Document: 'Code of Practice on Electronic Invoicing in Europe'

 
This Code of Practice on Electronic Invoicing in Europe is recommended for implementation when and if the amended Directive on VAT as proposed by the European Commission on 28 January 2009 comes into effect.

Trading parties, solution providers and tax authorities need legal certainty, a key element for a proper functioning of the Internal Market and for realizing the huge process, labour and cost-efficiency benefits, which electronic invoicing processes could provide.
Legal certainty requires clear, easy to apply and EU wide harmonised regulations which are uniformly implemented by Member States across the EU and uniformly applied by the relevant tax administrations in the Member States.

The objective of this Code of Practice is therefore:
• to provide legal certainty for business in Europe in processing invoices by electronic means, and
• to foster an e-invoicing friendly environment in Europe by increasing mutual trust between all involved parties in the processes applied.

This will assist business and authorities to meet present and future regulatory requirements for electronic invoicing and to assure them on the best practice applied consistently across Europe.

The practices are equally applicable to transactions taking place within and between Member States of the European Union and could also be used to drive a common approach in countries outside the EU.

Full harmonization of provisions governing electronic invoicing within the EU27 should be a key objective in the interests of the Single Market and ease of use for trading parties across Europe to create a level playing field and legal certainty. There should be no distinction between invoicing carried out on a domestic basis or between Member States. The same harmonized provisions should apply for both e-invoices related to domestic transactions and for those related to intra-community transactions.

Many of these principles are already practiced in the EU27, and in some member countries these principles are explicitly stated in National Guidance Documents.