An increasing number of digitalization projects, EU regulations and national legislation are making e-invoicing indispensable across the world so avoiding e-invoicing is not an option.

FREMONT, CA: In the European Union, member states are losing billions of Euros in value-added tax (VAT) revenues just because of tax fraud and improper tax collection systems. The EU VAT Gap has been huge for a few years now. In 2016, the EU estimated the gap to be about 160 billion USD. Therefore, more than 300,000 public administrations in EU member states must organize their systems and processes for e-invoicing.

Increasing tax revenue as motivation 

Member states have been trying to implement the EU directive since it has been established. Italy, Hungary, and Spain are the frontrunners in this. Greece and Romania are on their best way to implement the e-invoicing directive.

In Italy, it is mandatory to issue all domestic invoices in a defined electronic format and transfer them via a state-run e-invoicing platform since January 2019. This pertains to all invoices with Italian issuers or recipients, meaning all national invoices as well as invoices from other countries to Italy and vice versa. The same goes for Hungary, where there will be a state-run e-invoicing platform shortly. It may result in significant penalties in Italy or Hungary if companies do not comply with the mandate requirements there. 

According to EU 2014/55, the image-based invoices do not include electronic invoices. It shows that incoming invoices as PDF present a challenge to electronic invoice processing because the e-invoicing information is not structured. So, structured electronic e-invoicing information is a prerequisite of digitalization.

Global e-invoicing needs expertise

With time-integrated, e-invoicing has grown to become its own discipline with many solutions, integrating different components or functionalities, covering various processes, and working independently of existing ERP systems. Integrated e-invoicing solutions consider the requirements and demands of mid-sized local businesses. However, the most critical aspect is that companies can use new technologies as well as changes in the market to their benefit, be it on the national or international stage.

Customers who choose an international e-invoicing service provider are at a benefit here. Acting globally, said service provider would naturally always realize recent trends and new developments concerning e-invoicing, consequently having the ability to support customers with a reliable solution and proposals for process changes or the way to react quickly to changes within the market.