B2B e-invoicing in Ireland
There is no mandate for issuing and receiving electronic invoices for B2B transactions in Ireland.
Irish businesses can issue and receive electronic invoices and must consider the following legal aspects when implementing e-invoicing in the country:
- Obtaining the consent of the buyer to send an electronic invoice.
- Ensuring integrity and authenticity – any means are accepted, from internal process controls up to electronically signing the e-invoices.
- Retention – e-invoices must be stored in such a way as to guarantee their integrity, authenticity and availability during the retention period. The retention period for electronic invoices is six years from invoice date.
The country’s tax authority is looking to modernise its VAT system. In late 2023, it launched a public consultation to understand how organisations feel about digitally transforming tax processes and proposed imposing a mandate for e-invoicing and real-time reporting when transacting domestically. The key driver of the consultation was the ViDA initiative.
Through the public consultation, the Irish tax authority managed to gather valuable insights from more than 1,000 businesses, aiming to use them in the design and implementation strategy phase.
With the final approval of ViDA Ireland will be able to impose mandatory e-invoicing in the country without the currently needed formal authorisation from the EU.
