Global Daily Tax News, Ireland Planning Electronic Invoicing Rules, (Oct 17, 2023)

On October 13, the Irish Revenue launched a consultation on plans to introduce electronic invoicing requirements for business-to-business and business-to-government supplies, as part of efforts to modernize how the tax agency administers value-added tax.

Launching the consultation, the Revenue said: "Digital technology advances offer the possibility of redesigning how VAT is administered to align compliance obligations more closely with normal business processes. This will reduce compliance costs and yield efficiencies for tax-compliant businesses, while enabling Revenue to focus more effectively on combatting fraud. In that context, Revenue's objective is to advance the introduction of real-time digital reporting for VAT, supported by electronic invoicing."

"Recent years have seen many developed economies undertake reforms in this direction, providing plenty of international experience from which Ireland can learn. At European Union (EU) level, discussions are currently underway on the European Commission's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposals for similar developments in respect of cross-border transactions between Member States."

"The focus of this initial public consultation is the modernisation of Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) VAT reporting, supported by e-invoicing."

In Ireland, since April 2019, all public bodies are required to accept an electronic invoice from a supplier if that supplier chooses to issue one. As of yet, there is no legal requirement for suppliers to submit invoices in electronic format to public bodies but the law facilitates those who chose to do so.

Directive 2014/55/EU obligates all public bodies to be able to receive and process electronic invoices in accordance with a common European Standard. Under EU level reforms, the EU Commission is proposing that this standard on e-invoicing (EN 16931) will apply to e-invoices issued in relation to intra-EU transactions. Revenue said the same standard will also apply to the issuance of domestic e-invoices. 

The consultation, which will run until January 12, 2024, focuses exclusively on electronic invoicing. The Revenue said other matters, including the agency's approach to VAT payments and repayments and the rules for accounting for VAT, will be covered in future consultations.