In Spain a new VAT reporting system “Suministro Inmediato de Información” (SII) will enter into force on the 1st of July 2017.
Almost real time, companies in Spain will have to submit electronically to the Spanish tax authorities data from all AP and AR invoices within 4 days after an invoice is either issued or booked, this period is extended to 8 days during the first 6 months.
Automated extraction of the invoice data will be essential to meet the new rules in an automated fashion, the required invoice data has to be transformed in the required SII format (XML, SAF-T) and due to the short deadlines for submitting the report it is preferred to do it in the source system where the invoices are captured, for most companies the required data are already available in the SAP system.
When e-submission of invoice data is implemented the administrative burden will also be lowered as only certain tax self-assessments has to be filed and certain cumbersome declarations no longer need to be submitted.
Businesses classified as large companies will have just over 6 months to adopt this new requirement in its processes, controls and systems. It will be a real challenge. Failure to comply in time could result in penalties and increased risk of a tax audit.