Sending invoices in electronic form

If the entrepreneur intends to use the electronic invoice transmission, not the paper one, so far it had to comply with the Ordinance of the Minister of Finance of July 14, 2005 on issuing and sending electronic invoices. In order for an invoice to be introduced into legal circulation, the possibility of downloading original VAT invoices directly from the website or sending invoices via e-mail must meet the conditions for being considered an electronic transfer. Otherwise, these invoices have no legal consequences, in particular with regard to the right to deduct input tax charged to the invoice recipient.

Rules for issuing invoices in electronic form

In order for invoices issued in electronic form to be introduced into legal circulation, it was necessary to keep them in the same form at the same time. This is in line with the Act of the Minister of Finance of July 14, 2005 and is related to the obligation to have a qualified electronic signature or an EDI system. However, the Administrative Court allowed for the possibility of sending invoices electronically and storing them in paper form. All doubts and ambiguities are resolved by the new regulation of the Minister of Finance on electronic invoices of October 7, 2010, which entered into force on January 1, 2011.

According to this regulation, it is permissible to send invoices by e-mail and store them on a computer hard drive. The condition is obtaining the contractor's approval and having tools ensuring the authenticity of origin and data integrity. The acceptance of the contractor no longer requires a qualified electronic signature or electronic EDI data exchange. The authenticity of origin means certainty as to the identity of the invoice issuer, and the integrity of the data means the immutability of the data that the invoice should contain. Data common to individual invoices may be provided only once to simplify the circulation of these invoices. An invoice sent in electronic form may be stored in any Member State until the tax limitation period expires. However, you should remember to provide online access to these invoices for audit purposes. According to the new regulation, corrections of invoices issued in electronic form do not have to be issued in the same form.

The implementation of the new ordinance of the Minister of Finance was aimed at modernizing the rules of trading in electronic invoices and simplifying their turnover by introducing a free electronic format in which it can be sent.