Compliance Services

The Revenue Agency published a new provision on 4 April 2023 relating to the use of free services in API Management platform and General Conditions.  

The new API management platform was established on 15 May 2023 and provides free services regarding the validation of the data for taxpayers who are interested in using it with their own systems.  

Further details regarding the same can be located on the Italian authority website via the link below:   https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/portale/documents/20143/5202816/Provvedimento+del+4_4_23+servizi+in+Api.pdf/4e3a2055-c75b-fb0c-daac-7dda27ee6a1c  

On 5 June 2023, the Polish government published an amendment to the Goods and Services Tax Act. Slim VAT 3 aims to simplify the tax process in Poland.   

 While VAT sanctions with regards to breaches against the package were set at fixed amounts, tax authorities will now exercise their discretion regarding sanctions- reducing or increasing these in line with the alleged offence.   

You can read more about Poland’s SLIM 3 package here.   

The Polish schema has been subject to much scrutiny when the Polish e-invoicing mandate was announced. Given that it is based predominantly on the SAFT-reporting file in Poland, it contains many more fields than would typically be expected to be seen in an invoice, including numerous fields which unrelated to VAT, such as excise and customs information. Given this background, and as is typical practice for countries undergoing e-invoicing implementation, it is not surprising that the Polish schema would undergo some revisions.    

 On 23 May 2023, a new draft version of XML schema for the Polish e-invoice (FA2) was published on the webpage of the Ministry of Finance. The publication of the new schema will allow IT systems to adapt to the new changes in line with the new obligations. The final version of XML schema is set to be published in June 2023 and become binding for the issued and received e-invoices from 1 September 2023. This therefore includes the voluntary period of KSeF, which is expected to last until 1 July 2024.   

 The implementation curvature for FA(2) is expected to be in line with the following:   

• 23 May 2023: the release of the new draft version of FA(2) logical structure   
• June 2023: the new logical structure is expected to be officially published on ePUAP website  

• July 2023: the test environment adapted to the new logical structure is expected to be rolled out, along with the relevant documentation  
• 1 September 2023: the production environment supporting the new version of the FA(2) logical structure is expected to be released.  

 Therefore, from 1 September 2023, a new version of the FA(2) logical structure will be binding for the purposes of issuing e-invoices via KSeF and will effectively replace the FA(1) logical structure.  

Changes in the draft of FA(2) compared to the FA(2) submitted for consultation in December 2022 along with the technical documentation have been published on the Ministry of Finance website, but yet are available in Polish only.   

Kofax has defined the differences between the old and the new schema and is currently analysing these with a view as to what effect this will have on our e-invoicing implementation.   

In Poland, the legislative process to accommodate the mandate is accelerating. On 9 May 2023, the Council of Ministers adopted a further draft amendment to the VAT Act. This draft was submitted to the Sejm on 17 May 2023 and published on the website.  

The new version includes some changes to the previous draft released in mid-March. These can be summarised as follows:  

• Technical correction of invoices- the new version provides a non-legislative solution for correcting invoice technical errors in the event of KSeF breakdown  
• The QR codes, which are used to mark invoices outside KSeF, now serve a dual function. QR codes are used to enable verification of the data on the invoice but also now have an additional function: to access the invoice in the National e-Invoice System.   

• A separate subchapter in the VAT Act concerning the marking with the KSeF ID or collective ID of payment for an invoice made between active VAT taxpayers, providing for, among others, setting the status of the invoice recipient on the White List.  

 We are still awaiting further clarity on the obligations relating to QR codes in Poland. Once the Polish Ministry of Finance has published further details in respect of this, we will assess how we can accommodate this as part of our e-invoicing solution.   

The Act is in draft form only and further modifications may be enacted. Further consideration of the bill will be undertaken at the end of May.  

As the inception date for the Polish e-invoicing mandate (1 July 2024) edges closer, the government is accelerating its legislative framework to accommodate the mandate.   

The government has now adopted the draft legislation to introduce a uniform e-invoicing standard in the country, which strives for increased automation, lower costs and enhanced processing.   

 The Polish Ministry of Finance publication provides further information of the same via the link below:  

https://www.gov.pl/web/finanse/rzad-przyjal-projekt-krajowego-systemu-e-faktur-ksef  

 Poland is a compliant territory for Kofax and our compliance and research and development teams are currently working to facilitate the mandate. You can read more about Poland on our dedicated country-specific page located here.   

As increasing awareness of environmental and conservation issues continues on an upward trajectory, countries are reflecting this consciousness into their own regulatory and legislative frameworks.   

 Following the path of the Vereinigtes Königreich, Spanien und Polen, who have either already implemented or are in the process of implementing plastic tax initiatives, Germany is the latest country to enact a similar measure. On 15 May 2023, the German government published Einwegkunststofffondsgesetz (otherwise referred to as the Single-Use Plastic Fund Act). As the name suggests, the Act aims to curtail the use of single-use plastic, by imposing a levy on producers, sellers and importers of single-use plastic.   

The tax is expected to go live on 1 January 2024, although the first plastic tax declaration is expected in May 2025. This means companies must start collating data on single-use plastic usage from 1 January 2024.   

 Though superficially united in terms of their aims- to reduce the use of single-use plastic- plastic taxes in different countries operate very differently on a practical level. Plastic taxes may or may not form part of the taxable basis; they may or may not need to be included on an invoice; they can be negotiated between the buyer and seller or must be charged to the buyer, depending on specific country specifications. Today, Kofax can accommodate the UK and Spanish Plastic Tax. We are currently analysing further details in respect of the plastic tax in Germany and will consider our obligations in respect of it.  

The GST Council has recently issued a notification that mandates e-invoicing for all businesses with turnovers exceeding Rs 5 crore ($608,302) from 1 August 2023. As a result, GST-registered companies that reach this threshold must integrate their systems and clear invoices via the government portal before sharing them with their customers.

Tungsten has supported the e-invoicing mandate since its introduction in 2020 and is prepared to accommodate this new threshold change.

We mentioned in our previous blog about GSTN’s introduction of the 7-day period for reporting invoices for electronic invoicing. Originally scheduled to start on 01 May 2023, the introduction has been delayed by 3 months by the government.

The new date for implementing e-invoice time limits will be shared by GSTN once it has been determined.

Singapore currently does not require mandatory e-invoicing for B2B or B2G transactions, but taxpayers can issue them voluntarily via the InvoiceNow platform. The InvoiceNow network is based upon the Peppol network (Peppol BIS billing 3.0 standards), though VAT-related rules have been replaced by GST rules. The IMDA strongly recommends e-voicing although it is not mandated.

The IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority) of Singapore has updated the FAQ related to InvoiceNow, which provides information on what InvoiceNow is, how it differs from PDF e-invoicing, and many other useful details.

It is expected that Singapore will mandate the use of the InvoiceNow platform for B2G transactions in the near future , However no specific timeline has been revealed yet.

ZATCA has selected the participants for wave 4 regarding the e-invoicing integration phase. The fourth wave to implement the integration phase of e-invoicing will apply to all taxpayers whose VAT revenues exceed 150 Million (~39M USD) Saudi Riyals during 2021 or 2022.

From 1 November 2023, taxpayers who meet the criteria should integrate their e-invoicing systems with the ZATCA FATOORA portal.