The immediate electronic invoice can be issued within ten days of the transaction. It is one of the most significant simplifications contained in the decree related to the 2019 economic plan ( Legislative Decree no. 119 of 23 October 2018 ). Nothing changes, however, with regard to the due date of the tax , which must be determined according to the indications in art. 6 of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972.
Taxpayers who avail themselves of this option, issuing the invoice on a date other than the date on which the transaction was carried out, must indicate this in the document itself. This information is provided by the same provision contained in the related decree. The new provision is effective July 1, 2019. However, in the previous period, the guidance provided by the Revenue Agency in Circular No. 100 of July 2, 2018, can be taken into account . 13/E , which stated as follows: “ However, in the initial application phase of the new provisions, also considering the necessary technological adaptation required of the group of subjects involved and the related organizational difficulties, it is believed that the invoice file, prepared in compliance with the technical rules set out in the provision of the Director of the Revenue Agency of 30 April 2018 and sent with a minimal delay , in any case such as not to jeopardize the correct liquidation of the tax , constitutes a non-punishable violation pursuant to article 6, paragraph 5-bis , of Legislative Decree 18 December 1997, no. 472 ”.
Question 1 – Operational scope of the electronic invoicing obligation
Request
How can a professional who issues numerous tax receipts to private individuals, for very small amounts (which are tax deductible and therefore subject to separate reporting), circumvent the requirement for electronic invoicing, which would entail costs (in terms of time spent or having to pay a third party to manage electronic invoices on their behalf) that are often similar to their revenue? Furthermore, will they be required to maintain a separate register for the rare invoices they issue to VAT-registered individuals?
Answer
The new requirement applies exclusively to the issuance of electronic invoices , not other documents such as tax receipts. If you intend to delegate invoice issuance to a third party , this will require a fee. However, this expense could be minimized by assigning the Revenue Agency to subsequently handle the replacement archiving . Establishing a sectional register is not mandatory if the invoices issued follow a single progressive numbering .
Numbering may be continuous and progressive even when invoices are issued to both end consumers who do not have a VAT number, but also to businesses and professionals who are VAT taxable persons.
Question 2 – Deadline for sending the document to the SdI
Request
Given that the deadline for issuing a service invoice is the time of payment, with the requirement to submit the final invoice by midnight, this poses significant operational challenges for all professional firms/service providers that issue proforma invoices and invoice upon payment. This requires daily checking of account statements, starting in the late afternoon (to ensure all incoming transfers have been received) and daily submission to the SdI, which is operationally challenging—consider, for example, the month of August. Are there any updates from the Revenue Agency or alternative solutions?
Answer
The issue was resolved following the approval of the decree related to the 2019 economic plan ( art. 11 , Legislative Decree no. 119 of 23 October 2018). The invoice must be sent to the Exchange System within 10 days of the transaction . The date indicated in the XML file coincides with the time the transaction was carried out and therefore the date on which the related collection occurred. However, the new provision applies from 1 July 2019 and the taxpayer must indicate in the document that the transmission date does not coincide with the date of the transaction. Instead, in the first half of 2019, the indications set out in circular no. 13/E of 2018 can be taken into account . The delay in transmission is irrelevant if the periodic payment of the tax is correct.
Question 3 – Electronic invoicing issued late: applicable penalties
Request
I’d like to know how long it takes for a B2B invoice to be sent ; it’s said to be within 24 hours, but that’s not feasible. Are there any penalties or problems if it’s sent late?
Answer
The two problems were resolved by the decree connected to the 2019 economic plan ( art. 11 , Legislative Decree 23 October 2018, no. 119). The document must be sent to the Exchange System within 10 days of the transaction being carried out . This new provision comes into force on 1 July 2019. In the preceding six months, the Revenue Agency will tolerate late submissions that do not result in errors in the periodic liquidation .
In the first six months of 2019, any late payment will be penalized with lower penalties than the standard ones . If the electronic invoice is issued late, within the deadline for the periodic payment, no penalty will be imposed . However, if the invoice is issued late, but within the deadline for the subsequent payment , the penalty will be 20 percent , an 80 percent reduction from the standard amount.
Question 4 – Exempted subjects
Request
Are entities subject to the minimum tax regime pursuant to Article 27 of Legislative Decree No. 98 of 6 July 2011 exempt from electronic invoicing?
Answer
The answer is yes, but the exemption applies exclusively to invoices issued to private individuals . However, as clarified by the Revenue Agency during the 2018 Telefisco meeting, the obligation applies to invoicing for services rendered to public administrations.
Question 5 – Issuing invoices in analog format
Request
Is it necessary to create a separate section for issuing invoices abroad to avoid problems with the SdI?
Answer
In reality, if the numbering is progressive and continuous , there is no obligation to adopt a sectional register . It may be useful, for “accounting purposes,” to adopt a separate numbering series for electronic and analogue invoices.
In this case, the adoption of the sectional register becomes mandatory.
Question 6 – Date of transmission of the electronic invoice to the SdI
Request
How many days do I have to submit an invoice dated October 10th?
Answer
The invoice can be correctly transmitted/sent by October 20th, therefore within ten days of the transaction being carried out . This new provision was introduced by art. 11 , Legislative Decree no. 119/2018 and applies from July 1st, 2019 .
Question 7 – Debit note and analog document
Request
If I receive a refund of advance customs duty paid on behalf of my client (which was always recharged by issuing an invoice excluding VAT pursuant to Article 15 ), will it be mandatory to issue a simultaneous electronic invoice starting January 1, 2019, or could this situation be exempt from issuing an invoice pursuant to Presidential Decree no. 633/1972 ? (Or could a refund receipt be sufficient?)
Answer
If the document is issued exclusively to charge advance expenses in the name and on behalf of the customer , exempt from VAT pursuant to art. 15 of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972, it is technically not an invoice. The document is a debit note and, consequently, can be issued in analog format outside the SdI .
Question 8 – Electronic and analogue invoices: sectional register
Request
Starting January 1, 2019, is a “normal” taxpayer who receives a paper invoice from a “flat-rate” taxpayer required to activate VAT sections for the paper invoices received? Or can they register them together with all electronic invoices?
Answer
Article 13 of Legislative Decree no. 119/2018 repealed the requirement to number received purchase invoices . The text of Article 25 of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972 has thus been amended . Consequently, the different types of documents received, analog and digital, do not appear to give rise to the requirement to establish a sectional register .
Question 9 – Substitutive archiving: delegated subject and responsibilities
Request
If electronic invoicing is delegated to third parties (professionals or others), who is responsible for poor or incorrect record keeping? The issuer or the delegate?
Answer
Article 21 of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972 establishes the liability of the taxable person if they have outsourced the issuance of invoices to third parties. The same liability , even in the absence of an express provision, falls on the taxable person for compliance with substitute archiving .
In other words, if the auditors were to find irregularities in the procedure, the charge of failure to keep the documentation would be directed against the taxable person.
The person in charge/delegate will be liable to the taxable person for breach of contract .
Question 10 – Rejected invoice: deadlines for resubmitting
Request
Are the five days to resend the invoice actual or working days?
Answer
The days must be actual . The solution was provided by the Revenue Agency during a conference organized by the National Council of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts.
Question 11 – Sectional VAT registers
Request
How are invoice numbers issued on multiple sections managed, for example 1/a 1/b 1/c, etc.?
Answer
If the taxpayer has issued invoices using distinct numbering series , the adoption of one or more sectional registers is mandatory .
Question 12 – Deductibility of medical expenses
Request
If the issued electronic invoice has not been “delivered” via certified email (PEC) or via a 7-digit identifier, it is considered issued to the supplier when the notification of non-delivery arrives and is therefore made available in the customer’s reserved area. For the customer, tax usability begins when they “open” the invoice in their reserved area.
As for clients without VAT numbers, such as a doctor’s clients, will they be able to deduct the expense in their 730 tax return (assuming it still exists) using the copy provided by the doctor, or will they have to open it in their reserved area, failing which it will not be deductible?
Answer
The 2018 Budget Law (see Article 1, paragraph 3, of Legislative Decree No. 127 of August 5, 2015, as amended by Article 1, paragraph 909, of Law No. 205 of December 27, 2017) requires that the final consumer (a natural person) be provided with a copy of the invoice . Consequently, the document thus issued should be eligible for the purposes of claiming the deductions for expenses provided for by the TUIR .
Question 13 – Former minimum taxpayers
Request
Do taxpayers who receive electronic invoices have to identify themselves and install systems to send active invoices electronically?
Answer
Taxpayers with minimal income are exempt from issuing electronic invoices to private individuals . However, the obligation applies to services provided to public administrations. The clarification was provided by the Revenue Agency during Telefisco 2018.
Question 14 – Amateur sports clubs and associations
Request
Will amateur sports associations have to issue electronic invoices?
Answer
The answer is yes. The provisions currently in force do not provide any exemption from the obligation to issue invoices in electronic format for taxpayers applying the flat-rate regime pursuant to Law No. 398 of 16 December 1991 .
Question 15 – Managing delegations
Request
Will the Revenue Agency open up direct delegations for electronic invoicing to everyone, including those not authorized to submit tax returns electronically?
Answer
In some cases, the initiation of the procedure is already in place. For example, pursuant to Article 21 of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972, invoices may be issued by a third party in place of the taxable person. The third party appointed may be a service company , even if it is not included among the entities referred to in Article 3 of Presidential Decree No. 322 of July 22, 1998.
Question 16 – Electronic invoicing: scope of application
Request
Are associations applying the preferential regime pursuant to Law No. 398/1991 included in the electronic invoicing requirement ? Are agricultural entities with a turnover of less than €7,000 also excluded?
Answer
The two subjects indicated in the question are required to comply with the electronic invoicing obligation .
Question 17 – Electronic invoice rejected and retransmitted
Request
An invoice is issued on January 31, 2019, and transmitted to the SdI on February 5, 2019. If it were rejected, would it be considered late if it were retransmitted correctly with the same date, i.e., February 6, 2019?
Answer
The invoice must be sent within ten days of the transaction . Therefore, sending it on February 5, 2019, is certainly timely. In the event of a rejection , the taxpayer must resubmit the rejected invoice within five days of the notification of the rejection.
Question 18 – Electronic invoicing and tax receipts
Request
A physiotherapist who issues receipts to private individuals (currently not yet required to use the health card system) will have to issue electronic invoices to his individual patients starting January 1, 2019, or, since these are fiscal receipts, is this requirement not required?
Answer
If the documents issued are fiscal receipts , there is no obligation to transmit them in digital format via the Exchange System. However, if, as is more likely, they are invoices, the documents must be issued in electronic format. It is irrelevant whether the clients are natural persons or end consumers.
Question 19 – Numbering of issued invoices
Request
If a service is performed and paid for on the 2nd of the following month, and the deferred invoices for the previous month have not yet been issued, what numbering should the invoice for the 2nd month’s collection be?
Answer
The invoice takes the number 1. The deferred invoice , issued by the 15th , takes the number 2. The taxpayer can optionally adopt different numbering series . In this case, the deferred invoice can, for example, take the number 1/D, where series D means deferred invoice.
In this case, the adoption of a specific sectional register is mandatory .
Question 20 – Electronic purchase invoices and registration deadlines
Request
If an electronic fuel purchase invoice was issued on September 30th and the invoice was received on October 5th, should the purchase invoice be recorded in October for accounting purposes?
Answer
The deadlines for registering an invoice, even if electronic, are the same as those for exercising the right to deduct pursuant to Article 19 of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972. Registration can be completed by the deadline for filing the following year’s annual return . However, the VAT deduction must be claimed not in the year of registration, but in the year to which the annual VAT return refers .