Update: 14 February 2023 by Andrés Landerretche
As of February 2023, new rules came into force in Colombia. These are for the issuance threshold of equivalent documents generated by Point of Sale (P.O.S.) systems.
As a result, a ticket issued by cash registers with P.O.S. systems (tickets de máquinas registradoras con sistemas P.O.S.) must not exceed the maximum amount of five Tax Value Units (UVT), without including the amount of tax for each sale or service provision operation.
For sales operations and the provision of services exceeding this amount – excluding taxes – taxpayers must issue an electronic sales invoice as part of the country’s e-invoicing mandate.
It is important to note that the equivalent documents generated by cash registers with a P.O.S. system do not entitle the purchaser to discountable sales tax (VAT) or costs and deductions in income and complementary taxes.
However, purchasers may request that the seller issue a sales invoice when they have the right to request deductible taxes, costs, and deductions. In this case, the supplier must issue an electronic sales invoice.
The Colombian tax authority (DIAN) officialised the implementation of the five UVT thresholds for tickets generated through P.O.S. systems through Resolution 1092, published on 1 July 2022.
The Resolution implemented the phased roll-out of this mandate, following the calendar below:
Every 1 January from the taxable year 2024, taxpayers obliged to issue a sales invoice that choose to issue the equivalent document, called a ticket for a cash register with a P.O.S. system, must adjust the value of the applicable UVT to comply with the limitation of five UVT in the issuance of each ticket.
Speak with a member of our expert team for further clarification of e-invoicing in Colombia.
Update: 23 August 2022 by Kelly Muniz
The Colombian tax authority (DIAN) has concentrated heavily on expanding its electronic invoicing regime over recent years. The DIAN introduced the first schedule for mandatory implementation of e-invoicing in the country in 2018, and, since then, the system has gradually encompassed more transactions and taxpayers.
In this article, we’ll look at the two latest new mandates in Colombian e-invoicing:
These new obligations have significant impact and require adjustments by taxpayers. These changes also represent a substantial expansion of Colombia’s e-invoicing to include entirely new transactions under its scope.
The Colombian tax authority has created a new e-document type, the support document for acquisitions from subjects not obliged to issue e-invoices. This support document and its corrective notes were introduced by Resolution 167 of 2021. It expands the e-invoicing scope to ensure more transactions fall within the mandate and allows support for tax deductions.
Taxpayers obliged to generate this e-document are those under the country’s e-invoicing regime. It includes those subject to income and complementary tax payments and responsible for VAT when purchasing goods and/or services from suppliers not obliged to issue e-invoices or equivalent documents and require support for costs and deductions in the mentioned tax declarations. To generate the support document, the taxpayer must be authorised by the DIAN as an electronic issuer.
The support document and its corrective notes must be generated in XML format and contain a CUDS: unique support document code (código único del documento soporte). This alphanumeric code allows it to be unequivocally identified. After generation, the e-documents must be transmitted for clearance by the DIAN either in real-time or, at the latest, on the last calendar day of the week, for accumulated operations with the same supplier carried out during that same week.
Having been postponed from its original implementation date, the generation of the acquisitions support document became mandatory on 1 August 2022.
According to this mandate, cash register tickets generated through POS systems (tickets de máquinas registradoras con sistemas P.O.S.) may be issued by subjects obliged to invoice, provided that the sale of the good and/or the provision of the service recorded therein doesn’t exceed five (5) UVT (tax value unit) for each document, excluding taxes.
This means that, for operations covering sales of goods and/or provision of services exceeding the amount of five (5) UVT, taxpayers under the country’s e-invoicing mandate must issue an electronic sales invoice. The purchaser of goods and/or services below the threshold may still require the issuance of a sales invoice, in which case the supplier must provide it.
The threshold was de facto introduced in 2021 by Law 2155, but it was only in July 2022 that the DIAN established a phased roll-out of the mandate, through Resolution 1092, following the calendar below:
While the generation of the support document for acquisitions is already srequired, taxpayers must start preparing to comply with the new threshold for e-invoice issuance in place of POS tickets. Sovos can help your company adjust to e-invoicing and ensure compliance with Colombia’s new mandates.
Contact our team of experts today to ensure your company is complying with Colombia’s e-invoicing mandates.
The European Commission (EC)’s action plan for fair and simple taxation – ’VAT in the Digital Age’- continues to progress. After a public consultation process, the EC has published Final Reports discussing the best options for the European market to fight tax fraud and benefit businesses with the use of technology.
The areas covered are:
The EC is expected to propose legislative amendments in the VAT Directive this autumn.
The report focusing on VAT reporting and e-invoicing evaluates ‘Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR)’. This is any obligation for VAT taxable persons to periodically or continuously submit transaction data digitally to the tax authority, e.g. by use of SAF-T, VAT listing, real-time reporting or e-invoicing.
According to the report, the best policy choice would be the introduction of a DRR in the form of an EU-wide continuous transaction controls (CTC) e-invoicing system covering both intra-EU and domestic transactions. Member States with an existing e-invoicing system would be able to keep this in the short term via a standstill clause, provided they ensure interoperability with the new EU system. However, in the medium term of five to ten years, national e-invoicing systems would be required to converge to the EU system.
The report clearly favours the policy option of a full EU harmonisation through a CTC e-invoicing system, meaning the invoice will be submitted to the authorities before or after issuance. The harmonisation focus seems to be primarily on form, with a suggestion of an EU-wide common protocol and format. Whereas important decisions regarding architecture risk being left to the Member States include whether the system will be clearance or simply reporting, whether to leverage an existing domestic B2G platform and the periodicity of the reporting etc. The only requirement on Member States seems to be accepting issued and transmitted e-invoices based on a common protocol and format.
The report suggests aligning the scope of requirements and excluding non-registered taxable persons and those covered by the SME VAT scheme. In the short term, only B2B and B2G transactions are covered, with B2C transactions remaining out of scope.
Finally, the report suggests that to ease the burden on businesses Member States must consider a number of measures such as jointly removing other reporting obligations, providing pre-filled VAT returns, supporting the investment in business automation (especially for SMEs) and providing public support to the adoption of the IT compliance systems
How this will be jointly coordinated isn’t discussed but it doesn’t sound like the EC expects such measures to be harmonised by the EU.
Although the report concludes implementing an EU-wide mandatory e-invoicing system is the best and most future-proof measure, how to design an effective e-invoicing system is not explained in the report and doesn’t seem to be in scope for harmonisation.
However, the design of the e-invoicing system may have an important impact on fiscal and economic results. As the independent expert report ʻNext Generation Model Decentralized CTC and Exchange’ (supported by EESPA, openPEPPOL and other key stakeholder groups) describes, the greatest benefits can only be realised when an e-invoicing system allows businesses to automate other processes as well as invoicing.
It’s a welcome start that the Commission is aiming for an EU-wide CTC e-invoicing scheme. It remains to be seen how effective this harmonisation will be. When Europe’s politicians return from this year’s summer break, we’ll start to gain more insight into the overall feasibility of the Commission’s views.
As a vendor that has implemented CTC and VAT compliance solutions around the world for several decades now, our desire would be for the debate to go beyond interoperability on a data level, so that Europe can take bold steps towards a future that preserves supply chain automation and technological innovation.
To find out more about what we believe the future holds, download the 13th Annual Trends. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up-to-date with regulatory news and updates.
The Italian Customs Authorities recently updated their national import system by applying the new European Union Customs Data Model (EUCDM). These new changes came into effect on 9 June 2022.
According to the new procedure, the old model of paper import declarations has been abolished. The import declarations are now transmitted to the Italian Customs Authorities’ information system with a digital signature.
The acceptance of a customs declaration is notified to the economic operator (that can be the importer, the Customs Agent, etc.) through a Master Reference Number (MRN), an alphanumeric string of 18 characters.
The old IM message (telematic track to be submitted at the time of the import to the Italian Customs Authorities through the Customs Telematic Service (i.e. Servizio telematico doganale (STD)) has been replaced by the following paths as defined by EU legislation:
At the time of the release of the goods, Italian Customs Authorities make available the “summary statement for accounting purposes of the customs declaration” (prospetto di riepilogo ai fini contabili della dichiarazione doganale). The summary includes all data necessary to detect customs duties, import VAT and any other charges due.
The summary mentioned above is made available to the importer and the declarant/representative in the reserved area of the single portal of Italian Customs Authorities through the “Document management – customs declarations” service.
We recommend that importers contact their Customs Agent to receive a copy of this summary for their accounting purposes.
As per Italian VAT Law, possessing a Single Administrative Document (SAD) is needed to exercise the right to recover import VAT in Italy. As the SAD is now unavailable, Italian Customs Authorities, in agreement with the Italian Revenue Agency, agreed that the new accounting summary is sufficient to allow the importer to exercise the right to recover the import VAT.
Therefore, the new accounting summary is needed to exercise your right to recover the import VAT paid to the Italian tax authorities.
Moreover, the right to recover import VAT is exercised only once the summary is reported in the Purchase VAT Ledger as per art. 25 of Italian VAT Law.
Finally, the import document must be included in your quarterly VAT return and your annual VAT return which must mirror your Italian VAT Ledgers.
To ensure your import VAT is not lost, we recommend considering that the last day to recover the import VAT, related to an import of goods carried out in 2022, is 30 April 2023.
In addition to the Summary Prospetto di riepilogo ai fini contabili della dichiarazione doganale, discussed above, economic operators will be able to receive:
Italian Customs Authorities advise customs operators to provide the Prospetto di svincolo to transporters as proof of the fulfilment of customs formalities in the case of checks.
Speak to our team if you have any questions about the latest Italian importing requirements and their impact on your business’s compliance.
In India, the e-invoicing system has been live since 2020. Taxpayers in the scope of e-invoicing mandate must issue their invoices relating to B2B and B2G transactions through the e-invoicing system, which is a form of continuous transaction controls (CTC).
However, B2C invoices are not issued through the CTC system, which means that B2C invoices don’t pass through the Invoice Registry Portal’s (IRP) clearance. The Indian authorities have announced their goal to include B2C invoices in the scope of the CTC system although there is no timeline provided for that plan.
Meanwhile, there is a separate QR code requirement for B2C invoices. We explain why and when a QR code is required and how taxpayers can generate it:
The QR code requirement for B2C invoices aims to promote digital payments. In that respect, it differs from the QR code for B2B and B2G invoices which include the IRP’s signature. The latter serves as proof of clearance that B2B and B2G invoices must go through. Additionally, the QR code for B2C invoices must be self-generated, whereas the IRP generates the QR code content for B2B and B2G invoices (if the supplier is in the scope of e-invoicing).
The QR code requirement doesn’t apply to all suppliers. As per the CBIC notification, F. No. CBEC-20/16/38/2020-GST, suppliers with annual revenue of 500 Cr. Rupees or more (from 2017-2018) must comply with the QR code requirement when issuing invoices to their end customers (B2C).
The QR code must be dynamic. Unlike static QR codes, the system will update the content of the dynamic QR code if the payment is received. Content-wise, businesses must include the following information:
After printing the QR code on the invoice, customers must be able to scan it to make payments. If the supply is made through an e-commerce platform, suppliers must give cross-references of the payment received in respect of the said supply on the invoice. Then the invoice would be deemed to have complied with the requirements of the Dynamic QR Code.
The Indian authorities are making significant progress with their efforts to digitize paper processes in the country by introducing a CTC invoicing system and encouraging digital payments. In line with their ambitions, we expect further digitization developments in the near future.
Need to ensure compliance with the latest e-invoicing requirements in India? Get in touch with Sovos’ tax experts.
As previously predicted by Sovos, the threshold for implementing mandatory e-invoicing has been lowered by the Indian authorities. According to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Notification No. 17/2022 – Central Tax, from 1 October 2022 compliance with the e-invoicing rules will be mandatory for taxpayers with an annual threshold of 10 Cr. rupees (approximately 1.270.000 USD) or more.
The Indian e-invoicing system falls under the category of continuous transaction controls (CTCs) under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework. The legal validity of the invoice is conditional based on the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) digitally signing the invoice and providing an Invoice Registration Number (IRN). If the IRN is not included in an invoice, the invoice will not be legally valid.
The scope covers both domestic and cross-border transactions. The IRP clearance process is mandatory for B2B, B2G and export transactions. So, taxpayers in scope must issue their invoices (as well as other documents that need an IRN) according to the new system for all B2B, B2G or export transactions.
Taxpayers in scope of e-invoicing must generate e-waybills through the e-invoicing system. It is not possible to voluntarily adhere to the e-invoicing system. This means that taxpayers not satisfying the threshold limit cannot adopt CTC invoicing.
Before the initial introduction, the e-invoicing plan was announced by the Indian authorities as early as 2018. Afterwards, the evolvement of the plan has been as follows:
1 January 2020: Voluntary period of e-invoicing for businesses with a turnover of Rs.500 Crore or more
1 February 2020: Voluntary period of e-invoicing for businesses with a turnover of Rs.100 Crore or more
1 October 2020: Beginning of the mandatory e-invoicing period for businesses with a turnover of Rs.500 Crore or more (six months later than previously intended). For the first 30 days, there was a grace period during which invoices could be reported after they had been issued.
1 January 2021: Beginning of the mandatory e-invoicing period for businesses with a turnover of Rs.100 Crore or more.
1 April 2021: Threshold for mandatory e-invoicing lowered to taxpayers with turnover between Rs. 100 Crore to Rs. 50 Crore.
1 April 2022: Threshold lowered from Rs. 50 Crore to Rs. 20 Crore. Taxpayers above Rs. 20 Crore must implement e-invoicing.
1 October 2022: Threshold will be lowered from Rs. 20 Crore to Rs. 10 Crore. Taxpayers above Rs. 10 Crore must implement e-invoicing.
Some changes concerning the e-invoicing workflow are expected. Currently, there is a single platform (IRP) for the clearance process but multiple IRPs will be introduced soon. The Indian Authorities have already approved new IRPs, demonstrating that the authorities wish to have an interoperable e-invoicing market and are moving ahead with their plans to realise their goals.
Additionally, B2C invoices are not currently covered by the IRP clearance, yet the authorities have announced their intention to include those in scope of their CTC system.
India is a challenging jurisdiction for many taxpayers; businesses must have smart digitization and maintenance strategies to stay compliant. The benefits of digitization can be realised through a global strategy that businesses might put in place.
Since 1 January 2019 foreign electronic service providers must issue electronic invoices, a type of e-invoice, for sales of electronic services to individual buyers in Taiwan. Alongside this, Taiwan’s local tax authorities have been introducing incentives for domestic taxpayers to implement e-invoicing despite not being a mandatory requirement.
Before diving into the details of the e-invoicing system in Taiwan, we’ll discuss the Government Uniform Invoice (GUI), which the e-invoicing system is based on Government Uniform Invoices.
The government uniform invoice is a standard VAT invoice governed and pre-numbered by the tax authorities in Taiwan. All business entities must issue GUIs for all sales of goods and services subject to VAT, except for any legal exemptions.
Taxpayers can issue GUIs once following business registration approval by the local competent tax authority in Taiwan. Taxpayers can issue different types of GUIs including paper-based GUIs and Electronic Government Uniform Invoices (eGUIs) as well.
eGUIs are a type of GUI issued, transmitted, or obtained via the internet or other electronic means.
Issuing an eGUI is mandatory for foreign electronic service providers who sell electronic services to individuals in Taiwan as of 1 January 2019. However, issuing eGUIs for B2B, B2C and B2G transactions is optional for the broader economy, including domestic taxpayers in Taiwan.
Business entities in Taiwan must use a sequential track number called the electronic invoice track number (eGUI number for short) in their electronic invoices. Business entities must apply to the local tax authority to have eGUI numbers assigned.
The e-invoice issuance process requires the use of these eGUI numbers and must comply with MIG 3.2.1 based on an XML format provided by the tax authority.
Following the issuance of an electronic uniform invoice, businesses have 48 hours to upload the invoice information to the tax authority platform for B2C transactions and seven days for B2B transactions This model is known as continuous transaction controls (CTCs), whereby the tax authorities receive transactional information from taxpayers in real time or near-real time.
Business entities can appoint a certified e-invoicing service provider, also known as value-added centers, to issue and transmit uniform invoices electronically.
Taiwanese authorities have encouraged electronic invoicing for many years. As a result, more and more businesses have started issuing eGUIs.
The requirement to issue e-invoices for foreign electronic service providers has played an important role in the widespread adoption of e-invoicing throughout the country. While it’s clear Taiwan has come a long way in terms of the digitalization of e-invoicing processes, paper-based invoices can still be issued according to Taiwanese regulations.
We’ll monitor developments in the future to see whether the mandatory implementation of e-invoicing will be extended to the broader economy in Taiwan.
Need to issue GUIs electronically in Taiwan? To comply with tax authority requirements in Taiwan and around the world, contact us now.
Data is one of the most valuable assets of companies and individuals. Data gathered, cleaned and analysed well enables businesses to realise their utmost capabilities. With the digitization trend, error-prone paper forms, ledgers and books are replaced by electronic versions. This development gave companies more control over their data and liquidated data for further analysis.
This is also true for governments. Since tax income is one of the most significant revenue sources for countries and transactional data is the basis of tax income calculation, transactional data analytics is also essential for governments.
Receiving data in electronic form enables tax authorities to estimate their tax income and income sources better and eventually collect taxes more efficiently. This process has led many global tax authorities to require taxpayers to transmit relevant tax data electronically. Furthermore, the reliability of real-time data has shown to be so appealing that taxpayers are required to transmit data in real-time to the tax authority in many countries.
The real-time or near-real-time tax-relevant data transmission requirement is a new trend often referred to as Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC). CTCs require each transaction to be transmitted to the tax authorities to enable immediate and continuous control. CTCs are becoming more and more common around the world. The initial purpose of the CTCs when it was first launched in Latin America, the origination point, was to reduce the VAT gap. By looking at countries which have adopted CTCs, it’s fair to say that CTCs have already achieved this goal. However, tax authorities subsequently noticed that the benefits of CTCs are not limited to closing the VAT gap.
The vast amount of data collected through CTCs presents immense opportunities for tax authorities. Tax authorities can achieve unprecedented levels of business transaction transparency. Tax authorities T can calculate taxpayers’ compliance risk, and can plan audits based on these risk calculations. Furthermore, data can be used to drive fiscal and economic policy and shared with other government bodies. For instance, during an economic crisis, it’s possible to determine the business sectors most affected through the sales data reported by taxpayers. Those effected can be granted support (through tax exemptions, reduced rates etc.). The OECD Forum on Tax Administration’s chart compares different tax jurisdictions’ data management and analytics abilities and can be used to understand different countries’ data analytics technology.
Granular data collection and transparency of source data create challenges for businesses as there is little room for mistakes, shortcuts or later error correction. Businesses will need to ensure much more granular tax determination decision-making earlier in their processes and their trading partners’ processes.
Furthermore, ensuring compliance where CTCs are implemented can be challenging, especially for international companies, who have historically viewed taxes as something to be addressed by local accountants. Viewing tax as primarily a local concern by adopting local solutions that combine business and compliance functionality for each jurisdiction will be difficult to reconcile with a business’ broader digital and finance transformation and alignment, which is often global.
To step up their game, businesses should focus on data gathering and having a central data repository to have the “big picture” rather than acquiring local solutions to “save the day”. Real-time data transmission also requires clean data to maintain. The global digital transformation strategy must be in place to meet these requirements as well as a scalable technology to manage future tax demands.
Starting with the introduction of a multiple tax rate system in 2019, Japan is in the middle of a multi-year process of upgrading its consumption tax system. Through this significant change, the Japanese government seeks to solve a tax leakage problem that has existed for years.
The recent series of tax reforms in Japan started with the introduction of its multiple tax rate system on 1 October 2019. Following this, changes in the country’s indirect tax, the Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT), started to take place. To counter systemic problems caused by the current ledger system structure, anew system – the Qualified Invoice System –will be introduced from 1 October 2023. The key difference from the current system is that a Qualified Invoice must include a breakdown of applicable tax rates for that given transaction.
Not long after these changes were announced, a new organisation, the E-Invoice Promotion Association (EIPA), was established in July 2020. It aims to promote digitization of overall commercial transactions. Leveraging the opportunity presented by the new Qualified Invoice System, the EIPA began to work on developing a standard specification for electronic invoices.
Since January 2021, the EIPA – with support from the Japanese government – has been working with the OpenPEPPOL team to develop a Japanese specification that meets the country’s regulatory framework and business demands. In September 2021, Japan acquired PEPPOL Authority status and aims to allow businesses to issue and receive electronic invoices through PEPPOL in the Autumn of 2022.
Introduced in January 1989, it’s the indirect tax charged on the consumption of goods and services in Japan. There are national and regional levies, and a reduced rate of Consumption Tax in Japan.
Japan’s Consumption Tax is the equivalent of VAT which is charged across the European Union.
Consumption Tax in Japan is levied when a business transfers goods, provides services or imports goods into Japan.
A refund of Consumption Tax in Japan isn’t possible for businesses without taxable sales in the country.
As Japan implements its Consumption Tax System updates, requirements for Japanese taxpayers will change. Need help ensuring your business stays compliant with all future Japanese Consumption Tax system updates?
Our experts continually monitor, interpret and codify regulatory changes from around the world into our software, reducing the compliance burden on your tax and IT teams.
1 July begins the second half of 2022, and in line with that milestone, changes have started to be implemented in the CTC sphere. In this blog, we highlight vital developments that have taken place in and outside Europe that may influence the continuous transaction controls (CTC) landscape globally.
The Philippines has officially implemented its mandatory continuous transaction controls (CTC system, which consists of the near-real-time transmission of electronically issued invoices and receipts. On 1 July 2022, the Philippines tax authority launched the Electronic Receipt, Invoice and Sales Reporting System (EIS) pilot program.
This initiative was first introduced in 2018 by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, known as TRAIN law. 100 selected pilot taxpayers are now obliged to issue and transmit e-invoices/receipts to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) through the EIS platform. (Philippines Advances Towards Mandatory CTC Reporting | Sovos)
Romania has been taking steps toward implementing its continuous transaction controls (CTC system since 2021. As of 1 July 2022, Romanian taxpayers are required to use the CTC e-invoicing system e-Factura for the supply of high-fiscal risk products in B2B transactions and all B2G transactions. Suppliers must transmit structured invoices issued in XML format to the E-Factura system. Subsequently, the seal will be applied by the Ministry of Finance as proof of clearance. Such invoice will be legally valid under the Romanian regulation. (Romania: Questions Remain as Deadline Looms | Sovos)
Alongside the 1 July 2022 go live for the CTC e-invoicing mandate, the e-transport system has been introduced to monitor high-fiscal-risk goods transported domestically. Taxpayers must issue an e-transport document before certain goods are transported. Moreover, taxpayers must send files to the tax authorities in XML format. Based on Act No. 106 issued by the Romanian government on 30 June 2022 and the change of Articles 13 and 14 of GEO, the fines for non-compliance with the e-transport requirements will not be effective until 1 October 2022. Also, starting from 1 July 2022, SAFT began to apply to large taxpayers as the penalty grace period has ended.
On the list of countries expanding their e-invoicing requirements is also Vietnam, where the issuance of e-invoices became mandatory for all taxable persons operating in Vietnam as of 1 July 2022. Previously, the expected deadline was 1 November 2020, but the tax authority extended it due to the difficulties encountered by local companies to implement on time a compliant e-invoice solution.
Moreover, enterprises, economic organisations, other organisations, business households and individuals must register with the local tax administration to use e-invoices according to the rules established in Decree 123. (Vietnam: E-invoicing Roll-Out in July 2022 | Sovos).
Mandatory B2G invoicing has been postponed for small, medium, and microenterprises with the enactment of Law Decree 42-A/2022. The initial date was 1 July 2022. Now, the B2G e-invoicing is going to be mandatory from 1 January 2023. The reason for this change is that, after extending the deadline for acceptance of electronic invoices in PDF until 31 December 2022, the Portuguese government considered it important to also extend the deadline for receiving and processing B2G electronic invoices for micro, small and medium-sized companies until 31 December 2022 (Portugal: Mandatory B2G invoicing for SME’s postponed again | Sovos)
In Turkey, the tax authority expanded the scope of taxpayers required to use e-fatura, e-arsiv and e-waybill applications. This expansion was done by either adding new sector-based mandates or decreasing the annual revenue threshold. The new requirements became applicable recently, and the taxpayers in the scope of the changes started using e-documents as of 1 July 2022. (Turkey Expands Scope of E-Documents (sovos.com)
In South Korea, e-invoicing has been mandatory for all corporate businesses since 2011. An issued e-tax invoice must be transmitted to the National Tax Service (NTS) within one day of the invoice being issued. The current change concerns the threshold limit for individual businesses, which from 1 July 2022 has been lowered to KRW 200,000,000.
Italy has also entered another phase of implementing its CTC requirements. Starting with cross-border invoices, the Esterometro (the report of cross-border invoices) has been replaced with the transmission of cross-border invoice data to the SDI in a FatturaPA format from 1 July 2022. Additionally, the recently published Decree n.73 established a threshold for the cross-border invoice reporting mandate. Taxpayers are only required to report transactions that exceed the amount of EUR 5,000 for every single operation. This applies, more specifically, to purchases of goods and services not territorially relevant for VAT purposes in Italy, under Articles 7 to 7-octies of Presidential Decree 633/1972.
Moreover, e-invoicing through the SDI became mandatory from 1 July 2022 for taxpayers applying the flat-rate VAT regime (regime forfettario), as well as amateur sports associations and third sector entities with revenue up to EUR 65,000. Lastly, e-invoicing became mandatory between Italy and San Marino from 1 July 2022. The system for e-invoice exchange between Italy and SM will leverage the SDI as the access point for Italian taxpayers and a new, comparable hub for companies in San Marino.
Many countries around the world are either introducing or expanding their existing CTC Regimes with the active changes taking place globally. Sovos continues to monitor which countries are next on the list to build its local CTC regimes and comply with the international standards.
With coverage across more than 60 countries, contact us to discuss your VAT e-invoicing requirements.
The Philippines continuous transaction controls (CTC) Electronic Invoicing/Receipting System (EIS) has been officially kicked off for the 100 large taxpayers selected by the government to inaugurate the mandate. Although taxpayers were still struggling to meet the new e-invoicing system’s technical requirements just before the go-live date, the Philippines upheld its planned deadline and went live with this pilot on 1 July 2022.
The Philippines roll-out has once again highlighted the challenges of complying with new mandates and shown that readiness is vital.
Together with one of the six initial pilot companies, which started testing early this year, Sovos has developed the first software solution to obtain approval by the EIS to operate e-invoice transmission through the government’s transmission platform. Sovos’ solution is up and running in the Philippines.
One day before the EIS go-live, the Philippines tax authority, BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), published Revenue Regulations n. 6-2022, 8-2022, and 9-2022, containing the new system’s policies and guidelines and documenting the rules and procedures adopted by the EIS.
While the regulations do not represent news for pilot taxpayers who have successfully implemented their CTC e-invoice reporting systems, the same might not be accurate for those preparing to comply with the new mandate. The legislation officially establishes the country’s e-invoice/receipt issuance and reporting initiative, first introduced in 2018 by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN), and documents relevant information.
As of 1 July 2022, 100 selected pilot taxpayers have been obliged to issue and transmit e-invoices and e-receipts through the EIS. The BIR is planning a phased roll-out for other taxpayers within the scope of the mandate, starting in 2023, but no official calendar has been announced yet.
Taxpayers covered by the mandate are:
The mandate requires electronic issuance of invoices (B2B), receipts (B2C), debit and credit notes and transmission through the EIS platform in near real-time, that is, in up to three (3) calendar days counted from issuance date. Documents must be transmitted using the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) file format.
Issuance and transmission can be done through the EIS taxpayer portal or using API (Application Programming Interface), in which taxpayers must develop a Sales Data Transmission System and secure certification before operating through the EIS. This entails the application for the EIS Certification and a Permit to Transmit (PTT) by submitting documentation with detailed information about the taxpayer’s system.
Although the regulations state that the submission of printed invoices and receipts is no longer required for taxpayers operating under the EIS, archiving requirements have not been modified. This means that during the 10-year archiving period, taxpayers must retain hard copies of transmitted documents for the first five (5) years, after which exclusive electronic storage is allowed for the remaining time.
Additionally, the legislation states that only the invoices successfully transmitted through the EIS will be accepted for VAT deduction purposes.
Many of the 100 pilot taxpayers struggled to comply with the country’s deadline. For this reason, the EIS has allowed alternations to the deadline for certain taxpayers, provided they submit a Sworn Statement detailing the reasons why they are not able to meet the requirement on time and a schedule with the date they intend to comply by, which are subject to the EIS’ approval.
Regarding non-compliance, the regulations state that the tax authority shall impose a penalty for delayed or non-transmission of e-invoices/receipts to the EIS and that unreported sales will be subject to further investigation.
After the pilot program kick-off and legally establishing the CTC framework, the government plans to gradually roll out the mandate to all taxpayers included in the scope in 2023. However, taxpayers who are not in the mandatory scope of the EIS may already opt to enrol in the system and be ready to comply beforehand.
Sovos was the first software provider to become certified, in conjunction with one of the pilot taxpayers, to transmit through the EIS, and is ready to comply with the Philippines CTC e-invoice reporting. Our powerful software combined with our extensive knowledge of the Philippines tax landscape helps companies solve tax for good.
Need to ensure compliance with the latest e-invoicing requirements in the Philippines? Speak with a member of Sovos’ team of tax experts
On 1 January every year, taxpayers operating in Peru must assess their monthly income over a certain period determined by law to verify if they fall under the obligation to keep electronic ledgers. Taxpayers above the established threshold or who wish to voluntarily keep their ledgers electronically may do so by using the Electronic Ledgers Program (Programa de Libros Electrónicos – PLE), which covers all electronic books, or through the System of Electronic Ledgers (Sistema de Libros Electrónicos Portal – SLE), exclusively for the records of sales and purchases.
Earlier this year, however, the Peruvian tax authority (SUNAT) approved a new system specifically for the records of sales and purchases, the Integrated System of Electronic Records (Sistema Integrado de Registros Electrónicos – SIRE). Through the new Resolution 40-2022/SUNAT, the Electronic Record of Purchases (Registro de Compras Electrónico – RCE) was introduced, a module similar to the Electronic Record of Sales and Earnings (Registro de Ventas e Ingresos Eletrónicos – RVIE) created in 2021 and already in use by taxpayers.
The two modules, RVIE and RCE, compose the SIRE. This new system will be rolled out gradually, starting in October 2022, obliging taxpayers to migrate from the PLE and SLE to generate their records of sales and purchases exclusively through SIRE while maintaining the PLE for other ledgers.
The primary purpose of the SIRE is to simplify the generation of records of sales and purchases for taxpayers. Through the SIRE, a proposal for the RVIE and the RCE is automatically generated. It is available from the 2nd calendar day of every month. The taxpayer may accept, modify or replace it with the information they wish to present to SUNAT. If there are no transactions during the monthly period, the taxpayer must still submit a blank file to SUNAT.
Under the current systems (PLE and SLE), SUNAT doesn’t generate a proposal; the taxpayer enters all sales and purchases information and generates the records. With the SIRE, however, SUNAT uses information from its Electronic Invoice System (Sistema de Emisión Eletrónica – SEE) to create a proposal of the RVIE and RCE, which the taxpayer submits in each declaration period. The record is updated daily with the information received on the previous day.
The RCE has certain peculiarities compared with the RVIE, already in use. The RCE requires the generation of two separate files, the records of domestic and cross-border purchases. Even if no cross-border transactions are carried out, a blank RCE must still be submitted to SUNAT. Additionally, taxpayers may exclude specific purchase invoices and include them in the RCE at any time for 12 months from the invoice issuance date.
After the taxpayer’s revision, the RVIE and RCE are filed in conjunction, and a receipt status message (Constancia de Recepcion), containing relevant information, is delivered to the taxpayer’s electronic mailbox.
The SIRE can be accessed through the SUNAT portal, using the SIRE application installed on the taxpayer’s computer or through SUNAT’s API web service.
Once taxpayers become obliged to the exclusive maintenance of sales and purchase records through the SIRE, they must discontinue keeping such records in the PLE, SLE or paper ledgers. However, because the SIRE covers the RVIE and RCE exclusively, taxpayers will still need to maintain the PLE, which contains all other ledgers.
This means taxpayers must be aware of the distinct set of rules applied to the PLE and the SIRE. An example is that the SIRE allows modification of an already “closed” record from a previous period without waiting until the next period, as with the PLE and SLE. In the SIRE, adjustments can be made at any time using the different annexes provided by SUNAT, with no limitations on the year the record was generated.
Another significant change is that taxpayers will no longer have to store, file and preserve electronic records since SUNAT will do this for them.
Implementation of the SIRE will happen gradually, according to the following schedule:
Taxpayers may also start using the SIRE voluntarily if they are obliged to keep the Records of Sales and Purchases and are enrolled in the SUNAT operations portal (clave SOL), according to the following calendar:
Resolution 40-2022/SUNAT becomes effective on 1 October 2022. However, because most companies in Peru are already obliged to keep Records of Sales and Purchases, the largest groups of taxpayers must be ready to comply with the new mandate starting 1 January 2023.
Speak to our team if you have any questions about the latest tax requirements in Peru. Sovos has more than a decade of experience keeping clients up to date with e-invoicing mandates all over the world.
Romania has been taking steps toward introducing a continuous transaction controls (CTC) mandate since 2021. Although the Romanian tax authority only established the legal framework for implementing the e-invoicing system less than a year ago, it is set to go live soon. At the same time, the e-transport system, introduced even later, will also be rolled-out. Both systems will become mandatory as of 1 July; however, there are still open questions that taxpayers hope will be addressed by the Romanian authorities. By international comparison, taxpayers in Romania have a relatively short time window to comply with the new obligations.
For more information see this overview about e-invoicing in Romania.
Suppliers of high-fiscal risk goods are obliged to use the RO E-Factura system as of 1 July 2022. Suppliers must transmit structured invoices issued in XML format to the system. The Ministry of Finance will apply its electronic seal as proof of clearance. This XML with the Ministry of Finance’s seal is considered the legal invoice according to Romanian regulation.
Romania requested a derogation from EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC to introduce mandatory e-invoicing. ANAF (The National Agency for Fiscal Administration) is authorised with Law no. 139 to issue an order in 30 days following the expected derogation decision from the EU VAT Directive to establish the scope and the timeline of the B2B e-invoicing mandate according to Law No. 139. However, the Romanian authorities are silent on whether the 1 July mandate to use the e-Factura system for high fiscal risk B2B supplies also requires a derogation decision from EU VAT Directive.
Regarding the technical documentation, ANAF recently published the OAUTH (Open Authorization) 2.0 procedure within SPV (Virtual Private Space), allowing taxpayers to produce an authentication token and pass it to third-party applications, which will enable third-party applications to authenticate towards the SPV. However, even if the complications with the authentication process seem resolved after the recent documentation, the May date of these documents’ publication raised questions on whether the Romanian authorities gave reasonable time to businesses to comply by 1 July.
The RO E-transport system is another Romanian digitalization project. It requires taxpayers to use an IT system and issue an e-transport document before transporting of certain goods begins. Just like e-invoicing, taxpayers are required to issue an XML file and send it to the tax authority through SPV.
The requirement to issue e-transport documents concerns categories of high fiscal risk products; as mentioned above, this also comes into force on 1 July 2022. While the mandatory go-live date for the e-transport system is imminent, the legislative process has not been completed by ANAF yet. In addition, the technical documentation, including the APIs, schema, and validation rules, was completed only two weeks ago.
The emergency ordinances that introduced the obligation of e-invoicing and e-transport system for high fiscal risk products as of 1 July have not yet been approved by law.
However, as both systems are currently due to become mandatory on 1 July 2022, businesses have been preparing to comply with the requirements while trying to deal with many uncertainties.
We’ll see in the coming days how Romanian authorities will manage the implementation of both systems, either by keeping the 1 July deadline or by postponing the mandates until further clarification and guidance on open questions are provided.
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Following other Eastern European countries such as Poland and Romania, Serbia is on its way to implementing the mandatory e-invoicing system for the B2B (business to business) and B2G (business to government) sectors.
The Law on Electronic Invoicing that came into force in May 2021, introduces the clearance e-invoicing system and presents the centralised continuous transaction controls (CTCs) platform called SEF (Sistem E‑Faktura) for sending, receiving, capturing, processing and storing structured electronic invoices. Additionally, there is a system to help taxpayers with the processing and storage of invoices called the Sistem za Upravljanje Fakturama (SUF).
The new legislation aims to replace paper invoices with electronic invoices and outlines the requirements for the issuance of e-invoices in B2B and B2G transactions.
Under the new e-invoicing framework, e-invoices must be sent and received in accordance with Serbian e‑invoicing standards (custom application of the standard EN 16931-1). All e‑invoices must be submitted via a centralised platform to the recipient who must accept or reject the invoice.
Currently in scope are resident taxpayers in the private and public sector and non-resident businesses with a local fiscal representative in Serbia.
May 2021: Law on Electronic Invoicing entered into force
1 May 2022: All suppliers in the public sector must send invoices electronically and the Serbian government must be able to receive and store them. (G2G/B2G)
1 July 2022: Serbian public entities are obliged to send e‑invoices to companies, who must be able to receive and process them. (G2B)
1 January 2023: E‑invoicing will be extended to the entire B2B sector. (B2B)
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In 2020, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) in Saudi Arabia announced the introduction of an e-invoicing mandate consisting of two phases. The first phase of Saudi e-invoicing requires all resident taxable persons in the Kingdom to generate and store invoices electronically and has been enforced since 4 December 2021. The second phase, which ZATCA will roll out as of 1 January 2023, brings additional requirements and will not be mandatory for all taxpayers to begin with. However, the ZATCA plans to gradually roll out and require all resident taxpayers to comply with phase-2 e-invoicing requirements.
The ZATCA is set to roll out phase 2 in stages, starting with a smaller taxpayer group. Just a few days ago, on 24 June 2022, the first group of taxpayers who must comply with e-invoicing rules beginning on 1 January 2023 was published. According to the ZATCA announcement, taxpayers whose annual revenue exceeds 3 billion riyals (approximately 800 million USD) for the 2021 period are in scope.
So far, only the first group threshold has been revealed. The ZATCA will announce other taxpayer groups and new deadlines later. The ZATCA will notify each taxpayer group at least six months in advance.
In phase 2, taxpayers must generate all e-invoices and electronic notes (credit and debit notes) in XML format (UBL 2.0). There are unique invoice content requirements. All e-invoices and e-notes must include:
However, the e-invoicing requirements concerning tax invoices (B2B) and simplified invoices (B2C) are different, and as a result, different APIs have been made available for different types of invoices.
Tax invoices will be subject to a Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC) regime. More specifically, the system can be categorised as clearance e-invoicing. After generating the XML invoice, including all necessary content, the invoice will be transmitted to the tax authority portal (the ZATCA platform) for clearance through the clearance API. The ZATCA platform will apply ZATCA’s seal as proof of clearance, after which the invoice will gain legal validity. The signed XML will be returned to the supplier, allowing the supplier to choose whether to send the signed XML invoice or a human-readable version, including the XML (PDF A-3 with embedded XML). The human-readable version must be PDF A-3 (with embedded XML) format.
Simplified invoices will be subject to a CTC reporting regime. After generating the XML invoice, including all necessary content, the invoice will be signed using the cryptographic stamp of the supplier. Afterwards the seller will present a paper copy of the invoice to the buyer. Within 24 hours, the taxpayer must report the signed XML to the ZATCA platform through the reporting API
Taxpayers must store e-invoices in electronic form. There are specific requirements concerning the storage, including, for example, mandatory local storage as a main rule and storage abroad only being permitted under certain conditions. E-invoicing solutions must further allow taxpayers to download e-invoices for offline storage.
Need to ensure compliance with the latest VAT and e-invoicing requirements in Saudi Arabia? Get in touch with Sovos’ team of tax experts.
Update: 7 May 2023 by Andrés Landerretche
Ecuador’s Internal Revenue Service (SRI) has published an updated version of its Guide for Taxpayers on Cancellation of Electronic Receipts. The guide details how to cancel electronic receipts already authorised by the tax entity.
The improved and updated version of the previous edition, which the SRI published in 2018, is part of the body’s work to gradually expand its visibility of taxpayers’ activity over taxpayers and optimise the country’s tax practices.
The functionality highlighted in the guide allows taxpayers to carry out the entire process of annulling electronic receipts, including:
The updated guide includes details of how to request cancellation of a purchase settlement – adding to other electronic vouchers which taxpayers can also cancel such as invoices, withholding vouchers, credit notes, debit notes and remittance guides.
The SRI has established that any request for cancellation from the issuer through the portal must be accepted by the same means by the taxpayer receiving the electronic receipt. They must consent to the status change from “Authorised” to “Cancelled” once the issuer has complied with the annulment process.
The ruling excludes invoices, purchase settlements and delivery notes, as the SRI will cancel them directly if there are errors or the transaction or withholding has not been effective.
Those looking to submit an annulment request must do so exclusively online. The taxpayer issuing electronic receipts and the recipient of the electronic receipt must have an access code to the online SRI portal.
An additional relevant change is an extension of the term to request a cancellation to 90 days after the date of issuance of the proof of sale, withholding or complementary document.
It is important to consider that once somebody starts the annulment process, no procedure allows for the withdrawal of the annulment. If the recipient rejects a cancellation request due to “error”, then the issuer can commence another cancellation request.
Finally, documents with the “Pending Cancellation” status have tax validity, while those in the “Cancelled” status do not.
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Update: 21 June 2022 by Victor Duarte
Due to the economic crisis and the necessity of the government to take measures aimed at economic growth and efficient tax collection, on 29 November 2021, the Organic Law for Economic Development and Fiscal Sustainability after the COVID-19 Pandemic was published in Ecuador’s Official Gazette. According to this law, taxpayers obliged to issue invoices must be incorporated into the electronic invoicing system within one year from the publication.
To comply with such measure, on 27 May 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (SRI) published Resolution NAC-DGERCGC22-00000024. It establishes the obligation to issue e-invoices to taxpayers who are required to issue invoices, and the obligation for these taxpayers, qualified as agents of withholding, to issue the Simplified Transactional Annex (ATS) version of withholding documents. These taxpayers will have to adopt the e-invoicing scheme.
1. Income Tax taxpayers who are obliged to invoice but not obliged to issue invoices, sales receipts, withholding and complementary documents in the electronic modality must adopt the e-invoicing scheme into their activity until 29 November 2022, at the latest.
2. Natural persons and companies that are not considered taxpayers of the Income Tax and are obliged to invoice – but not obliged to issue invoices, withholding and complementary documents in the electronic modality – must adopt the e-invoicing scheme into their activity until 29 November 2022, at the latest.
3. Taxpayers required to issue invoices, withholding and complementary documents under the electronic modality, according to numerals 1. and 2. who are qualified as withholding agents by the SRI, must implement the ATS version of withholding documents, following the technical documentation made available by the SRI, until 29 November 2022.
For purposes of the application of this resolution, the subjects obliged to invoice are all taxpayers registered in the Single Taxpayer Registry (RUC) and who must issue and deliver invoices, withholding and complementary documents according to current tax regulations.
Persons with an annual gross turnover below USD 20,000 are not in the scope of this resolution. These taxpayers are known in Ecuador as Popular Businesses (Negocios Populares).
• As of 30 November 2022, only taxpayers responsible for issuing bills of sale (notas de venta) may request authorisations, modifications or renewals for the issuance of receipts through registering machines.
• As of 30 November 2022, taxpayers required to issue invoices, retention and complementary documents in the electronic modality may request authorisations for pre-printed documents only after they have obtained the authorisation to issue electronic documents in the production environment of the e-invoicing system.
The resolution introduces a limit for invoices or receipts issued under the pre-printed modality, which may not exceed 1% of the total receipts issued in the previous fiscal year.
Pre-printed documents should only be issued in exceptional cases of contingency when, due to force majeure or fortuitous event, taxpayers authorised to issue documents under the electronic modality cannot generate them electronically.
According to this resolution, the SRI may keep a free tool available for taxpayers to generate electronic documents without prejudice to taxpayers using their computer systems. There was a significant change compared with the previous resolution, which established that the SRI will “maintain” this free tool, indicating that the maintenance of said tool is now optional for the SRI.
According to the original plan of implementation, the SRI had plans to gradually expand the e-invoice mandate for all taxpayers in the country, with more taxpayers scheduled to start issuing e-invoices from 2023 and 2024. However, with this resolution, the schedule of mandatory e-invoicing implementation has been modified. All these taxpayers must start adopting the e-invoicing system this year until 29 November 2022 at the latest.
Need help ensuring your business stays compliant with the evolving e-invoicing obligations in Ecuador? Contact us today to learn how Sovos’ solution for VAT compliance changes can help companies stay compliant in Ecuador and around the world.
E-invoicing was introduced in Peru in 2010, following the continuous transaction controls (CTC) trend in Latin American countries for a more efficient collection of consumption taxes. Since then, the government has rolled out measures to encompass a significant number of taxpayers under the country’s mandatory e-invoicing regime and advance new technical and institutional structures within its System of Electronic Emissions (SEE – Sistema de Emisión Electrónica).
June 2022 marked the final deadline for including the last group of taxpayers in the country’s e-invoicing mandate. However, the government continues to expand its system, with the latest update proposed by a draft resolution introducing important changes to the Peruvian e-transport document, the Guía de Remisión electronica – GRE.
The Peruvian tax authority (SUNAT) published on 2 June 2022 a draft resolution introducing changes to the GRE, the electronic transport document that must be issued in connection to invoices (comprobantes de pagos) for the control of goods under transportation. The GRE is only vital while the goods are in transit but is a document commonly kept by companies to maintain internal controls of transported goods.
The new draft resolution aims to regulate the issuance of the e-transport document further, introducing several changes, mainly to optimise the control of goods and eliminate the use of paper.
Among the many changes introduced by the draft, the main are:
Taxpayers must be ready to issue GREs remitente and transportista exclusively through their own systems using a software provider (PSE – proveedores de servicios electrónicos) or the SUNAT Portal. This requirement may represent quite the impact on taxpayers that regularly issue a large volume of GREs through the electronic services operator’s channel, the SEE-OSE (Operador de Servicios Electrónicos).
The most impactful change, however, is that taxpayers will only be able to use the GRE as a support document for the transport of goods. Under current legislation, besides the GRE, the factura guía and the liquidacion de compras, which are regular invoices with additional transport information, can also be used to support transporting goods. Issuance of the factura guía is a common practice since it entails the generation of one single document that serves both the sales transaction and transportation. However, the draft resolution only allows the use of the GRE for this purpose.
The introduction of the QR code is the government’s approach to a modern and efficient control method. The bidimensional code is generated by SUNAT once the CDR (constancia de recepción) acquires accepted status and may be presented in either digital or printed format.
Although taxpayers may still support transportation by providing their registration number (RUC), the series and the GRE number, it is expected that the QR code will become the principal method to support transit, and the RUC will only be used as a contingency method.
A new type of e-transport document has also been introduced. The guía de remisión por evento may only be issued through the SUNAT Portal and is used to complement a previously issued GRE in the case of unforeseeable events not attributable to the issuer. In these cases, current regulation supports the transfer with the same document. The draft resolution, however, requires that the GRE por evento is issued before restarting the transportation of goods.
Another change that taxpayers must be aware of, as it might give rise to complex scenarios, is the creation of a new catalogue of measure units applicable only to GREs, found in Annex III. The already existent measure unit catalogues for all other invoices will not apply to the GRE, which is bound to cause a lack of uniformity since the same concept would use two different catalogues.
The draft resolution sets 13 July 2022 as its date of entry into force when taxpayers already in the scope of the GRE may start to issue through the appropriate channels and voluntarily start using the QR code as the support for transportation.
However, until 30 September 2022, taxpayers may exceptionally issue GREs remitente through the SEE-OSE, considering the conditions and requirements in place before the publication of the resolution. The draft also establishes a list of certain taxpayers (issuers and transporters) who will become obliged to issue the GRE and the corresponding dates, in Annex X, according to taxpayer types and the goods in transport, starting 1 January 2023.
As this is a draft resolution, the changes only become definite with the official publication of the final version of the resolution. However, as 13 July 2022 approaches, the resolution is expected to be published in the following weeks. Therefore, taxpayers who are already under the obligation to issue GREs must be ready to comply with the new mandates within a month.
SUNAT accepts comments to the draft resolution, which can be sent via email until 16 June 2022, to the following address: RPATRICI@sunat.gob.pe.
Speak to our team if you have any questions about the latest e-invoicing requirements in Peru. Sovos has more than a decade of experience keeping clients up to date with e-invoicing mandates all over the world
Update: 5 February 2024 by Marta Sowinska
On 1 February, 2024, the Belgian Parliament approved the law implementing mandatory domestic B2B e-invoicing in the country, starting from 1 January 2026. The adopted bill can be found here.
This means that starting from 1 January, 2026 all VAT-registered taxpayers established in Belgium will be required to issue/receive structured electronic invoices. Peppol will be the default transmission method, although taxpayers will be able to use other systems provided that they meet the European Standard.
The bill is now awaiting the King’s signature and will later be published in the Official Gazette.
Update: 5 October 2023 by Marta Sowinska
Belgium’s Ministry of Finance has proposed a new plan for the introduction of a mandatory e-invoicing system in the country with a new timeline and scope.
Its previous proposal failed to reach an agreement with the Belgian federal government, but the Council of Ministers – the highest executive authority at a federal level in Belgium – approved the new preliminary draft on 29 September 2023.
The draft proposal introduces changes to the Value Added Tax Code to introduce a requirement for the issuance of structured e-invoices between taxpayers.
The main points are:
The preliminary draft legislation shall follow the standard legislative process before it becomes law and, as a next step, will be submitted for opinions to the Council of State, the High Council for the Self-Employed and SMEs, Agrofront and ITAA.
The tax authority announced that a broad information campaign will be made available to all stakeholders during the transition period. Taxpayers in scope should use this transition period and start preparing for the e-invoicing obligations to be able to comply in time for the January 2026 go-live date.
Looking for more information on the global adoption of electronic invoices? Our e-invoicing guide can help.
Update: 21 March 2023 by Marta Sowinska
On 2 March 2023, the Belgium Minister of Finance (“MoF”), Vincent Van Peteghem, announced the government’s plans for a broad tax reform. Introducing mandatory B2B e-invoicing and e-reporting is part of this tax reform. This proposal follows previous draft legislation on the issue of electronic invoicing, published in 2022, which has not yet been approved.
A phased roll-out for the B2B electronic invoicing mandate will start in July 2024. The Belgian administration has communicated the following timeline for e-invoicing issuance obligations, based on the company’s turnover:
Alongside the electronic invoicing mandate, the MoF proposes the introduction of electronic reporting obligations. According to the tax reform proposal, the new reporting obligations would allow for the elimination of the ‘customer list return’, which taxpayers are obliged to submit annually to record all sales in excess of €250 made to customers that are VAT-registered in Belgium.
The proposal for the broader tax reform is still awaiting further development, namely the publication of draft legislation detailing the invoicing and reporting requirements. Nevertheless, July 2024 looks very likely to be the date when the mandatory B2B e-invoicing roll-out will begin.
Have questions about Belgium’s e-invoicing mandate? Speak to our tax experts.
Update: 9 June 2022 by Marta Sowińska
In line with the obligations set by the European Directive 2014/55 on electronic invoicing in public procurement, Belgium introduced a mandate for public entities to receive and process electronic invoices in 2019.
For Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia the initiative went beyond the bare minimum of the EU Directive requirements and introduced obligations to also issue e-invoices for suppliers to public sector entities in these regions.
With recent legal changes, Belgium is now preparing to extend the e-invoicing obligation to even more businesses by introducing mandatory e-invoicing in the B2B sector.
On 31 March 2022, the Belgian Official Gazette published the Royal Decree of 9 March 2022, which intends to expand the obligation to issue electronic invoices to all suppliers of public institutions in the context of public contracts and concession contracts.
As previously mentioned, such obligation was already present in multiple regions including Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia, however, now the mandate covers suppliers of public bodies in all regions. The dates concerning issuing electronic invoices in the public contracts, based on their value are:
Only public contracts and concessions, which estimated value is less or equal to €3,000 excluding VAT are exempt.
As reported previously, Belgian authorities have indicated the ambition to move beyond B2G e-invoicing. On 11 May 2022, the Belgium Chamber of Representatives published a draft law amending the law of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment in commercial transactions, as last amended by the law of 28 May 2019, with the aim to implement electronic invoicing between private companies (B2B).
The rationale behind the proposal is the need to enable companies to invest in electronic invoicing, after already supporting the digitalization of invoicing in the B2G sector. The benefits that will follow are a much faster invoicing process, which is more secure and minimises the risk of errors and missing data.
Moreover, the chances of fraud will decrease while privacy protection increases, without the need for human intervention in the invoicing process.
Lastly, the environmental aspect concerning less paper consumption is highlighted. In terms of financial gain, as calculated by the Administrative Simplification Service (DAV), full digitalization of invoices in Belgium could reduce the administrative burden by €3.37 billion.
Based on the draft law, companies (with the exception of micro-enterprises) will be obliged to send their invoices in structured electronic form (in line with the European standard for electronic invoicing EN 16931-1:2017 and CEN/TS 16931-2:2017) as well as receive and process invoices electronically.
Nothing in the draft law describes the involvement of a centralised clearance platform, or the reporting of e-invoice data to the tax authorities. At this time, there is therefore no formal indication that the proposed mandate would be designed as a Continuous Transactions Control (CTC) e-invoicing system, however it is possible that the system will evolve to connect with PEPPOL.
The law will come into effect on 1 January 2025 regarding SMEs, thereby ensuring that companies have adequate time to prepare for the transition. If it comes to large enterprises, it is expected that mandatory e-invoicing will be present from January 2024. Originally the date concerning large taxpayers was July 2023, and small taxpayers from 2024, therefore those dates will most likely be postponed.
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Update: 26 March 2024 by Carolina Silva
The implementation of the qualified electronic signature requirement to establish the presumption of integrity and authenticity for e-invoices has been postponed, as announced in the 2024 State Budget. It had already been postponed several times in recent years.
This requirement was initially expected to be enforced on 1 January 2024. However, after the latest postponement, the eSignature requirement is now expected to be enforced from 1 January 2025.
Find out more about e-invoicing in Portugal with our dedicated overview.
Update: 19 December 2022 by Carolina Silva
The Portuguese State Secretary of Fiscal Affairs (SEAF) recently issued issued Order 8/2022 XXIII, which introduces a grace period for reporting obligations, as well as yet another of the stricter integrity and authenticity (I&A) requirements for electronic invoices.
The Order aims to highlight and promote Portugal’s plans to reduce the invoice data reporting obligations time window, as established by article 3 of Decree-law 198/2012. The Order also aims to establish the constant move towards real-time transmission of invoice data, as observed in other countries throughout the world.
Additionally, the Order affects the requirements of Decree-law 28/2019, by which the Portuguese government enacted a series of measures concerning invoice issuance, processing, and archiving, with the aim of simplifying and digitizing invoicing compliance in the country.
Since 2019, the Portuguese government has continuously reduced the time window for the invoice data reporting obligation. Starting 1 January 2023, the deadline for the monthly communication of invoice data will be until the 5th day of the month following the issuance of the invoice.
The new Order introduces a grace period concerning this obligation, with no penalties applied if reporting is carried out until the 8th day of the month following the invoice issuance. This is also applicable for cases where there is non-issuance of invoices during the relevant time period, where a nil monthly submission should also be made until the 8th day of each month.
The Portuguese government has also decided to implement a system of informative alerts by the tax authority in 2023. The aim is to promote voluntary compliance within the 5-day deadline by notifying taxpayers who don’t communicate invoice data until the 5th of the month following the issuance of the invoice.
Decree-law no. 28/2019 established several measures regarding invoicing, including a stricter integrity and authenticity requirement for invoices and fiscally relevant documents issued electronically. One of these requirements is the obligation to apply a qualified electronic signature (QES) or seal or use electronic data exchange system (EDI) for e-invoices, as per the European model.
This requirement has been postponed multiple times since enacted and was due to become mandatory on 1 January 2023. The newly published Order, however, explicitly states that until the 31 December 2023 all PDF invoices are considered electronic invoices for all fiscal effects.
Therefore, from the 1 January 2024, taxpayers must comply with the requirement of applying a QES or use EDI per the European Model to ensure integrity and authenticity of e-invoices.
Besides the stricter integrity and authenticity requirement and the grace period for communication of invoice data, taxpayers are expected to comply with new e-invoicing mandates underway in Portugal.
Namely, the mandatory B2G invoicing in the CIUS-PT format starting on 1 January 2023 for medium, small and micro enterprises. No further guidance has been issued at this time regarding a postponement of the adoption of the CIUS-PT format for these last taxpayer groups, meaning that public entities may reject invoices issued in other formats after the go-live date.
Still have questions about Portugal’s e-invoicing requirements? Speak to our tax experts.
Update 31 May 2022 by Kelly Muniz
In 2019, the Portuguese government enacted Law Decree n. 28/2019, introducing a full reform of the rules concerning the issuance, processing and archiving of invoices, with the main goals of implementing electronic invoicing, simplifying compliance for taxpayers and reducing the VAT gap.
The expanded scope of those obliged to use a billing software certified by the Portuguese Tax Authority, the inclusion of a QR code and a sequential unique number code (ATCUD – código único de documento) and the stricter integrity and authenticity requirements when issuing invoices and other relevant fiscal documents were some of the most impactful mandates introduced by this law.
However, many taxpayers struggled to comply with the new requirements. As such, the tax authority has delayed the launch of different components of the Decree, and some of them remain to be implemented.
In a recent Ministerial Decision from 26 May 2022, the goal line for implementing the stricter integrity and authenticity requirement, this article’s focal point, has been moved yet again, now to 1 January 2023.
The Decree from 2019 established that in order to guarantee the requirements of authenticity and integrity of electronic invoices and other relevant fiscal documents have been met (per article 233 of the EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC), taxpayers must use a qualified electronic signature, a qualified electronic seal (QES) or an electronic data exchange system (EDI) with security measures per the European Model EDI Agreement. This change is important as it limits the choice of compliance methods generally recognised within the EU to one between only QES and EDI.
To achieve this goal, the Decree determined that taxpayers would only be able to use previously accepted advanced electronic signatures or seals (the lower level of signature security) until 31 December 2020. After that, all invoices would be required to incorporate a qualified signature or seal or be issued through EDI.
The original deadline for implementing the stricter integrity and authenticity requirements has been postponed many times. The first delay was ordained through Despacho n. 437/2020-XXII of 9 November 2020 of the State Secretary for Fiscal Matters (SEAF – Secretário de Estado dos Assuntos Fiscais). According to this, PDF invoices without a QES would be accepted until 31 March 2021 and considered electronic invoices for all fiscal purposes.
Since then, the mandate has been postponed four additional times, with the last one taking place on 26 May 2022, by Despacho n. 49/2022-XXIII of the SEAF. According to this act, PDF invoices with no specific security measures must be recognised as electronic invoices for fiscal effects until 31 December 2022, instead of the previously established date, 30 June 2022.
Therefore, from 1 January 2023, taxpayers covered by Law Decree n. 28/2019 must comply with the requirement to ensure authenticity and integrity either by applying a Qualified Electronic Signature/Seal or by using “EDI by-the-book” (EDI under the European Model EDI Agreement).
Besides the stricter authenticity and integrity requirement, taxpayers must be ready to comply with additional new invoicing mandates underway in Portugal. On 1 July 2022, it will be required to only use structured electronic invoices in CIUS-PT format for B2G transactions. The B2G mandatory e-invoicing is already under implementation through a phased roll-out. It is set to be finalised and become compulsory for small and medium companies and microenterprises on 1 July 2022. Furthermore, the inclusion of the ATCUD code on invoices and other fiscal relevant documents, which has also been previously postponed, is set to become mandatory on 1 January 2023.
Need to ensure compliance with the latest e-invoicing requirements in Portugal? Get in touch with Sovos’ tax experts.