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EU Adopts Directive On Standardised VAT Electronic Invoicing

Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

21 February 2001

The European Commission recently published the text of a directive which will amend the existing rules for VAT invoicing in the Union to provide a standardised basis across the 15 member states, including provision for electronic invoicing.

The proposals, which have yet to be considered by the Parliament, and of course then approved by the ECOFIN Council, are based on a report produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers, delivered to the Commission in August 2000. The report, says the Commission:

'concludes that electronic invoicing should be explicitly authorised by Community legislation and should be permitted even between trading partners operating in different Member States. The conditions imposed on this practice should be neutral with regard to the technology employed and should take into account the work that has already been carried out on electronic signatures. No prior authorisation or notification should be required, and only ex-post controls should be carried out by the authorities, leading where necessary to a ban. Storage of invoices using an electronic medium should be permitted on a similar basis. Minimum conditions are set out to ensure that these new procedures provide the same level of security for the tax authorities as conventional ones.'

A list of 12 mandatory items of information on any invoice is proposed, including: date of issue, sequential number, EU VAT identification number of the supplier, identity of the customer, date of supply of goods or completion of services, description of goods or services, VAT rate and taxable amount.

The possibility of outsourcing invoicing operations to a third party or to the customer ("self billing" as it is more commonly known) will also be accepted. The place and method of invoice storage can be freely determined provided immediate access, legibility and data integrity are guaranteed.

The full text of the Commission's explanatory memorandum is available in Tax-news.com Resources section or at:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/dat/2000/en_500PC0650.html

 

 






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