March 2015 will mark the completion of a two-stage process that begun with the publication of law number 244 of December 24, 2007, transposing EU Directive 2010/45/EU on electronic invoicing into Italian law through an amendment to Presidential Decree 633/72.

Articles 21 and 39 of this Law set out the invoicing requirements that businesses must adhere to when submitting electronic invoices through Italys online system, Sistema di Interscambio, including the requirement to authenticate the origin of an invoice using a digital signature and record retention rules.

Businesses supplying public authorities must provide the required information in a pre-set format, known as FatturaPA, in XML format. If the information is included in the correct format, the supplier will receive confirmation that the invoice has been dispatched to the appropriate public authority.

Subsequently Italy released Decree no. 55 of April 3, 2013, which set out the timeframes for suppliers to begin complying with the new electronic invoicing rules. Voluntary adoption for PAs began on December 6, 2013, providing an agreement was reached with their suppliers, and mandatory adoption for Italys largest PAs began on June 6, 2014.

For the final phase, it had previously been proposed that mandatory adoption by all PAs (with the exception of very few) would occur from June 6, 2015, after which point they would no longer be allowed to acknowledge receipt and pay invoices sent in paper form.

The implementation date was brought forward through Law Decree no. 66 of April 24, 2014, to March 31, 2015.

The adoption of the rules is intended to simplify and centralize tax administration in Italy.