Article 28h Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC

Article 22 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 22

Obligations under the internal system:

1. (a)Every taxable person shall state when his activity as a taxable person commences, changes or ceases. Member States shall, subject to conditions which they lay down, allow the taxable person to make such statements by electronic means, and may also require that electronic means are used.

(b)Without prejudice to (a), every taxable person referred to in Article 28a (1) (a), second subparagraph, shall state that he is effecting intra-Community acquisitions of goods when the conditions for application of the derogation provided for in that Article are not fulfilled.

(c)Member States shall take the measures necessary to identify by means of an individual number:

—every taxable person, with the exception of those referred to in Article 28a(4), who, within the territory of the country, effects supplies of goods or of services giving him the right of deduction, other than supplies of goods or of services for which tax is payable solely by the customer or the recipient in accordance with Article 21(1)(a), (b), (c) or (f). However, Member States need not identify certain taxable persons referred to in article 4(3),

—every taxable person referred to in paragraph 1 (b) and every taxable person who exercises the option provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 28a (1) (a).

—every taxable person who, within the territory of the country, effects intra-Community acquisitions of goods for the purposes of his operations relating to the economic activities referred to in Article 4 (2) carried out abroad,

(d)Each individual identification number shall have a prefix in accordance with ISO International Standard No 3166 — alpha 2 — by which the Member State of issue may be identified. Nevertheless, the Hellenic Republic shall be authorised to use the prefix “EL”.

(e)Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that their identification systems distinguish the taxable persons referred to in (c) and to ensure the correct application of the transitional arrangements for the taxation of intra-Community transactions as laid down in this Title.

2. (a)Every taxable person shall keep accounts in sufficient detail for value added tax to be applied and inspected by the tax authority.

(b)Every taxable person shall keep a register of the goods he has dispatched or transported or which have been dispatched or transported on his behalf out of the territory defined in Article 3 but within the Community for the purposes of the transactions referred to in the fifth, sixth and seventh indents of Article 28a (5) (b).

Every taxable person shall keep sufficiently detailed accounts to permit the identification of goods dispatched to him from another Member State by or on behalf of a taxable person identified for purposes of value added tax in that other Member State, in connection with which a service has been provided pursuant to the third or fourth indent of Article 9 (2) (c);

3. (a)Every taxable person shall ensure that an invoice is issued, either by himself or by his customer or, in his name and on his behalf, by a third party, in respect of goods or services which he has supplied or rendered to another taxable person or to a non-taxable legal person. Every taxable person shall also ensure that an invoice is issued, either by himself or by his customer or, in his name and on his behalf, by a third party, in respect of the supplies of goods referred to in Article 28b(B)(1) and in respect of goods supplied under the conditions laid down in Article 28c(A).

Every taxable person shall likewise ensure that an invoice is issued, either by himself or by his customer or, in his name and on his behalf, by a third party, in respect of any payment on account made to him before any supplies of goods referred to in the first subparagraph and in respect of any payment on account made to him by another taxable person or non-taxable legal person before the provision of services is completed.

Member States may impose on taxable persons an obligation to issue an invoice in respect of goods or services other than those referred to in the preceding subparagraphs which they have supplied or rendered on their territory. When they do so, Member States may impose fewer obligations in respect of these invoices than those listed under points (b), (c) and (d).

The Member States may release taxable persons from the obligation to issue an invoice in respect of goods or services which they have supplied or rendered in their territory and which are exempt, with or without refund of the tax paid at the preceding stage, pursuant to Article 13, Article 28(2)(a) and Article 28(3)(b).

Any document or message that amends and refers specifically and unambiguously to the initial invoice is to be treated as an invoice. Member States in whose territory goods or services are supplied or rendered may allow some of the obligatory details to be left out of such documents or messages.

Member States may impose time limits for the issue of invoices on taxable persons supplying goods and services in their territory.

Under conditions to be laid down by the Member States in whose territory goods or services are supplied or rendered, a summary invoice may be drawn up for several separate supplies of goods or services.

Invoices may be drawn up by the customer of a taxable person in respect of goods or services supplied or rendered to him by that taxable person, on condition that there is at the outset an agreement between the two parties, and on condition that a procedure exists for the acceptance of each invoice by the taxable person supplying the goods or services. The Member States in whose territory the goods or services are supplied or rendered shall determine the terms and conditions of the agreement and of the acceptance procedures between the taxable person and his customer.

Member States may impose further conditions on the issue of invoices by the customers of taxable persons supplying goods or services on their territory. For example, they may require that such invoices be issued in the name and on behalf of the taxable person. Such conditions must always be the same wherever the customer is established.

Member States may also lay down specific conditions for taxable persons supplying goods or services in their territory in cases where the third party, or the customer, who issues invoices is established in a country with which no legal instrument exists relating to mutual assistance similar in scope to that laid down by Council Directive 76/308/EEC of 15 March 1976 on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to certain levies, duties, taxes and other measures ¹⁴, Council Directive 77/799/EEC of 19 December 1977 concerning mutual assistance by the competent authorities of the Member States in the field of direct and indirect taxation ¹⁵ and by Council Regulation (EEC) No 218/92 of 27 January 1992 on administrative cooperation in the field of indirect taxation (VAT) ¹⁶.

(b)Without prejudice to the specific arrangements laid down by this Directive, only the following details are required for VAT purposes on invoices issued under the first, second and third subparagraphs of point (a):

—the date of issue;

—a sequential number, based on one or more series, which uniquely identifies the invoice,

—the VAT identification number referred to in paragraph 1(c) under which the taxable person supplied the goods or services;

—where the customer is liable to pay tax on goods supplied or services rendered or has been supplied with goods as referred to in Article 28c(A), the VAT identification number as referred to in paragraph 1(c) under which the goods were supplied or the services rendered to him;

—the full name and address of the taxable person and of his customer;

—the quantity and nature of the goods supplied or the extent and nature of the services rendered;

—the date on which the supply of goods or of services was made or completed or the date on which the payment on account referred to in the second subparagraph of point (a) was made, insofar as that a date can be determined and differs from the date of issue of the invoice;

—the taxable amount per rate or exemption, the unit price exclusive of tax and any discounts or rebates if they are not included in the unit price;

—the VAT rate applied;

—the VAT amount payable, except where a specific arrangement is applied for which this Directive excludes such a detail;

—where an exemption is involved or where the customer is liable to pay the tax, reference to the appropriate provision of this directive, to the corresponding national provision, or to any indication that the supply is exempt or subject to the reverse charge procedure;

—where the intra-Community supply of a new means of transport is involved, the particulars specified in Article 28a(2);

—where the margin scheme is applied, reference to Article 26 or 26a, to the corresponding national provisions, or to any other indication that the margin scheme has been applied;

—where the person liable to pay the tax is a tax representative within the meaning of Article 21(2), the VAT identification number referred to in paragraph 1(c) of that tax representative, together with his full name and address.

Member States may require taxable persons established on their territory and supplying goods or services on their territory to indicate the VAT identification number referred to in paragraph 1(c) of their customer in cases other than those referred to in the fourth indent of the first subparagraph.

Member States shall not require invoices to be signed.

The amounts which appear on the invoice may be expressed in any currency, provided that the amount of tax to be paid is expressed in the national currency of the Member State where the supply of goods or services takes place, using the conversion mechanism laid down in Article 11 C(2).

Where necessary for control purposes, Member States may require invoices in respect of goods supplied or services rendered in their territory and invoices received by taxable persons in their territory to be translated into their national languages.

(c)Invoices issued pursuant to point (a) may be sent either on paper or, subject to an acceptance by the customer, by electronic means.

Invoices sent by electronic means shall be accepted by Member States provided that the authenticity of the origin and integrity of the contents are guaranteed:

—by means of an advanced electronic signature within the meaning of Article 2(2) of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures ¹⁷; Member States may however ask for the advanced electronic signature to be based on a qualified certificate and created by a secure-signature-creation device, within the meaning of Article 2(6) and (10) of the aforementioned Directive;

—or by means of electronic data interchange (EDI) as defined in Article 2 of Commission Recommendation 1994/820/EC of 19 October 1994 relating to the legal aspects of electronic data interchange ¹⁸ when the agreement relating to the exchange provides for the use of procedures guaranteeing the authenticity of the origin and integrity of the data; however Member States may, subject to conditions which they lay down, require that an additional summary document on paper is necessary.

Invoices may, however, be sent by other electronic means subject to acceptance by the Member State(s) concerned. The Commission will present, at the latest on 31 December 2008, a report, together with a proposal, if appropriate, amending the conditions on electronic invoicing in order to take account of possible future technological developments in this field.

Member States may not impose on taxable persons supplying goods or services in their territory any other obligations or formalities relating to the transmission of invoices by electronic means. However, they may provide, until 31 December 2005, that the use of such a system is to be subject to prior notification.

Member States may lay down specific conditions for invoices issued by electronic means for goods or services supplied in their territory from a country with which no legal instrument exists relating to mutual assistance similar in scope to that laid down by Directives 76/308/EEC and 77/799/EEC and by Regulation (EEC) No 218/92.

When batches containing several invoices are sent to the same recipient by electronic means, the details that are common to the individual invoices may be mentioned only once if, for each invoice, all the information is accessible.

(d)Every taxable person shall ensure that copies of invoices issued by himself, by his customer or, in his name and on his behalf, by a third party, and all the invoices which he has received are stored.

For the purposes of this Directive, the taxable person may decide the place of storage provided that he makes the invoices or information stored there available without undue delay to the competent authorities whenever they so request. Member States may, however, require taxable persons established in their territory to notify them of the place of storage, if it is outside their territory. Member States may, in addition, require taxable persons established in their territory to store within the country invoices issued by themselves or by their customers or, in their name and on their behalf, by a third party, as well as all the invoices which they have received, when the storage is not by electronic means guaranteeing full on-line access to the data concerned.

The authenticity of the origin and integrity of the content of the invoices, as well as their readability, must be guaranteed throughout the storage period. As regards the invoices referred to in the third subparagraph of point (c), the information they contain may not be altered; it must remain legible throughout the aforementioned period.

The Member States shall determine the period for which taxable persons must store invoices relating to goods or services supplied in their territory and invoices received by taxable persons established in their territory.

In order to ensure that the conditions laid down in the third subparagraph are met, Member States referred to in the fourth subparagraph may require that invoices be stored in the original form in which they were sent, whether paper or electronic. They may also require that when invoices are stored by electronic means, the data guaranteeing the authenticity of the origin and integrity of the content also be stored.

Member States referred to in the fourth subparagraph may impose specific conditions prohibiting or restricting the storage of invoices in a country with which no legal instrument exists relating to mutual assistance similar in scope to that laid down by Directives 76/308/EEC, 77/799/EEC and by Regulation (EEC) No 218/92 and to the right of access by electronic means, download and use referred to in Article 22a.

Member States may, subject to conditions which they lay down, require the storage of invoices received by non-taxable persons.

(e)For the purposes of points (c) and (d), transmission and storage of invoices “by electronic means” shall mean transmission or making available to the recipient and storage using electronic equipment for processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, and employing wires, radio transmission, optical technologies or other electromagnetic means.

For the purposes of this Directive, Member States shall accept documents or messages in paper or electronic form as invoices if they meet the conditions laid down in this paragraph.

4. (a)Every taxable person shall submit a return by a deadline to be determined by Member States. That deadline may not be more than two months later than the end of each tax period. The tax period shall be fixed by each Member State at one month, two months or a quarter. Member States may, however, set different periods provided that they do not exceed one year. Member States shall, subject to conditions which they lay down, allow the taxable person to make such returns by electronic means, and may also require that electronic means are used.

(b)The return shall set out all the information needed to calculate the tax that has become chargeable and the deductions to be made including, where appropriate, and in so far as it seems necessary for the establishment of the basis of assessment, the total value of the transactions relative to such tax and deductions and the value of any exempt transactions.

(c)The return shall also set out:

—on the one hand, the total value, less value added tax, of the supplies of goods referred to in Article 28c (A) on which tax has become chargeable during the period.

—The following shall also be added: the total value, less value added tax, of the supplies of goods referred to in the second sentence of Article 8 (1) (a) and in Article 28b (B) (1) effected within the territory of another Member State for which tax has become chargeable during the return period where the place of departure of the dispatch or transport of the goods is situated in the territory of the country,

—on the other hand, the total amount, less value-added tax of the intra-Community acquisitions of goods referred to in Article 28a (1) and (6) effected within the territory of the country on which tax has become chargeable.

—The following shall also be added: the total value, less value-added tax, of the supplies of goods referred to in the second sentence of Article 8 (1) (a) and in Article 28 (b) (B) (1) effected in the territory of the country on which tax has become chargeable during the return period, where the place of departure of the dispatch or transport of the goods is situated within the territory of another Member State, and the total amount, less value-added tax, of the supplies of goods made within the territory of the country for which the taxable person has been designated as the person liable for the tax in accordance with Article 28c (E) (3) and under which the tax has become payable in the course of the period covered by the declaration.

5.Every taxable person shall pay the net amount of the value added tax when submitting the regular return. Member States may, however, set a different date for the payment of that amount or may demand an interim payment.

6. (a)Member States may require a taxable person to submit a statement, including all the particulars specified in paragraph 4, concerning all transactions carried out in the preceding year. That statement shall provide all the information necessary for any adjustments. Member States shall, subject to conditions which they lay down, allow the taxable person to make such statements by electronic means, and may also require that electronic means are used.

(b)Every taxable person identified for value added tax purposes shall also submit a recapitulative statement of the acquirers identified for value added tax purposes to whom he has supplied goods under the conditions provided for in Article 28c (A) (a) and (d), and of consignees identified for value added tax purposes in the transactions referred to in the fifth subparagraph.

The recapitulative statement shall be drawn up for each calendar quarter within a period and in accordance with procedures to be determined by the Member States, which shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the provisions concerning administrative cooperation in the field of indirect taxation are in any event complied with. Member States shall, subject to conditions which they lay down, allow the taxable person to make such statements by electronic means, and may also require that electronic means are used.

The recapitulative statement shall set out:

—the number by which the taxable person is identified for purposes of value added tax in the territory of the country and under which he effected supplies of goods in the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) (a),

—the number by which each person acquiring goods is identified for purposes of value added tax in another Member State and under which the goods were supplied to him,

—for each person acquiring goods, the total value of the supplies of goods effected by the taxable person. Those amounts shall be declared for the calendar quarter during which the tax became chargeable.

—The recapitulative statement shall also set out:

—for the supplies of goods covered by Article 28c (A) (d), the number by means of which the taxable person is identified for purposes of value added tax in the territory of the country, the number by which he is identified in the Member State of arrival of the dispatch or transport and the total amount of the supplies, determined in accordance with Article 28e (2),

—the amounts of adjustments made pursuant to Article 11 (C) (1). Those amounts shall be declared for the calendar quarter during which the person acquiring the goods is notified of the adjustment.

In the cases set out in the third subparagraph of Article 28b (A) (2), the taxable person identified for value added tax purposes within the territory of the country shall mention in a clear way on the recapitulative statement:

—the number by which he is identified for value added tax purposes within the territory of the country and under which he carried out the intra-Community acquisition and the subsequent supply of goods,

—the number by which, within the territory of the Member State of arrival of the dispatch or transport of the goods, the consignee of the subsequent supply by the taxable person is identified,

—and, for each consignee, the total amount, less value added tax, of the supplies made by the taxable person within the territory of the Member State of arrival of the dispatch or transport of the goods. These amounts shall be declared for the calendar quarter during which the tax became chargeable.

(c)By way of derogation from (b), Member States may:

—require recapitulative statements to be filed on a monthly basis,

—require that recapitulative statements give additional particulars.

(d)In the case of supplies of new means of transport effected under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) (b) by a taxable person identified for purposes of value added tax to a purchaser not identified for purposes of value added tax or by a taxable person as defined in Article 28a (4), Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the vendor communicates all the information necessary for value added tax to be applied and inspected by the tax authority.

(e)Member States may require taxable persons who in the territory of the country effect intra-Community acquisitions of goods as defined in Article 28a (1) (a) and (6) to submit statements giving details of such acquisitions provided, however, that such statements may not be required for a period of less than one month.

Member States may also require persons who effect intra-Community acquisitions of new means of transport as defined in Article 28a (1) (b) to provide, when submitting the return referred to in paragraph 4, all the information necessary for value added tax to be applied and inspected by the tax authority.

7.Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that those persons who, in accordance with Article 21(1) and (2), are considered to be liable to pay the tax instead of a taxable person not established within the territory of the country comply with the obligations relating to declaration and payment set out in this Article; they shall also take the measures necessary to ensure that those persons who, in accordance with Article 21(3), are held to be jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax comply with the obligations relating to payment set out in this Article.

8.Member States may impose other obligations which they deem necessary for the correct collection of the tax and for the prevention of evasion, subject to the requirement of equal treatment for domestic transactions and transactions carried out between Member States by taxable persons and provided that such obligations do not, in trade between Member States, give rise to formalities connected with the crossing of frontiers.

The option provided for in the first subparagraph cannot be used to impose additional obligations over and above those laid down in paragraph 3.

9. (a)Member States may release from certain or all obligations:

—taxable persons carrying out only supplies of goods or of services which are exempt pursuant to Articles 13 and 15,

—taxable persons eligible for the exemption from tax provided for in Article 24 and for the derogation provided for in Article 28a (1) (a), second subparagraph,

—taxable persons carrying out none of the transactions referred to in paragraph 4 (c).

Without prejudice to the provisions laid down in point (d), Member States may not, however, release the taxable persons referred to in the third indent from the obligations referred to in Article 22(3).

(b)Member States may release taxable persons other than those referred to in (a) from certain of the obligations referred to in 2 (a).

(c)Member States may release taxable persons from payment of the tax due where the amount involved is insignificant.

(d)Subject to consultation of the Committee provided for in Article 29 and under the conditions which they may lay down, Member States may provide that invoices in respect of goods supplied or services rendered in their territory do not have to fulfil some of the conditions laid down in paragraph 3(b) in the following cases:

—when the amount of the invoice is minor, or

—when commercial or administrative practice in the business sector concerned or the technical conditions under which the invoices are issued make it difficult to comply with all the requirements referred to in paragraph 3(b).

In any case, these invoices must contain the following:

—the date of issue,

—identification of the taxable person,

—identification of the type of goods supplied or services rendered,

—the tax due or the information needed to calculate it.

The simplified arrangements provided for in this point may not be applied to transactions referred to in paragraph 4(c).

(e)In cases where Member States make use of the option provided for in the third indent of point (a) to refrain from allocating a number as referred to in paragraph 1(c) to taxable persons who do not carry out any of the transactions referred to in paragraph 4(c), and where the supplier or the customer have not been allocated an identification number of this type, the invoice should feature instead another number called the tax reference number, as defined by the Member States concerned.

When the taxable person has been allocated an identification number as referred to in paragraph 1(c), the Member States referred to in the first subparagraph may also require the invoice to show:

—for services rendered referred to in Article 28b(C), (D), (E) and (F) and for supplies of goods referred to in Article 28c(A) and (E) point 3, the number referred to in paragraph 1(c) and the tax reference number of the supplier;

—for other supplies of goods and services, only the tax reference number of the supplier or only the number referred to in paragraph 1(c).

10.Member States shall take measures to ensure that non-taxable legal persons who are liable for the tax payable in respect of intra-Community acquisitions of goods covered by the first subparagraph of Article 28a (1) (a) comply with the above obligations relating to declaration and payment and that they are identified by an individual number as defined in paragraph 1 (c), (d) and (e).

11.In the case of intra-Community acquisitions of products subject to excise duty referred to in Article 28a (1) (c) as well as in the case of intra-Community acquisitions of new means of transport covered by Article 28a (1) (b), Member States shall adopt arrangements for declaration and subsequent payment.

12.Acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, the Council may authorize any Member State to introduce particular measures to simplify the statement obligations laid down in paragraph 6 (b). Such simplification measures, which shall not jeopardize the proper monitoring of intra-Community transactions, may take the following forms:

(a)Member States may authorize taxable persons who meet the following three conditions to file one-year recapitulative statements indicating the numbers by which the persons to whom those taxable persons have supplied goods under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) are identified for purposes of value added tax in other Member States:

—the total annual value, less value added tax, of their supplies of goods or provisions of services, as defined in Articles 5, 6 and 28a (5), does not exceed by more than ECU 35 000 the amount of the annual turnover which is used as a reference for application of the exemption from tax provided for in Article 24,

—the total annual value, less value added tax, of supplies of goods effected by them under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) does not exceed the equivalent in national currency of ECU 15 000,

—supplies of goods effected by them under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) are other than supplies of new means of transport;

(b)Member States which set at over three months the tax period for which taxable persons must submit the returns provided for in paragraph 4 may authorize such persons to submit recapitulative statements for the same period where those taxable persons meet the following three conditions:

—the overall annual value, less value added tax, of the goods and the services they supply, as defined in Articles 5, 6 and 28a (5), does not exceed the equivalent in national currency of ECU 200 000,

—the total annual value, less value added tax, of supplies of goods effected by them under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) does not exceed the equivalent in national currency of ECU 15 000,

—supplies of goods effected by them under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) are other than supplies of new means of transport.’