VAT Aspects of Electronic Invoicing and E-commerce

Currently European Community legislation and national legislations do not allow using electronic invoicing in a business friendly way. Electronic invoicing frequently reflects cross border transactions and related VAT issues. Electronic invoicing means that an invoice is processed and sent by the supplier's ITsystem and received and processed by the customer's ITsystem. Hence, electronic invoicing is not simply sending an invoice by e-mail. Companies cannot work efficiently within the EC as long as there are as many different legal systems as Member States. Although expert systems like iVAT will help companies to automate invoicing and assist them in tackling their daily struggle with complex VAT rules, EC legislation needs to be harmonised in order to facilitate the use of electronic invoicing. This book gives an overview of the current status in the different Member States as well as some propositions relative to the harmonisation of EC regulation with respect to electronic invoicing. Contents: PART I: VAT AND LEGAL ASPECTS Electronic invoicing in a European and national context Content of the electronic invoice Transmission of the electronic invoice Preservation of electronic invoices PART II: EDI IN EUROPE PART III: SURVEY ON THE USE OF ELECTRONIC INVOICING IN EUROPE PART III: VAT AND E-COMMERCE E-commerce and VAT aspects Proposal for a directive on VAT and electronic commerce Annex: Directive on certain legal aspects of electronic invoicing

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