Guide to empowerment of electronic invoicing

The introduction of electronic invoicing has brought several benefits to members. These include the possibility of delegating certain services to third parties, who act as intermediaries.

Delegation of e-invoicing must be requested through a specific process provided by regulations and allows for revocation at any time.

If you are wondering how to apply for e-invoicing delegation, you have come to the right place! Let's take a look together at what the characteristics of e-invoicing delegation are, what services can be delegated to qualified intermediaries, and how to go about conferring the delegation.

What is an e-invoicing delegation

An e-invoicing deleg ation refers to the granting of permission to use the Inland Revenue Service's invoicing service and to consult the Tax Drawer of an obligated taxpayer granted to a third party.

In fact, following the introduction of the electronic invoicing system, a special portal was added by the Internal Revenue Service and is still available on its website called " Invoices and Considerations." Here invoices sent and received can be recorded. The portal takes the form of an invoice management tool that, among other things, also allows the user to view data related to the taxpayer.

The portal can be accessed by:

• The taxpayer;
• A delegated party.

How is a proxy activated at the IRS?

Proxy for electronic invoicing can be activated:

• By direct way:
• By indirect route: the taxpayer delivers the signed form to the authorized intermediary. The latter will then transmit the document via the Entratel system along with the "matching elements" contained in the Mod, such as:

💡VAT must be related to the year preceding the year in which the proxy is given.

☝ In case of the absence of such "elements of matching," subjects may send an appropriate file via PEC to the competent Dre.

In this case, the sending can be massive or punctual, i.e.:

• Punctual sending → sending of each individual proxy;
• Bulk sending → sending of a plurality of proxies.

The delegated party's access to services, however, may be subject to several limitations. The granting of delegation can be, in fact:

• Total: all services offered by the portal are made available to the delegate. In this case, the authorized intermediaries can only be those mentioned in Article 3 c. 3 of Presidential Decree 322/98, including:
• Partial: only certain services offered by the portal of the Internal Revenue Service are made available to the qualified intermediary.

The services that can be delegated are as follows:

• Consultation and acquisition of electronic invoices or their computer duplicates.
• Consultation of communications of quarterly VAT return settlement statements of the delegating taxpayer.
• Consultation of VAT data related to invoices issued and/or received by the delegating taxpayer. This includes data transmitted by customers and/or suppliers in the context of business transactions.
• Comparison of the "matching elements" reported in the quarterly VAT settlement statements and in the actual data resulting from the invoices issued and/or received by the delegating party.
• Storage and/or telematic transmission of receipts and related amounts on behalf of the delegating party.
• Consultation of notifications and receipts of receipt and/or confirmation of transmission of electronic invoices, as well as data related to cross-border invoices on behalf of the delegating party;
• Consultation of notifications of data relevant for VAT purposes and notifications of periodic VAT settlement statements.
• Consultation of data relevant for vat declaration purposes
• Registration of the telematic address and generation of the QR code.
• Electronic invoicing in general.
• Storage of electronic invoices → service that can also be delegated to parties other than qualified intermediaries;
• Device accreditation and census → service that can also be delegated to entities other than qualified intermediaries.

How to submit electronic invoicing delegation?

Basically, applications for delegation use should be made by filling out and submitting the appropriate form that can be downloaded from the Internal Revenue Service website.

👀 The procedures for granting or revoking the were set by the July 29, 2013 Provision.

In particular, the Internal Revenue Service stipulates that:

4.1 The form referred to in point 2.1 can be submitted, by the delegating party or by the person who has been granted special power of attorney by filling in the specific section of the form itself, at any territorial office of the Revenue Agency.
4.2 The delegating party may confer or revoke proxies to the Electronic Invoicing services through the specific functionalities made available in its reserved area.
4.3 The form referred to in point 2.1 may be delivered to the delegated intermediary, who shall send to the Revenue Agency the essential data for the purpose of activating the delegations/revocations that have been conferred on him. These data are transmitted:
within 90 days from the date of signing the form, for proxy requests;
within 2 working days from the date of signing the form, for requests to revoke proxies already conferred;
4.4 For the activation of proxies conferred in the manner referred to in Section 4.3, the delegated intermediary uses a "bulk" mailing service or, alternatively, a "punctual" mailing web functionality made available in its area
4.5 For the revocation of proxies already conferred carried out in the manner referred to in paragraph 4.3, the delegated intermediary uses a "punctual" sending web functionality made available in its area

Agenzia delle Entrate

How to fill out e-invoicing delegation?

To make the delegation effective, therefore, it is necessary to submit the request by filling out a form.

The proxy form was initially approved through the June 13, 2018 Measure. Subsequently, through the Provision of November 5, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service introduced a new template, titled "Conferment and Revocation of Proxy for Tax Drawer Consultation".

The duration of each proxy is a maximum of:

• 2 intermediary subjects;
• For no more than 2 years.

Essential data

Below is the information provided in the form and the essential data to be entered.

• Information on the processing of personal data;
• Section concerning the:
• Section for indicating the: data of the person who may be in charge of submitting the form to the offices of the Internal Revenue Service;
• Section for the signature of the delegating party;
• Description of services that can be delegated.

☝ Through this form approval is granted for the granting or revocation of proxies also to the use of the Delegated Tax Drawer.

👀 The new form introduced by the June 13, 2018 Order introduced the following sections mentioned above:

1. Data of the delegating party;
2. Declaration of affidavit for intermediaries stating that they can authenticate the signature of the delegating person

Communication via pec of proxy data

Beware if you are used to sending documents via PEC; In fact, this channel was considered valid only for the introductory phase of the procedure. As of May 31, 2019, communication via PEC .

How to renew a proxy for electronic invoicing?

The renewal of a proxy for electronic invoicing does not occur automatically: instead, it is necessary to repeat the procedure of requesting conferment by filling out and submitting the form described above.

Approval of the form for conferment and revocation of proxies

Approval of the form for conferring or revoking proxies:

• For proxy grant requests: within 90 days from the date of signing the form;
• For proxy revocation requests: within 2 working days from the date of signing the form;

How to keep proxy conferral form

As we have often seen for other accounting documents, retention becomes a crucial factor in protecting oneself legally. So what does the IRS say about retaining copies of paper proxies?

7.1. The intermediaries delegates and those who have transmitted the proxy forms referred to in Section 2.1. in the manner referred to in Section 4.8, shall retain the forms acquired, together with copies of the identity documents of the delegators, and identify one or more persons responsible for the management of these forms. Forms acquired directly in electronic format shall be stored in accordance with the technical rules and guidelines set forth in Legislative Decree No. 82 of March 7, 2005.

7.2. The forms acquired shall be numbered and noted, daily, in a special chronological register, indicating the following data:

sequential number and date of the delegation/revocation;

tax code and personal data/name of the delegating taxpayer;

details of the identity document of the proxy/revocation subscriber.

7.3. The Internal Revenue Service also conducts checks on the acquired forms at the offices of the intermediaries. If irregularities are found in the handling of proxies/revocations, among other things, the revocation referred to in Article 8, paragraph 1, first sentence, of the Executive Decree of July 31, 1998 is carried out. This is without prejudice to civil liability and the application of any sanctions

Agenzia delle Entrate

Be careful, therefore, not to leave out any ID documents and properly store the documents with the correct numbering.

How does delegation to the electronic invoice tax drawer work?

This involves giving your financial intermediary, such as your accountant, the ability to consult and update all the information contained in the taxpayer's tax drawer such as payments to the Treasury. The same form provided for e-invoicing proxies can be used to confer the proxy.

Expected extension for proxies 2021

Due to the travel restrictions introduced in 2020, the problem of acquiring the proxy form with the taxpayer's original signature has often arisen. For this reason, a request was made for an extension to the validity of proxies, instead of resubmitting the application for assignment.

The request was granted by the December 11, 2020 Resolution. The latter resolution provided a one-year extension to the validity period of proxies for electronic invoicing services only for the purpose of using the services of the telematics portals of the Internal Revenue Service.

So, the deadline for proxies was moved to the period between December 15, 2020 and January 31, 2021. The extension was, therefore, extended to cover all of 2021.