Service-Tax

Electronic issuing and sending of VAT invoices

Individual ruling of 12 May 2011, file ref. IPPP1-443-267 / 11-2 / AS, Director of the Tax Chamber in Warsaw

Based on Article. 14b § 1 and § 6 of the Tax Ordinance of August 29, 1997 (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2005, No. 8, item 60, as amended) and § 7 of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of June 20, 2007 in on authorization to issue interpretations of tax law (Journal of Laws of 2007, No. 112, item 770, as amended), the Director of the Tax Chamber in Warsaw, acting on behalf of the Minister of Finance, states that the position of the Company, presented in the application of 09.02. 2011 (date of receipt on February 14, 2011) for a written interpretation of the tax law regarding value added tax in the field of electronic issuing and sending of VAT invoices - is correct.

JUSTIFICATION

On February 14, 2011, the above-mentioned application for a written interpretation of tax law provisions in an individual case regarding tax on goods and services in the field of electronic issuing and sending of VAT invoices.

The following future event is presented in the present application:

NS. z o.o. in the near future it intends to expand its business activity with a new profile. The expansion of activities will involve increased accounting services for the entity consisting in issuing several thousand VAT invoices to various contractors in the reporting period of one month. Due to the intensified work of accounting services. The company wants to use the option of issuing and sending VAT invoices issued by it in an electronic form. From the point of view of the Company, this method of issuing, sending and, above all, collecting invoices will bring significant savings and facilitate organizational work in the accounting department.

The subject of detailed considerations in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Finance was a number of security options, in terms of ensuring that issued, sent and stored in electronic form invoices will have unquestionable authenticity of origin and integrity of their content.

In connection with the above, the Company hired a company specializing in IT system projects enabling the issuing, sending and storage of electronic invoices, guaranteeing the authenticity of their origin, the integrity of their content, as well as their legibility throughout the period of their storage.

The company presents below the security of VAT invoices printed from the POS terminal received from an IT company.

The system uses the following security features to ensure the integrity of the invoice:

Signing the invoice using a cryptographic algorithm is added to the end of the text file with a value calculated from the content of the file using the hash function (SHA-1). Additionally, it protects the file against modification / corruption during transmission. If the invoice content is changed, the signature value contained in the file will not match the one calculated in the terminal. The Company does not use electronic signature, invoices will be available directly from the Company's system resources. Contractors who will cooperate with us will be able to print them directly from the POS terminal connected to the Company's system. The contractor will be able to print the invoice only once (original document). The Applicant will print the copies from the system.

The following question was therefore asked:

In the light of the presented materials, can the company use a system of electronic issuing and sending VAT invoices ...

In the opinion of the Company, due to the application of appropriate safeguards resulting from the provisions of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of 17 December 2010 in the field of issuing, sending and storing invoices in electronic form, the Company is able to guarantee the authenticity of their origin and the integrity of their content. The subject of detailed considerations in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Finance was a number of security options, in terms of ensuring that issued, sent and stored in electronic form invoices will have undisputed authenticity of origin and integrity of the content.

It should also be mentioned that the Company, when signing contracts with contractors for the services it provides, has their consent to send invoices by electronic means.

In the light of the applicable legal status, the position of the Applicant regarding the legal assessment of the presented future event is considered correct.

Pursuant to Art. 106 sec. 1 of the Act of March 11, 2004 on tax on goods and services (Journal of Laws No. 54, item 535, as amended), hereinafter referred to as the Act, the taxpayers referred to in Art. 15, are required to issue an invoice stating, in particular, the sale, date of sale, unit price without tax, tax base, tax rate and amount, the amount of the duty and the data of the taxpayer and the buyer, subject to paragraph 2. 1a, 2, 4 and 5 and article. 119 paragraph. 10 and art. 120 paragraph 6.

The issue and storage of VAT invoices is regulated by the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of March 28, 2011 on tax refunds to certain taxpayers, issuing invoices, methods of storing them and the list of goods and services to which the exemption from tax on goods and services does not apply (Dz. U. No. 68, item 1360), issued on the basis of the delegation contained in Art. 106 sec. 8 of the Act.

Pursuant to the instruction set out in § 19 subpara. 1 above regulations, invoices and corrective invoices are issued at least in two copies, the original is received by the buyer and the copy is kept by the seller. Pursuant to paragraph 2 above a paragraph of the provision of paragraph 1 does not apply to invoices and correction invoices sent in electronic form. In the case of these invoices, the seller sends them, including making them available to the buyer, while keeping them in his documentation.

Pursuant to § 21 sec. 1 and sec. 2 above of the regulation, taxpayers are obliged to store invoices and corrective invoices, as well as duplicates of these documents, until the tax liability expires. Taxpayers keep invoices, correction invoices, and duplicates of these documents, broken down into accounting periods, in any way that ensures:

the authenticity of the origin, integrity of the content and legibility of these invoices from the time of their issuance until the expiry of the tax liability limitation period; easy to find them; the tax authority or the tax inspection authority upon request, in accordance with separate regulations, immediate access to invoices, and in the case of invoices stored in electronic form, enabling these authorities also to process the data contained therein. Wherein paragraph 3 of the same paragraph explains that the authenticity of origin referred to in sec. 2 point 1, it means certainty as to the identity of the person supplying the goods or the service provider or the issuer of the invoice, and sec. 4, that the integrity of the content referred to in para. 2, point 1, means that the data that should be included in the invoice have not been changed in the invoice.

The issue of sending and storing invoices in electronic form is regulated by the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of 17 December 2010 on sending invoices in electronic form, rules for their storage and the procedure for making them available to the tax authority or tax inspection authority (Journal of Laws No. 249, item 1661). ) issued on the basis of the delegation contained in art. 106 sec. 10 and paragraph 11 of the VAT Act.

Pursuant to § 3 sec. 1 above of the Regulation, invoices may be sent, including made available, in electronic form in any electronic format, provided that the recipient has previously accepted this method of sending the invoice, hereinafter referred to as acceptance. Of 2 of the above paragraph provides that the acceptance or its withdrawal may be expressed in writing or in electronic form.

Pursuant to § 4 of the above regulation, invoices may be sent in electronic form provided the authenticity of the origin and integrity of the invoice content is ensured.

The authenticity of the origin of the invoice is understood in accordance with § 2 para. 1 point 1 of the above-mentioned of the regulation, certainty as to the identity of the person delivering the goods or the service provider or issuer of the invoice, while the integrity of the invoice is understood in accordance with § 2 para. 1 point 2 of the above-mentioned of the regulation is that the data that should be included in the invoice has not been changed in the invoice.

However, pursuant to § 2 sec. above of the Regulation, the authenticity of origin and the integrity of the content of the invoice are preserved, in particular, when using:

a secure electronic signature within the meaning of Art. 3 point 2 of the Act of 18 September 2001 on electronic signature (Journal of Laws No. 130, item 1450, as amended), verified with a valid qualified certificate or electronic data exchange (EDI) in accordance with the contract on the European model for the exchange of electronic data, if the concluded contract relating to this exchange provides for the application of procedures guaranteeing the authenticity of the origin of the invoice and the integrity of its data. The presented circumstances of the case show that the extension of the Applicant's activity will involve increased accounting services for the Company, consisting in issuing several thousand VAT invoices. Due to the intensified work of accounting services, the Company wants to use the option of issuing and sending VAT invoices issued by it in electronic form. The Company will not use an electronic signature, invoices will be available directly from the Applicant's system resources, contractors will be able to print them themselves from the terminal connected to the Company's system. The copies will be printed from his system.

In order to ensure the authenticity and integrity of VAT invoices, the Company intends to introduce the following safeguards:

The uniqueness of the invoice - the contractor can print the original invoice only once. The contractor is not allowed to make any changes to the invoice. The invoice is sent to the terminal in the form of a text file deleted from the memory immediately after printing. Safe communication - After the invoice has been pledged from the server, information about the availability of the invoice is sent to the terminal (invoice number, date of issue, file name on the FTP server). Data on the invoice is sent via a secure VPN channel (lpsec). Additionally, communication between the terminal and the transaction server is encrypted. No unauthorized person can overhear this information. After receiving the invoice data, the terminal connects to the FTP server and downloads the text file to be printed. Since the transmission takes place via a secured channel (private APN, no third party is able to eavesdrop on the transmission and modify / replace the invoice. Signing the invoice using a cryptographic algorithm, a value calculated based on the content of the file using the hash function (SHA-) is added to the end of the text file. 1). In addition, it protects the file against modification / corruption during transmission. In the event of a change in the content of the invoice, the value of the signature contained in the file will not be consistent with that calculated in the terminal. contracts with contractors for the services provided, has consent to send invoices by electronic means.

Considering the above-mentioned legal provisions and the presented future event, it should be stated that the applicable legal regulations allow for the possibility of issuing and sending invoices in electronic form. Invoices must reflect actual transactions, therefore it is necessary to ensure their authenticity, integrity and legibility, however, it is possible to guarantee the authenticity of the origin and integrity of the content of invoices according to the method specified by the taxpayer. Both the secure electronic signature and the electronic data interchange (EDI) are indicated only as optional solutions to ensure the authenticity of the origin and integrity of the invoice content. It should also be noted that it is possible to issue and send electronic invoices in any format, provided that the authenticity of the origin of the invoice and the integrity of its content are ensured.

In the description of the case, the Applicant indicated that the proposed method of issuing and sending VAT invoices guarantees the authenticity of the origin of the invoices and the integrity of the content of the invoices.

Therefore, the Applicant may use the system of electronic issuing and sending VAT invoices.

Finally, here the authority notes that the actual assessment of the Applicant's compliance with the requirements set out in the provisions of the regulation of 28 March 2011 on tax refund to certain taxpayers, issuing invoices, how to store them and the list of goods and services to which the exemption does not apply on tax on goods and services and the quotation of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of 17 December 2010 on sending invoices in electronic form, rules for their storage and the procedure for making them available to the tax authority or tax inspection authority may be verified only in the course of tax or control proceedings conducted under the relevant procedural rules.

The interpretation concerns the future event presented by the Applicant and the legal status in force on the date of issuing the interpretation.

The party has the right to lodge a complaint against this interpretation of tax law due to its inconsistency with the law. The complaint is to be lodged with the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw, ul. Jasna 2/4, 00-013 Warsaw, after a prior written request from the authority which issued the interpretation within 14 days from the date on which the complainant learned or could learn about its issuance until the violation of the law was remedied (Article 52 § 3 of the Act on on August 30, 2002, Law on proceedings before administrative courts, Journal of Laws No. 153, item 1270, as amended). A complaint to the Provincial Administrative Court shall be lodged (in two copies of Art. 47 of the above-mentioned Act) within thirty days from the date of delivery of the authority's response to the summons to remedy the infringement of law, and if the authority did not respond to the summons, within sixty days from the date of filing the summons. (art. 53 § 2 of the above-mentioned act). The complaint is lodged through the body whose action or inaction is the subject of the complaint (Article 54 § 1 of the above-mentioned Act) to the following address: Tax Chamber in Warsaw, National Tax Information Office in Płock, ul. 1 Maja 10, 09-402 Płock.