Mandatory e-invoicingElectronic invoicing - widely referred to as e-invoicing - is the exchange of a digital document between a supplier and a buyer. E-invoices are issued, transmitted and received in a structured data format that enabled automatic and electronic processing. They contain data in a machine-readable format so that an AP system can read an invoice without manual data entry, leading to faster and more efficient invoicing. for B2B transactions in France and Spain has moved a step closer following legislative developments in both countries this month.
It means businesses trading in or with two of Europe’s largest economies will be required to fill and file electronic invoices for every transaction from 2024.
Both Spain and France follow in the footsteps of European neighbour Italy (and several other major countries) in implementing e-invoicing rules for the B2B sector, but what do we know so far?
Spain
In Spain, the Congress of Deputies gave the final seal of approval to the introduction of mandatory B2B e-invoicing on 15th September.
Extensive negotiations have taken place with each of the country’s autonomous regions and, following some amendments, it won strong support.
Once the law has been published in the government’s gazette (expected to take place in the coming days), the following deadlines for implementation will apply:
- 12 months for businesses with an annual turnover of more than €8 million.
- 36 months for all other companies.
The rollout of B2B e-invoicing across Spain comes seven years after the nation first made e-invoicing mandatory for B2GCommerce between business to government. transactions.
Once the new legislation comes into effect – likely to be in 2024 for all businesses – organisations will be required to issue all invoices electronically; the government believes increasing digitalisation will deliver improved efficiency, simplification and cost savings.
Draft laws have already been published to cover critical details such as the software that will be permitted to generate e-invoices, the required content of each invoice and how businesses must keep electronic records for tax audits. This has given prospective users a chance to get one step ahead by beginning to plan their switchover to e-invoicing.
France
A recent update from the French government confirmed mandatory e-invoicing and real-time reporting for VAT will be introduced on 1st July 2024. It covers all transactions completed between two parties that are registered for VAT in the nation.
The extension of e-invoicing in France comes on the back of a successful implementation of the system for all transactions between businesses and the public sector.
As in Spain, many of the technical specifications have been published, enabling companies to prepare themselves for the new regulations in under two years.
The French government said the arrival of e-invoicing and real-time reporting on VAT will deliver four key benefits:
- Simplification of business activities and enhanced competitiveness as a result of a reduced administrative burden on firms.
- Improvements in fraud detection.
- Increasing real-time knowledge and awareness of core business data and activities.
- In the longer term, VAT reporting will also be simplified as businesses are obligated to pre-fill declaration forms.
What should your business do next?
These developments in Spain and France were not unexpected; indeed, authorities have been planning the introduction of e-invoicing for several years.
But it is now clear that both nations will make e-invoicing mandatory by 2024 (and for some businesses in Spain it could be even sooner). That means time is not on your side if you are yet to begin preparations.
E-invoicing is good news for business and for tax bodies. It will ensure optimum accuracy in all financial data submitted to authorities, while reducing the manual workload for companies and empowering tax teams to deliver greater results more efficiently than ever before.
However, to access the benefits of e-invoicing (and avoid the potential punishments of non-compliance) businesses must first ensure the tax data they are using to fill invoices are accurate, correct and complete.
That’s why we recommend investing in automated tax solutions and other infrastructure within your ERPEnterprise resource planning (ERP) is a type of software that organisations use to manage main business processes. to ensure tax is determined, calculated and applied with total reliability in every transaction, allowing your business to be sure of filling e-invoices only with perfect data.