The EU-Compendium on e-invoicing and archiving provides a comprehensive overview of questions and answers on the minimum VAT Requirements for the creating, processing and storage of e-invoices in 19 European countries.
From a VAT perspective, invoice documents represent a major element of taxation. Taxable supplies and services are regularly billed on invoices. If in possession of a correct invoice document, the recipient of these billed goods/services will receive an input VAT refund from the fiscal authorities.
The European VAT Directive (2006/112/EC) lays down the minimum standard requirements for invoices in Art. 226, 230, 233, 244, and 246. Although member states may impose fewer obligations (Art. 221), many national legislators do indeed ask for more details on invoice documents.
Businesses in Europe find themselves in a similar situation with regard to electronic invoices. While the European VAT Directive clearly states that a business must guarantee the authenticity of the origin and the integrity of the content of both electronic invoices and paper invoices, some member states have issued specific national rules that seem to make it more complicate to use electronic invoicing.
The same does also apply to retention requirements which are not harmonized at all. In the meantime, more and more businesses have been changing their invoicing flows from paper to digital formats, which enables them to automate the processing of their invoices.
The new reference document aims to fill a major gap on the way to the barrier-free international exchange of invoices, because “invoices between companies are a central and recurring theme in the sales tax, and not just in Germany but across borders,” says Philipp Matheis, accountant and partner at the firm Peters, Schönberger & partner in Munich. “Much depends on (e-)invoices, such as the possible deduction of the invoice recipient or a possible tax-free performance of the biller. If the minimum requirements for invoices and invoice processing process are not met, it could have unpleasant consequences for both biller and bill recipient.”
This handbook provides an initial overview of the rules currently applied in many European countries. For further questions and details, please feel free to contact one of the local contributors.
Click here for the free PDF download (123 pages, 2.6 MB) the EU compendium (EN).
