E-Invoicing in Germany: B2B obligation in sight

On page 167 in the chapter VIII. Investments in the future and sustainable finances There is good news for the German e-invoicing industry in the coalition agreement presented on November 24th, 2021:  “We will continue to fight sales tax fraud. This path is to be intensified in cooperation with the federal states. We will introduce an electronic reporting system nationwide as soon as possible, which will be used to create, check and forward invoices. In this way, we significantly reduce the susceptibility to fraud in our VAT system and at the same time modernize and reduce bureaucracy at the interface between administration and operations.”

Countries like Italy and Hungary are leading the way – the nationwide introduction of electronic invoicing in the B2B area is a tried and tested means of combating corruption. Italy has made a commitment for 3 years since 2018, which will most likely be extended for 3 years in the coming weeks. The EU Commission has submitted a corresponding proposal to the EU Council. As reasons for the extension, Italy cited a number of goals achieved, including the fight against tax fraud, more efficient tax collection and reduced administrative costs. Approximately 2.5 billion euros more income was generated by the Italian tax authorities as additional income from the measure.

Germany will probably act earlier than planned. Find out more about our e-invoicing outbound solution for SAP ERP and S/4HANA here.