Companies identified for VAT purposes in Italy are not obliged to issue electronic invoices from 2019

The Budget Law 2018 (Law 205/2017) has established that starting from 1 January 2019 the electronic invoice will be mandatory: between taxable persons VAT resident, established or identified in Italy (B2B operations) to be sent through the Interchange System (Sdi) managed by the Inland Revenue Agency and towards final consumers (B2C). The circular 13 / E / 2018 provided that the taxable persons merely identified for VAT purposes in Italy, and not established in the country, are not obliged to issue an electronic invoice. This in consideration of the fact that Article 1, paragraph 909 of the Budget Law 2018, although it includes them expressly, must be interpreted in accordance with the authorization decision referred to in the Implementing Regulation 282/2011 of the EU Directive 2006/112. Consequently, the e-invoicing obligation only concerns taxable persons resident or established in Italy. On this point, the aforementioned document stated that non-residents identified for VAT purposes in Italy can be recipients of electronic invoices provided that they are guaranteed the possibility of obtaining a hard copy of the invoice if they request it.