A draft bill was published in France, including new rules on e-invoicing for B2B transactions
Unofficial translation
Article 56: Implementation of e-invoicing in business-to-business relations and delivery a report on the conditions of this implementation
(1) Invoices for transactions subject to Value Added Taxes are issued in electronic form and the data contained therein shall be transmitted to the administration for their exploitation for the purposes, in particular, of modernization of the collection and control procedures of the value added tax.
(2) The provisions of the first paragraph apply from 1 January 2023 and at the latest at 1 January 2025, according to a calendar and modalities fixed by decree depending, in particular, on the size and sector of activity of concerned, and after obtaining the authorization provided for in Article 395 (1) of Directive 2006/112 / EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax.
(3) The Government shall deliver to Parliament before 1 1 September 2020 a report on the conditions for implementing from 1 January 2023 and at the latest 1 January 2025, the obligation of electronic invoicing in business-to-business relations. This report identifies and evaluates the technical, legal and operational solutions more appropriate, especially as regards the transmission of data to the tax administration, taking into account operational constraints of stakeholders. It assesses, for each of the options examined, the expected gains recovery of value added tax and the expected benefits to businesses.
Reasoning
As part of the implementation of electronic invoicing between VAT (Value Added Tax) on a date between 2023 and 2025 and to inform Parliament about the implications of this operators only for public finances, more particularly for VAT revenues, it is proposed that the Government submit to Parliament a report on the subject by September 2020. The deadline for submission of the report will allow the Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFiP) to evaluate, with all stakeholders (businesses, accounting professionals, the administration), the opportunity to move, for the collection of VAT, to electronic invoicing or to the exchange electronic billing data and to study with these actors the various possible solutions, their implementation modalities and costs and expected gains for both public finances and business. The DGFiP will conduct a study with the support of international experts to identify needs, constraints and expectations of each party. The report will assess, for each of the stakeholders, the organizational and possible options and will study legislative and regulatory solutions. The study will also on the field of dematerialization of billing, and will include an international comparison.
Subject to the conclusions of this report, the system could lead to a new service offer from administration, consisting of pre-filling, at least partially, VAT returns made online by means of the collection of information. Moreover, due to the implementation of electronic invoicing, dematerialization invoices and their direct integration into companies’ accounting software would enable them to reduce payment deadlines and the processing costs inherent in the use of paper invoices. Although some companies voluntarily use electronic invoicing with their customers and suppliers, invoices still represent a large percentage of intercompany invoices exchanged annually, number is estimated between two and three billion. Their removal will therefore make it possible to greatly reduce the use of paper.
Finally, regardless of the option chosen, the collection and use of billing data by the tax administration will help fight fraud more effectively.
Read more: Project de loi 2020 (see article 56 on page 219)
