Country mandate updates

1. India – Extending the scope of mandatory invoice reporting

After the successful go-live of India’s Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) on October 1, the annual turnover threshold will come down starting January 1, 2021. From this date, the invoice reporting obligation will apply to businesses with a turnover higher than 100 CrRs (on PAN level), who will have to report B2B invoice data to the IRP. According to Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, the e-invoicing system will be available for all taxpayers for B2B transactions from the first of April 2021.

After several months of closure, the NIC (National Informatics Centre) has now released the sandbox testing environment for companies with revenues above 100CrRs. In the sandbox the e-invoicing API’s can be tested and GSTIN’s can be checked for availability of e-invoicing.

Tungsten can support any supplier with a complaint e-invoicing process in India and provide clearance to the Invoice registration on your behalf if required – click here for more information and to speak with one of our enrolment specialists.

2. France – Mandatory B2B e-invoicing and a new survey

Following public consultations and a pilot programme during Spring 2020, the expectation was that the report discussing potential models to implement (mandatory) B2B e-invoicing in France would have been presented to the French parliament in September. The report is delayed and is now expected to be published in the next few weeks.

It is important to note that while different models are discussed in the draft report, there has been no decision yet on the e-invoicing model or standard.

In the meantime, the Forum de la Facture Electronique (FNFE-MPE) has launched an online survey on the operational impacts of the various methods of invoice submission and reception and payment terms. If you want to take part in the survey click the link here.

If you do business in France we’d love to hear from you, we can scope a potential solution for your business based on volumes once we understand more about the mandate model.

3. Australia – on its way to an e-invoicing mandate

The Australian Government has decided on a A$3.6 million push in 2020-2021 to make electronic invoicing mandatory for all Australia’s Commonwealth agencies by July 1, 2022. At the same time, the government will be consulting on options for mandatory e-invoicing across businesses. Australia is following the PEPPOL e-invoicing standard that allows for invoice exchange directly between different accounting systems via approved access points.

If you trade in Australia and will have a need for a compliant solution once the mandate comes into effect, we’d love to hear from you early.

4. Vietnam – E-invoicing mandate postponed until July 2022

While it was generally expected that the Vietnamese e-invoicing mandate would not come into effect in November 2020, the delay had not been confirmed officially. However, on 19 October 2020 the Vietnamese Government issued the Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP which now indeed clarifies that the deadline for compulsory issuance of e-invoicing has been delayed from November 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022.

If you trade in Vietnam and have the need for a compliant solution, we’d love to hear from you.

5. China – Pilot program for special e-invoices

The STA (State Taxation Administration) announced the implementation of e-invoicing for Special VAT Invoices earlier in 2020.

Following that announcement, Ningbo (a city in the Yangtze River Delta Region) was selected as the first pilot city. After a limited start in 2 main Ningbo City Districts on September 1, the pilot was extended to the entire city of Ningbo effective from 16 September 2020.

It is expected that with the successful implementation of the VAT special e-invoice in Ningbo, the pilot program will be gradually rolled out to the whole country. In the meantime, the STA will continue to work on the required capacity of the public e-invoice service platform.

Tungsten is working with our partner and monitoring mandate developments in China, where there is demand from customers we will evaluate the potential for a compliant solution.Get in touch for a discussion if you trade in china.

6. Italy – response to FAQ n°149

In responding to FAQ n°149, the Italian Revenue Agency has specified that electronic invoices drawn up based on the “old [version 1.5]” technical specifications of the FATTURA XML file will be accepted by SdI (Sistema di Interscambio) even after January 1, 2021. This only applies to invoices dated 2020. Any invoice with a date relating to 2021 must be issued in the new FATTURA XML file [version 1.6].

This is a necessary clarification because, according to art. 21, d.P.R. n. 633/1972, invoices must be sent to SdI within 12 days from the moment of execution of the operation.

For information about our Italian clearance solutions or if this change applies to you and you’re unsure of any of the points, Contact our compliance team today.

7. Kenya – New VAT (Electronic Tax Invoices) Regulations, 2020

Kenya recently published its Value Added Tax (Electronic Tax Invoices) Regulations, 2020.

It will be obligatory for taxpayers that are registered for VAT in Kenya to issue electronic tax invoices whenever they make supplies. It is stated that all VAT-registered taxpayers are expected to comply with the new regulations within one year after the Regulations come into operation, which would take the need to comply into 2021 or 2022. The KRA (Kenya Revenue Agency) is in the process of implementing a Tax Invoice Management System (“TIMS”) to ensure enough scalability.