An attempt to build a new kind of organizationally distributed but logically centralized  e- invoicing address registry has now been started in Finland. The technology platform utilized for the project will be based on Ethereum Blockchain.

The objective is to deliver an early version of a distributed e-invoice address book in December 2016. It would also allow companies to report VAT information faster and facilitate real-time reporting. Adopting a uniform standard could help to increase European tax revenues by up to EUR 160 billion a year.

The idea is to revive the ISO 20022 standard to enable real-time value added tax (VAT) reporting. The standard allows the necessary information in each invoice to be reported to the tax authorities in digital form. Adopting the new standard across Europe could potentially increase tax revenues by up to EUR 160 billion through the collection of currently unreported VAT.

A significant group of operators in e-invoicing is involved in the project, including leading European B2B business integrators such as OpusCapita, Tieto, Enfo and Basware; banks such as OP, Nordea, Danske and the s.k. Samlink group of Finnish Savings banks; and the LähiTapiola insurance company.

The consortium also includes government agencies such as The Finnish Tax Authority, the Finnish Business Registry, The Government Services for Finance and HR in Finland Palkeet. The SME side is covered by the Association of Finnish Accounting Firms. The payment processor Nets is also involved, the Federation of Finnish Financial Services is acting as the facilitator of the project, and Nordledger (nordledger.com) Blockchain Design Studio is responsible for design and coding.