A new Italian tax system comes into force

Based on the new tax regulations in Italy, retailers and businesses will have to transmit their daily takings to the Italian Internal Revenue Agency for the sale of goods and services with VAT applied.

This transmission will use the Electronic Amounts due system, supported by new Online Cash Registers (OCRs), which store data electronically and then transmit it over the network in place of traditional Fiscal Cash Registers (FCRs).

This is an important change, and one that puts not just Italian players, but also international retailers under the spotlight, who will need to be reassured and guided as to how to correctly implement new technology at their Italian points of sale.

When is the deadline for complying with Italy’s new taxation rules?

Retailers only have a few months to get into line! From 1 January 2020, everyone will be required to send their receipts to the Internal Revenue Agency via the Internet, as required by Legal Decree 119/2018. What’s more, this obligation is brought forward to 1 July 2019 for businesses with a turnover of more than €400,000 in the previous year.

What are the benefits of online registers for Italian retail?

By making it obligatory to issue electronic invoices and receipts, the 2018 budget law aims to create benefits and synergy in order to:

• simplify and harmonize the processes and certification documents from B2B and B2C transactions;
• allow Internal Revenue to automatically source more information;
• increase controls and prevent tax evasion;
• continue with the country’s digitalization process to cut costs and make business processes easier.

What are the incentives and subsidies available to retailers who switch over to Online Cash Registers?

Several benefits have been put in place in order to help businesses during the electronic receipt transmission transition period:

• it is no longer obligatory to keep a physical daily takings book;
• regular audits on electronic registers will be carried out every two years instead of annually;
• terms for VAT assessments have been reduced by two years (from five to three years);
• there will be a subsidy (bonus in the form of business tax credits) for the purchase of every Online Cash Register or for updating Fiscal Cash Registers, following presentation of an invoice and a traceable payment method.

Breach of the obligation to transmit takings online will lead to fines, as is already the case if there is a failure to issue receipts or for other related non-compliance, with fines ranging from €1,000 to €4,000 due to failure to install an Online Cash Register.

Are you an Italian retailer or someone with an international sales network? Is your international business seeking to open a sales point in Italy? There’s not much time to get up to date! 

Bizeta can show you what you need to do to comply with new regulations:

• technical specifications for equipment (Online Cash Registers), to store transactions electronically and transmit data for receipts;
• details about the information that needs to be transmitted, the format and the deadlines for transmission;
• regulations for approved hardware and software to guarantee the information communicated in terms of authenticity, integrity and confidentiality.

Contact us for more information.