Editorial: The great reform on tax invoices

The finance ministry in the third quarter of 2019 will launch a pilot programme regarding the electronic declarations of invoices and companies' bookkeeping.

The aim is to create a framework for the mandatory electronic submission of invoices and bookkeeping for all businesses and freelance professionals, as of 1 January, 2020.

The finance ministry's mechanism for the electronic submission and registrations of invoices will be opened to public consultation with professional groups as of September, 2019, so that proposals for improvements can be submitted in a timely manner and so that certain technical and other difficulties in implementation can be addressed.

The said change to the extent that it was supported and served without exceptions and postponements constitutes a great reform and a leap of progress that will gradually lead to a full digitalisation of all transactions.

In a future stage it will allow for electronic payments and the immediate auditing and evaluation of corporate balance sheets.That will create unprecedented transparency for economic transactions nationwide.

Even now, the benefits from the limited use of electronic transactions through debit and credit cards (without cash) are patently obvious and citizens see that in their daily lives.

The expansion of electronic declarations and of the improvement of the management of invoices from all businesses will minimise the administrative cost of handling tax obligations.

It will allow the immediate abolition of concentrated lists of data on all invoices (as each will be reviewed online individually).

It will allow an estimate of owed taxes - especially the VAT tax - and it will facilitate the corroboration of transactions, with gains in combating tax...