Further steps in the digitalisation of tax law

Changes to the online invoicing system this year and planned rules on electronic vat and e-receipts

Abstract

The digitalization of tax law has a decade-long history, the primary goal of which is to increase government revenues and reduce tax evasion. Several elements of this digitalization process are known: the online cash register, the Electronic Road Traffic Control System (EKÁER) system and the Online Invoicing System. My main objective is to prove how useful the state-of-the-art technological solutions that have been debuting in recent years are from the point of view of public finances, since, for example, VAT revenues have more than doubled.

In this study, I undertake to review the most important rules of the Online Invoicing System. After examining the legal background, I am processing a case brought before the Curia in which the plaintiff of the dispute was a VAT taxpayer who was unentitled to deduct tax, and the defendant was the Appeal Directorate of the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV). Next, I will look at an Argentine procedure, electronic invoicing – e-Factura in Spanish – which has been optional on a voluntary basis since 2003 and has become mandatory for all taxpayers subject to VAT since 2016. The introduction of the new system was implemented in stages and was finally fully implemented by 2019.

At the end of the article, I discuss the changes affecting the Hungarian regulations in 2023, and then I present the revised rules of e-VAT and finally the e-receipt.