Electronic invoice: news from 1 July 2019

The obligation to all effects of electronic invoicing for 3.2 million taxpayers comes into effect from Monday 1 July 2019, with the end of the transitional period in which the penalties were not applied. However, with this move, on the regulatory front, there are also news that alter the digital invoice situation, simplifying many elements.

Electronic billing: what it is and what it entailed The digital invoice, which entered into force on 1 January 2019, became a requirement for transactions between topics with a VAT number (professionals, businesses, etc., defined as B2B) or between persons with VAT numbers and private persons (B2C). Electronic invoicing means the duty on the part of businesses and experts to use digital and non-paper records, the latter becoming only helpful for easy reading. These digital papers are sent to the Revenue Agency, which can thus have higher control over movement within the territory of Italy.

There was also an obligation (non-formalbut de facto) with the requirement of electronic invoicing and therefore a excellent chance for businesses to develop their procedures in order to digitize them more. In fact, the management of digital invoices has brought digital to many companies where it was not previously present with advantages not only in terms of controlling the operations performed, but also in terms of the company's full digitalization and consequent access to advanced tools.

Electronic invoices, like electronic receipts, also become a Trojan horse for digital enterprises and thus open up the ocean of possibilities that this entry entails. Adopting digital invoicing portion of the government's Digital Agenda is not for nothing, as it favors this strategy.

The many alternatives on the market, including cloud-based TeamSystem invoices, enable you to handle electronic invoices, but also to handle stock (and movement analysis), estimates, deadlines, reminders, notifications, rebates and tax estimates, as well as many other characteristics that are only made possible by digitization. Therefore, these instruments enable businesses to handle their company better by simplifying many elements, especially bureaucratic and fiscal ones.

Electronic invoice: news from 1 July 2019 With the transformation of the development decree (Decree Law34/2019) on 27 June last, Parliament approved the extension of the instant invoice period from 10 to 12 days from 1 July 2019. This also applies to all papers pertaining to previous facilities which should have been issued as of 1 July; an procedure carried out on 21 June with the date of problem of the invoice on 1 July can now be invoiced as of 3 July.

Beginning on July 1, the transitional period in which the penalties were void if awarded late but within the VAT payment limit has now been finished and is now reaching a constant state: the penalties vary from 90% to 180% of the tax.

A relevant aspect clarified by the Inland Revenue is that of transmitting the invoice to the Interchange System (SDI): the date of issue coincides with the date of transmission, whereas the date on which the transaction was carried out is to be specified in the XML file field "Data." Instead, the annotation must take place within the fifteenth day of the month following that in which the operations actually took place with reference to that month.

It also eliminates the duty to count the invoices obtained, which removes an unnecessary complexity from the new electronic invoicing scheme and thus acknowledges the efficient trouble of implementing this duty owing to the constraints imposed by the platform itself.

Electronic invoicing has also become completely operational in terms of penalties since 1 July, but it represents an significant chance for businesses and practitioners to renew themselves and adopt digital technology, taking advantage of its beneficial elements as well.