document you can archive and share with your bookkeeper.

2025 is raising the documentation bar

Even if you are not reclaiming VAT, you still need consistent documentation for taxes and banks. Several policy shifts make that more urgent in 2025.

• United States 1099-K thresholds are phasing down. The IRS confirms that third party settlement organizations must report gross payments on Form 1099-K when total payments exceed 5000 dollars in 2024, 2500 dollars in 2025, and 600 dollars from 2026 onward, as laid out in the IRS page on Understanding your Form 1099-K. That IRS-form trail makes clean cost of goods sold documentation far more important for reconciling income.
• Europe is moving to structured e-invoices. Germany begins requiring businesses to be able to receive structured e-invoices starting 1 January 2025, with mandatory issuance phasing in for larger companies in 2027 and then for all in 2028. These milestones are summarized in the European Commission’s country fact sheet on eInvoicing in Germany.
• Poland pushed its KSeF mandate but not for long. The Polish Ministry of Finance has shifted mandatory B2B e-invoicing to 1 February 2026 for large entities and 1 April 2026 for others, per EY’s tax alert on the new timeline.
• Romania is already there. The country launched mandatory B2B e-invoicing in 2024 and is rolling B2C e-reporting into 2025, according to compliance briefings such as Sovos’s Romania e-invoicing update.

None of these rules directly force AliExpress to issue you a perfect supplier invoice for every historical order. They do, however, mean your own records need to be complete, consistent, and exportable on demand. A messy folder of screenshots and shipping labels will not cut it when a bank underwriter or tax auditor asks for source documents.

The dropshipper’s documentation playbook for AliExpress in 2025

Step one is accepting that marketplace receipts are not enough. Step two is fixing the gap with tools that fit how you already work.

• Generate a proper PDF for every order you book. If you process hundreds of AliExpress orders a month, the fastest way is to add a one click workflow that lives inside My Orders. AliBilling was built for exactly this. The Chrome extension places a Download invoice button next to each order, new or old, so you can generate a printer friendly PDF without leaving AliExpress. There is a short setup and then you click, download and archive. If you want a walkthrough, see the step by step guide on how to download an AliExpress invoice or the companion post on the AliBilling blog.
• Make the invoice yours. For B2B bookkeeping, the header needs your legal name, address, and tax IDs. AliBilling lets you customize company details, VAT or tax IDs, and supplier fields, and choose date formats that match your accounting system. That makes the file usable for both tax and bank purposes. If you are unclear which fields matter most, skim AliBilling’s primer on tax obligations 101 for dropshippers.
• Keep everything consistent and searchable. Save the PDF in a consistent naming format, ideally with order ID and invoice date, and link it inside your accounting software. The European Commission notes that electronic invoices are equivalent to paper and can be stored how you like, as long as your records are complete, as stated in its page on VAT invoicing rules. AliBilling invoices are printer friendly and archivable, which makes your audit trail straightforward.
• Use business buyer flows to avoid the wrong VAT. If you are VAT-registered in the EU or UK, add your VAT information in your AliExpress buyer settings so VAT is not charged at checkout on eligible B2B purchases. AliExpress explains the process for business buyers in its EU VAT FAQ. This helps you avoid IOSS consumer VAT on business inputs and keeps your VAT reporting clean.
• Reconcile against payment and platform reports. In the United States, 1099-K reporting from marketplaces and payment apps expands to more sellers through 2025 and 2026, as the IRS lays out in its 1099-K guidance. Your AliBilling PDFs give you the evidence for cost of goods sold that ties out to platform income forms when your accountant prepares your return.
• Plan ahead for e-invoicing countries. If you sell into Germany, be aware that customers may increasingly expect structured e-invoices in the coming years, with acceptance mandatory from 2025 and issuance phasing to 2028, based on the Commission’s Germany factsheet. Where local rules already require e-invoicing or e-reporting, like Romania’s RO e-Factura regime described by Sovos, your sales documentation will need to match. For the buy side, your AliExpress purchase invoices should still be clean PDFs so your books pass diligence.

If you are still setting up your storefront stack, it is worth standardizing your order audit trail across channels. Many small teams pair AliExpress sourcing with a Shopify store because of its speed and integrations, and you can explore that route using this Shopify partner link.

How AliBilling closes the marketplace invoice gap

The core problem with marketplace invoices is not bad intent. It is the fact that marketplaces are building for global consumer checkout. Your business needs precise supplier documentation. AliBilling bridges the gap by bringing a supplier style PDF into your AliExpress workflow.

• One click where you already work. You operate from AliExpress My Orders all day. AliBilling puts the Download invoice control right there, so you do not have to copy order data into a template or a separate portal. That saves hours per week once order volume climbs.
• Customizable fields that satisfy your accountant. Whether you need your VAT ID on every header, a specific supplier contact, or a date format that matches your accounting system, you can configure it. The goal is producing a PDF that actually meets the information checklist the European Commission outlines for invoices in its VAT invoicing page.
• Unlimited downloads at low cost. The tool promotes unlimited invoice downloads and flexible plans. The AliBilling pricing page shows the site’s standard 29 dollars per user per year offer, while the Chrome Web Store listing reflects alternative options such as 20 dollars for 3 months, 35 dollars for 6 months, or a 60 dollar lifetime tier. For most dropshippers, any of these is cheaper than an hour of accounting time.
• Global availability with support. If you sell into or out of multiple regions, you do not want regional roadblocks. AliBilling is built for the global ecommerce community and advertises 24 by 7 support. You can check the most common questions in the FAQs or reach out via Contact us.

If you are concerned about the basics like data handling and usage terms, you can also review the Terms of service and Privacy policy.

Common questions dropshippers ask in 2025

What if my order has no AliExpress invoice link at all? The EU VAT help page clarifies that AliExpress provides a VAT invoice only when it collected VAT at checkout, so not every order will have a link. That is precisely when a generator that works off the order record comes in handy.

Can I reclaim EU VAT using an AliExpress IOSS document? IOSS is a consumer simplification used for low value consignments to the EU and is not designed for B2B input VAT deduction. Advisors like Avalara describe IOSS as a B2C mechanism with VAT collected at checkout, not a business reclaim process, in their overview of IOSS. If you are VAT-registered, use the business buyer flow so VAT is not charged unnecessarily at checkout.

Do I need e-invoices for purchases today? Most mandates apply to sales invoices you issue. However, the broader shift toward structured e-invoicing signals that auditors and lenders expect clean, complete, machine-readable documentation on both sides. A consistent PDF purchase invoice for every order is the minimal bar.

What if I sell from outside the EU into the EU under 150 euros? The EU’s OSS and IOSS reforms were designed to simplify these flows and make marketplaces the VAT collector in many cases, as set out on the VAT One Stop Shop site. That does not change your bookkeeping need for supplier documentation you can archive and share with your accountant.

Where can I learn the basics of staying compliant as a small dropshipper? AliBilling’s blog covers fundamentals like Dropshipping the legal way and Tax obligations 101 for dropshippers, and the main Blog hub is updated with step by step guides.

If your day to day involves moving fast on product, do not let documentation be an afterthought. A one click way to turn marketplace orders into proper, printer friendly PDFs pays for itself the first time a bank, marketplace, or tax authority asks for proof. When you are ready to tidy your AliExpress records, start with the simple walkthrough on how to download an AliExpress invoice and take it from there.