The Law and Regulation on e-invoices

The law, regulation and rules on e-invoicing as a result of public procurement affect both public actors and suppliers to public actors. Both the regulation and the e-invoicing rules apply to public authorities under the Government.

The Law and Regulation on e-invoices

The Act on electronic invoices resulting from public procurement (2018:1277) (the E-Invoicing Act) applies from 1 April 2019. Digg has since issued a regulation to the e-invoicing law, Regulation on registration in PEPPOL (MDFFS 2019:1) which applies from 1 December 2019. The E-invoicing Act affects both public actors who are to make a procurement and suppliers who have been awarded a contract through procurement.

The E-invoicing Act

The E-invoicing Act applies to invoices issued as a result of public procurement in accordance with the following laws and applies to procurements commenced from 1 April 2019.

• Public Procurement Act, LOU, (2016:1145)
• Act on Procurement in the Utilities Sectors, LUF, (2016:1146)
• Act on Procurement in the Field of Defence and Security, LUFS, (2011:1029)
• Act on Procurement of Concessions, LUK, (2016:1147).

What does the law state?

Invoices issued by a supplier to an authority or entity shall be electronic. The format of the invoices shall comply with the European standard for electronic invoicing referred to by the European Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union. However, the parties may agree on a different standard for e-invoices. There are also some exceptions where an invoice does not need to be sent electronically and these are mentioned below.

Digg recommendations on e-invoices

In order to comply with the legal requirements of the European standard for e-invoicing, Digg recommends that you use the implementation of the European standard, Peppol BIS Billing 3.

Digg also recommends using the Peppol network for sending and receiving invoices. Invoices should not be converted to other formats as this may result in the loss of information.

Exemptions from the e-Invoicing Act

There are some cases where an invoice does not need to be sent electronically:

• If the procurement has started before the law came into force on 1 April 2019, suppliers can continue to send invoices in the agreed format.
• When e-invoicing would entail a risk of disclosing information covered by confidentiality or otherwise jeopardising security-sensitive activities. It is up to the procuring entity to decide whether such a risk exists for specific invoice flows.
• When payment is made in cash or by payment card. The Act thus does not impose any additional invoicing obligation for financial services beyond the provisions of the Value Added Tax Act (2023:200).

What qualifies as an e-invoice

According to the E-invoicing Act, an e-invoice is an invoice that is issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format that allows it to be processed automatically and electronically.

Please note that a PDF invoice does not fulfil these requirements and therefore does not count as an e-invoice under the E-Invoicing Act.

What might happen if the law is not followed

If a supplier does not send e-invoices or sends incorrect e-invoices, the supplier might be reported to Digg by the public buyer. Digg will then conduct an investigation. The supplier might be ordered to send an e-invoice and this can also be linked to a fine. However, Digg always suggests that the parties first engage in a dialogue between themselves before reporting.

Regulation to the E-Invoicing Act

The regulation on registration in Peppol (MDFFS2019:1) states that contracting authorities and entities must be registered in Peppol's register function in order to receive electronic invoices. The purpose of the regulation is to facilitate the transmission of invoices, as contracting authorities can easily be found and invoiced electronically. Digg's regulations to the E-invoicing Act apply from 1 December 2019.

Regulation and rules on e-commerce

Government agencies must comply with the Ordinance (2003:770) on the Electronic Exchange of information by Government Agencies. Digg has developed rules linked to the regulation, Regulations on the handling of orders and standards in electronic information exchange (MDFFS 2021:1).

Regulation

Authorities under the regulation must promote the development of secure and efficient electronic information exchange in public administration in their activities. Authorities with more than 50 employees must handle their outgoing orders for goods and services electronically. However, there are some exceptions to the regulation.

Rules

The associated rules contain provisions that apply to government agencies with more than 50 employees. The regulations apply to the electronic handling of outgoing orders for goods and services and standards or similar requirements that apply to electronic information exchange in connection with ordering and delivery.

The rules also contain provisions on standards or similar requirements that are common to all government agencies, regardless of the number of employees, regarding electronic information exchange regarding invoicing of goods and services.