Services de conformité

The Covid-pandemic continues to have a significant effect on the VAT measures countries are undertaking. Circular 2022/C/2 has extended the temporary VAT rate of 6% on the supply, intra-community acquisition and import of mouth masks and hydroalcoholic gels.

We’ve seen in other countries such as Poland that the European Commission derogation is imperative to keep upcoming e-invoicing mandates on track.
On 17 January 2022, the European Commission granted France permission to mandate e-invoicing, through derogating from Articles 218 and 232 of Directive 2006/112/EC.
The Directive states that paper invoices must be used unless both the seller and customer agree to use e-invoicing- so the derogation is a requirement for any e-invoicing mandate implementation plans.

Further to the updated technical specifications being released in France, the French government has also published associated updated FAQs on its website.

Following the publication of the ordinance on 15 September 2021 and the first version of the technical specifications regarding the upcoming B2B e-invoicing mandate in France, a new version was published on 30 December 2021. The updated version included the following new elements:
• Addition of e-reporting formats
• Addition of supplements on specific use cases
• Feedback from publishers / companies following the first version of the technical specifications.
The updated version of the technical specifications also includes the following annexes:
• Annexe 1 – Format sémantique B2B e-invoicing – Flux 1&2 (.xls)
• Annexe 2 – Format sémantique B2B CDV (.xls)
• Annexe 3 – Format sémantique B2B annuaire (.xls)
• Annexe 4 – Format sémantique B2B ereporting flux 8 (.xls)
• Annexe 5 – Format sémantique B2B ereporting flux 9 (.xls)
• Annexe 6 – Format sémantique B2B ereporting flux 10 (.xls)
• Annexe 7 – Règles de gestion (.xls)
The updated technical specifications also include further information in relation to the date of assessment for the size of a company. These documents can be obtained via the following here.

The European Commission has launched the public consultation on the “VAT in the Digital Age” initiative. The underlying aims of this initiative include ensuring the proper functioning of the single market, reducing business compliance costs and promoting economic interests of the EU and Member States.
The Commission is seeking feedback on VAT reporting obligations and e-invoicing, VAT treatment in the digital age and single EU VAT registration. The Commission aims to put forward legislative proposal in the latter part of the year to this effect. It is clear that a major initiative of the consultation is to harmonise fiscal measures across Europe.
The public consultation is open for 12 weeks from 21 January 2022 – 15 April 2022.

We previously advised that the Carta Porte- a new transportation note that forms part of the CFDI- is mandatory to use from 1st January 2022. Tungsten can successfully process the new version.
Even though this is mandatory to use from 1st January 2022 (with the exception of certain foreign trade transactions, for which this is not mandatory until 31 March 2022), the Mexican tax authorities issued a statement on 24 December 2021 indicating a transition period from 1st January 2022 to 31 March 2022, where e-invoices can be corrected without being subject to penalties.
Mexico has also made it easier for domestic traders that perform exports under 30 kilometres on federal highways by ‘light load vehicles’- taxpayers falling under this scope will not need to complete the Carta Porte 2.0.
Our local partner Buzone has prepared a webinar which provides useful information around the Carta Porte, including error codes relating to the new version.

There is a recurring trend across Europe this winter as energy, electricity and heating VAT rates come more sharply into focus- a response to rising inflation on the continent, as well as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Poland is no exception to this and the Sejm- the Polish Parliament- has responded to rising inflation with proposals to amend the VAT Act. These measures are part of a programme referred to as ‘anti-inflation shield 2.0’, which, as the name suggests, is a direct response to rising inflation in Poland.
• Basic food and beverages currently subject to the 5% VAT rate will be subject to 0% VAT;
• Goods used to drive internal combustion engines (diesel oil, biocomponents constituting self-contained fuels, motor gasoline, natural gas (wet), liquefied LPG) – currently subject to the 23% VAT rate – will be taxed at the 8% VAT rate;
• Fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, horticultural soil and other means of supporting agricultural production – currently subject to the 8% VAT rate – will be taxed at 0% VAT;
• Natural gas (CN 2711 11 00 or 2711 21 00) – will be taxed at 0% VAT;
• Electricity (CN 2716 00 00) – will be subject to VAT 5%;
• Heat energy – will be subject to VAT 5%.
Tungsten Network’s portal accommodates these rates.

E-invoicing in Poland became voluntary towards the end of 2021. To this effect, the Polish government has published a regulation on the use of the e-invoicing system. This regulation deals with several practical and logistical issues, including
• Authorisation required to use the National System of e-invoices;
• How authorisations can be granted, changed or withdrawn;
• How to authenticate entities using the National System;
• Structured invoice data, which will enable access to the invoice in the system
The link for this regulation can be found here.
While Tungsten Network is not supporting the voluntary phase, we are fully committed to supporting e-invoicing in Poland, when it is expected to become mandatory at a later date in 2023, which is yet to be confirmed.

The JPK is a set of data which is generated from a business’ IT system. This usually contains information about business operations for a set period of time. In Poland, this is only sent in electronic form and has a very specific layout. It allows the exchange of important information between businesses and tax authorities.
A new version of the JPK was published on 1st January 2022. Inevitably businesses will need to adapt to the new version- and this will take time. To this effect, the tax authorities have indicated they will not demand the new version – JKP_EWP (3) until April 2022.
The new version accommodates two new tax rates (12% and 14%), which have been added to the optional list node.
The new version can be found on the National Tax Administration website.

There have been large strides made in the B2G landscape in the German Federal States.
In the Federal States of Sarre, Baden Wurttemberg and Hamburg, it is now mandatory for suppliers to issue electronic invoices as of 1st January 2022. This excludes direct orders with a value of under 1,000 Euros.
Other states are expected to follow, including West Mecklenburg-Pomerania in 2023, Hesse in 2024 and Rhineland-Palatinate in January 2024.