Italy SdI VAT e-invoicing raises €4bn

Italy is projecting an annual increase in VAT revenues of €4 billion for 2019 following the January extension of its SdI electronic invoicing regime to domestic B2B and B2C transactions. This is twice as much as originally forecast.

In the first half of 2019, Italy reports that 97% of invoices processed were cleared without problems. This covered over €160bn in VAT on 890m invoices.

Italy’s VAT Gap, the difference between forecast and actual VAT revenues, is estimated by the European Union to stand at over €35 billion per annum. It accounts for almost 25% of all missing VAT amongst the 28 member states of the EU.

Italian resident companies are now required to submit their domestic B2B and B2C invoices to the government’s SdI portal for real-time approval. SdI then forwards them to customers for settlement and VAT recovery.  The model follows similar pre-approval e-invoice regimes in countries like Brazil, Mexico and South Korea.

France is consulting on a similar system based on the early success of Italy’s SdI. Portugal is to extend its B2G invoice clearing system on a voluntary basis to B2C invoices next year.