Legal provisions of COM(2023)340 - Authorisation of Germany to derogate from Articles 218 and 232 of the VAT Directive - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2023)340 - Authorisation of Germany to derogate from Articles 218 and 232 of the VAT Directive.
document	COM(2023)340
date	July 25, 2023

Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5

Article 1

By way of derogation from Article 218 of Directive 2006/112/EC, Germany is authorised to accept invoices which have been issued by taxable persons established in the territory of Germany in the form of documents or messages only if those documents or messages are transferred in electronic format.

Article 2

By way of derogation from Article 232 of Directive 2006/112/EC, Germany is authorised to provide that the use of electronic invoices issued by taxable persons established in the territory of Germany shall not be subject to an acceptance by the recipient established in the territory of Germany.

Article 3

Germany shall notify the national measures implementing the special measure for the derogations referred to in Articles 1 and 2 to the Commission.

Article 4

1. This Decision shall apply from 1 January 2025 until the earlier of the following two dates:

(a) 31 December 2027;

(b) the date from which Member States are to apply any national provisions that they are required to adopt in the event that a directive is adopted amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards VAT rules for the digital age, in particular Articles 218 and 232 of that Directive.

2. If Germany considers that an extension of the special measure is necessary, Germany shall submit its request for extension to the Commission, together with a report assessing the extent to which the national measures referred to in Article 3 have been effective in combatting VAT fraud and evasion and in simplifying tax collection. That report shall also evaluate the impact of those measures on taxable persons and in particular whether those measures increase their administrative burdens and costs.

Article 5