Germany will publish timeline on mandatory B2B e-invoicing
Last Friday, March 10th, 2023, The German Ministry of Finance, Dirk Bremer, responsible for VAT at the national German Tax Authority, confirmed during the "Bundesumsatzsteuertag" event in Berlin that Germany plans to implement mandatory B2B e-invoicing.
Mr. Bremer also highlighted that e-invoicing regulation will not necessarily be linked with continuous transaction controls (CTCs) for domestic B2B transactions. This indicates that the government's priority on digitalization of the economy rather than reducing the VAT gap
Soon (likely in April), an open paper with timelines and details on the German B2B e-invoicing plans will be released to allow various business associations to provide feedback on an early draft version
As a reminder, Germany requested derogation of Art 395 from the EU to avoid being blocked with the implementation of a national e-invoicing concept in case of any delays in agreeing on the VIDA proposal on an EU level. However, the national plans for e-invoicing are intended to be as harmonized as possible with the EU plans. It was also mentioned that the acceptance of the German derogation request is well underway and can be expected in the next few months.
