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4 Posts authored by: Roger Nyberg

 

The revised  2011 Tax Compliance Country Guide V42  includes an updated chapter for South Africa.  This country guide was authored and signed by KPMG’s local office in Johannesburg.  We found that no changes needed to be made to our solution.

 

Status of VAT and e-Invoicing in Africa

 

VAT was introduced in South Africa in 1991 to replace the general sales tax (GST).  South Africa was one of the first countries in Africa to introduce VAT.  Since then, the majority of African countries have introduced VAT, e.g. Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe to name a few.

 

Very few countries in Africa allow paperless electronic invoicing today.  South Africa has however allowed sellers to issue tax invoices into their customers electronically instead of in paper format since 2002.

 

Example of an invoice issued in South Africa

 

The fields that are mandatory on an invoice in South Africa are not any different from the fields that in many cases need to be present on invoices in the EU.

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Figure: Example of a Tax Invoice in South Africa (source: "VAT 404 - Guide for Vendors" by the South African Revenue Service)

 

See Ariba's Country Guide for more details on how the Ariba solution maps to the South African requirements.

 

If you are interested in e-Invoicing in South Africa, please contact your Ariba representative for the latest version of Ariba's Country Guide.

I had the pleasure to attend the EXPP in Munich last month and found a very strong interest in EU commission directive from July 13, 2010 (10858/10 + 11339/10 ADD 1).  The week after EXPP, we hosted our first Ariba e-Invoicing User Group meeting and found that our users are very interested in understanding how the new directive will impact Ariba's e-Invoicing solution.

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I would like to clarify that Ariba's e-Invoicing solution is compliant in Europe today and will continue to be so after the new directive from the EU commission has come in effect.

 

Since 2004, two methods have been approved to guarantee authenticity and integrity of an electronic invoice:

1. Advanced electronic signatures

2. Contract-based secure EDI

These two methods will continue to be approved methods for the foreseeable future.  Since 2006, Ariba e-Invoicing solution has been using advanced electronic signatures to guarantee authenticity and integrity through our partnership with Trustweaver in Sweden.  Electronic invoices produced on the Ariba Network have been found to be compliant in more than 20 European countries by local KPMG offices.

 

As of January 1, 2013, companies in the EU will have more choices as to how they prove the authenticity and integrity of e-Invoices.  It has now been established that an invoice is compliant if a taxable person can prove an actual transaction “through business controls establishing a reliable audit trail between an invoice and a supply”.  If a taxable person can prove, through business controls establishing a reliable audit trail between an invoice and a supply, it follows that the invoice complies with the integrity, authenticity and legibility requirements.

 

Ariba Network and Financial Solutions Product Management Team are active members in the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) working group for the development of sustainable compliance guidelines for electronic invoicing.  CEN is the only recognized European organization for the planning, drafting and adoption of European Standards in all areas of economic activity.  We are participating in the work shops to iron out the details of what business controls must be in place to prove the authenticity and integrity of electronic invoices.  At this point, we do not have any plans to stop using advanced electronic signatures to guarantee authenticity and integrity - even after January 1, 2013.

The revised 2010 Tax Compliance Country Guide includes new chapters for Slovakia and Slovenia.

 

Slovakia and Slovenia have many things in common: they both joined the EU in 2004, they are both part of the Eurozone and e-Invoicing is in its startup phase in both countries.

 

Based on KPMG's research, Ariba has been found to have a fully compliant solution for Slovakia and a compliant cross border solution for Slovenia.  Domestic trade does however have to be carried out in Slovenian in Slovenia and the Ariba Network does not support Slovenian yet.

 

With Slovakia added to the list, Ariba has been found to have a compliant solution in 33 countries globally

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Did you know that Ariba is active in the European Committe for Standardization for Electronic Invoicing?

 

Aribians Olaf Schrader, Senior Manager Supplier Enablement, and Roger Nyberg, Senior Product Manager EMEA Invoicing, are both active members in the European Committee for Standarzation.

 

This is one way that Ariba uses to make sure that our solutions meet the needs in Europe and our solutions comply to legal rules in Europe.

 

CEN is a non-profit organization that provides a platform for the development of European Standards.  CEN's 31 National Members work together to develop these publications in a large number of sectors to help build the European internal market in goods and services, removing barriers to trade and strengthening Europe's position in the global economy.

 

Ariba is participating in the workshop "Electronic business and commerce - eInvoicing" in sector "Information and Communication Technologies".  The aim of this European-wide community platform is to provide users with easy access to eInvoicing (good practice guidelines as well as country-related eInvoicing information.

 

The workshop is now in its third phase with the overall target of “Integration of efforts in standardisation and developments” in the following areas:

  • Standards (e-invoicing modules for business software, methodology of software tools, functionalities and specifications for business software requirements
  • Compliance (improvement of cooperation between companies and tax authorities, establishment of clear common understanding between companies and tax authorities in EU, accessibility of rules and regulation)
  • Implementation (best practice implementations with model agreements for electronic invoicing, model processes and SME focussed best practices)
  • Business Process (integration of electronic invoice in existing business processes)

 

Ariba is particularly active in the workshop that is focused on the development of sustainable compliance guidelines for electronic invoicing to be used by companies across Europe. The aim is to produce a simplified version of the eInvoicing Compliance Guidelines taking into account all current and evolving principle issues to be observed – legal and technical as well as the perspective of taxation and auditing.

 

To learn more about CEN, please visit: http://www.e-invoice-gateway.net/

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The e-Invoicing workgroup has regular meetings in Europe

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