- Mandatory B2B E-Invoicing Changes: Germany has updated its VAT invoicing and archiving rules to require mandatory B2B e-invoicing starting January 1, 2025, with structured XML formats as the legal record and a reduction in the invoice retention period from 10 years to 8 years.
- Credit Note Regulations: Effective December 6, 2024, new rules state that if a non-entrepreneurial person issues a credit note with VAT and does not promptly object, it may trigger unauthorized tax liability, overriding previous court rulings on credit notes.
- Compliance and Record-Keeping Requirements: The updated regulations emphasize that only the XML component of e-invoices needs to be archived, while the original format must be retained for audit purposes, ensuring compliance with the GoBD and allowing real-time access for tax authorities.
Source: fiscal-requirements.com
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BMF publishes second amendment to the GoBD
- Amendment to GoBD Regulations: The German Federal Ministry of Finance has published a second amendment to the GoBD, effective immediately, which allows businesses to retain only structured e-invoice data (like XML files) if the original data remains unchanged, while human-readable formats (e.g., PDFs) are only required if they contain additional tax-relevant information.
- Mandatory E-Invoicing Compliance: Starting January 1, 2025, businesses must comply with new e-invoicing regulations, which include maintaining incoming electronic documents in their original formats and ensuring that any converted formats preserve the original structured data.
- Audit and Data Access Requirements: The tax authority can request machine evaluations of the retained data, which must be provided in a machine-readable format, ensuring compliance with the updated regulations and facilitating efficient tax audits.
Source Pagero
See also
GoBD 2024: What’s new? – Procedural documentation and TCMS rewarding for tax audits – VATupdate
