Value added tax VAT: conditions laid down for invoicing (amend. Directive 77/388/EEC)

PURPOSE : to harmonise the conditions laid down for value added tax (VAT) invoicing. COMMUNITY MEASURE : Council Directive 115/2001/EC amending Directive 77/388/EEC with a view to simplifying, modernising, and harmonising the conditions laid down for invoicing in respect of VAT. CONTENT : The current conditions laid down for invoicing in the Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC are relatively few, thus leaving it to the Member States to define the most important conditions. At the same time, the conditions are no longer appropriate given the development of new invoicing technologies and methods. In order to ensure that the internal market functions properly, this Directive establishes a list, harmonised at Community level, of the particulars that must appear on invoices for the purposes of VAT. It also establishes a number of common arrangements governing the use of electronic invoicing and the electronic storage of invoices, as well as for self-billing and the outsourcing of invoicing operations. The Directive also provides that the storage of invoices must comply with the conditions laid down by Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. Since the introduction of transition VAT arrangements in 1993, Greece has adopted the prefix EL rather than the prefix GR laid down in the ISO International Standard No 3166. Given the consequences of amending the prefix in all Member States, the Directive lays down an exception for Greece providing that the ISO Standard does not apply in Greece. DATE OF TRANSPOSITION : 01/01/04 ENTRY INTO FORCE : 06/02/02.�