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Italy: Changes to VAT treatment of e-invoices and electronic marketplaces.
Italy introduces new rules for VAT on sales conducted through electronic marketplaces.
e-Invoicing update
As we know, from 1 January 2019 resident Italian companies are now required to submit their domestic B2B and B2C invoices through the governments data exchange system called ‘Sistema di Interscambio’ or SDL. SDL then forwards these invoices to customers for settlement and VAT recovery.
From 1 July 2019, an extension was introduced for the issuance of invoices in the portal, from 10 days to 12 days.
In the first six months of 2019, it has been reported that 97% of invoices processed were cleared without problems. The annual increase in VAT revenues is estimated to be twice as much as was originally forecast.
Italy’s VAT gap is estimated by the EU to stand at over €35 billion per annum and accounts for almost 25% of all missing VAT in the member states of the EU.
New rules introduced for electronic marketplaces
Italy recently introduced new rules for VAT for sales conducted through electronic marketplaces with Law Decree No. 34 of 30/04/2019.
The newly implemented changes are effective from 01/05/2019 until 31/12/2019.
The rules create a reporting obligation in relation to certain distance sales through online marketplaces, and may create a liability for the marketplace if it does not comply with the reporting obligation and cannot demonstrate that the seller using it and has actually paid the VAT on a distance sale to the Italian tax office.
Under the new rules in Law Decree No. 34/2019, online marketplaces that support distance sales of any kind of imported goods, or distance sales of goods within the EU, are required to submit the below information on each seller carrying out these types of transactions.
The below information must be relayed to Italian authorities on a quarterly basis:
• The seller’s name, address and email address;
• The total number of goods sold in Italy;
• The total sales price for all goods sold in Italy, or the average selling price for each unit sold in Italy
Previous Italian VAT Updates
Last month our blog covered changes to the implementation rules for the issuance and receipt of electronic invoices and guidelines for simplified invoices in Italy.