| Electronic invoicing 2019: making e-commerce clearElectronic invoicing is increasingly one of the topics that attract customers' attention Recently, in fact, there has been a significant increase in the number of those who issue negative comments that have problems or doubts about invoicing as their topic. These comments often have no reason to exist or are the result of easily solvable misunderstandings, but mainly show that the end customers are not masters of the subject and that the sellers have not yet managed to help them to make it clearer. the new methods provided for electronic invoicing, in fact, have been widely publicized, but despite the intention was to inform the end customers of the news (less aware than the sellers of innovations in this area), the result was instead to often generate doubts and uncertainties, due to a misinterpretation of the news.We have therefore decided to collect the concerns we have found in the feedback on invoicing in general and electronic invoicing in particular, in order to dispel the most common doubts and to promote proper communication and a relationship of trust between shop and customers, a goal that unites our service in its various areas.electronic invoicing: the basic rulesFrom 1 January 2019 came into force the new rules on invoicing, which provide for the obligation of electronic invoicing for individuals and businesses for the sale of goods and services, even if aimed at end consumers. Under the new provisions, all holders of VAT numbers (except those benefiting from flat-rate or other advantageous arrangements) will have to use electronic invoicing for the issue of invoices. With electronic invoicing, online shops are obliged to issue an invoice for every purchase made? No. The sale activity carried out by online shops is assimilated by law to mail order and there is no obligation to invoice, unless this is expressly requested by the customer at the time of the purchase transaction (and no later), as established by art. 22 of Presidential Decree 633/1972 ("VAT Law"). If you make an online purchase and do not receive an invoice or receipt, is the purchase unlawful? No. Online shops are not only not required to issue an invoice, unless expressly requested, but are also not required to issue a receipt or receipt, as provided for in art. 2, c. 1, of Presidential Decree 696/1996. The various transactions generated by the online sales activity must simply be recorded in the register of fees. If you expressly request an invoice, the online shop is obliged to issue it? Yes. The online shop from which an invoice is requested is obliged to issue it and this obligation is subject to the new rules of electronic invoicing. This means that the shop must issue the invoice using the data in its possession (in the case of private customers simply enter the tax code), must send it to the Revenue Agency through SDI (the Exchange System of the Revenue Agency), wait for it to be validated and only then can send a copy to the customer who requested it. The customer can, in turn, register on the website of the Inland Revenue and provide independently to collect a copy of his invoice. No. When the shop has to fill in the invoice, send it to the SDI and wait for it to be validated, there can be no real time receipt by the end customers. Any slowdowns are therefore not a sign of carelessness, but the result of the timing necessary to carry out the various steps required. If you do not have an invoice or receipt, can you still activate the warranty for a product purchased online? Yes. Since online shops are not required to issue invoices and tax receipts, customers can activate the warranty on purchased products by storing and using the other documents in their possession. Specifically, customers always receive with their product an accompanying document, which contains all the elements necessary for the activation of the warranty, namely personal data, order number and date, list of items ordered. Online purchases have the same rights as purchases made in physical stores in terms of warranty, it is sufficient (but this also applies to offline purchases) that you keep carefully the necessary documents to be used in case of need. the new rules on electronic invoicing, ultimately, do not change what were the obligations or existing relationships between shop and final consumers. online shops were not required to issue an invoice (unless on request) or receipt for purchases made by individuals and still do not have it. You can still ask for the invoice and the shops are required to send it, but first they must go through the validation of the Revenue Agency. The system of issuing and recording invoices has changed, but this, fortunately, does not concern buyers, who can continue with their purchases in complete peace of mind and with the certainty that, in any case, all purchases made online are, by their very nature, tracked.have you already thought about how to inform your customers about the details of electronic invoicing? If you find it useful you can share this information on your social pages to reassure your customers and avoid negative reviews caused by a trivial misunderstanding. |
