The basic electronic invoicing service expressly dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises registered with the Chambers of Commerce that have supply relationships with the public administrations is online from today at the address https://fattura-pa.infocamere.it. Since 6 June, all central public administrations are required by law to receive invoices exclusively in electronic format and, starting from April next year, the obligation will be extended to all public administrations.
The new tool, made available by the Camerale System in collaboration with the Digital Italy Agency of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and Unioncamere, is aimed at all small suppliers of the PA, at no cost to the company. The aim of the service is to help businesses adapt to the new billing rules and encourage a rapid and complete transition to the use of digital technologies, in a public digital inclusion strategy.
The Chambers of Commerce will continue to act as a "bridge" and driving force on the territory, from whose websites it will be possible to connect directly with the platform that provides information content on electronic invoicing and which, from today, will also host the new service, allowing companies the creation and complete management of a limited number of invoices throughout the year.
SMEs can thus adapt to the new digital reality, simply by connecting to the service portal indicated on the home pages of the Chambers of Commerce and Unioncamere, without having to download any software. The service can be accessed upon acknowledgment of the business owner through the National Services Card (CNS), an instrument introduced by the Digital Administration Code (CAD) for electronic access to PA services, allowing the compilation of the accounting document, the identification of the recipient PA, the digital signature, the sending and relative storage in accordance with the law.
Over the last few years, the Chambers of Commerce have already issued a significant amount of CNS and digital signature certificates to entrepreneurs; those who still do not have one can obtain them from the Chamber of Commerce in their area, or by contacting other public bodies or administrations (for the CNS) or certified market operators (for digital signature devices).
Electronic billing
Electronic invoicing means the possibility of issuing and storing invoices in digital format only, as indicated in EU Directive no. 115 of 20 December 2001 introduced in Italy by the Legislative Decree of 20 February 2004 n. 52 and by the Decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of 23 January which establishes the "Methods for fulfilling tax obligations relating to electronic documents and their reproduction in various types of support".
The 2008 Finance Act requires that each invoice destined for the PA must be issued in electronic format so that it can pass through the national Exchange System, set up by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and managed by Sogei SpA (as established by the Decree of 7 March 2008), through which the flows of accounting documents pass between suppliers and the Public Administrations, and allows an important monitoring and control of public finances also to make the payment times of the Public Administration more efficient.
The new electronic standard is regulated by Interministerial Decree number 3 of 2013 April 55, which, in addition to establishing the rules on the issue, transmission and receipt of electronic invoices, sets June 6 2014 as the date of entry into force of the invoicing obligation electronic to Ministries, tax agencies and social security institutions; the 2014 Irpef Decree subsequently set the deadline for all other Public Administrations at 31 March 2015, including the Chambers of Commerce.
Economic operators, i.e. suppliers of goods and services to the PA, can: adapt their accounting systems to issue PA electronic invoices, or contact intermediaries, i.e. third parties who provide support tools for the compilation, transmission and the replacement storage of the electronic invoice required by law. The PAs can make use of intermediaries for receiving the electronic flow and for substitutive conservation. Intermediaries can be: banks, post offices, other financial intermediaries, supply chain intermediaries, professionals, ICT companies.
