Keywords: electronic invoicing, e-invoicing, Putin, Russia, VAT

e-Invoicing adopted in Russia

News | 9 January 2012

• Print
•        

Russia has become the latest country to recognise the benefits of electronic invoicing and accept digital documents as legal for VAT compliance.

e-Invoices were legalised in the country when prime minister Vladimir Putin signed a resolution setting out the forms and rules for their use in VAT management.

The new laws came into force on January 1st and are expected to prompt a widespread switch to wholly electronic transactions, as has happened in many other countries around the world.

Russia has a lot to gain from electronic invoicing. For a start, the country is 17m square kilometres in size - four times bigger than the whole of the European Union.

And although two of its time zones were scrapped last year, the country still has nine different ones.

According to data gathered by Grigoriy Povarov, business development director at software firm SKB Kontur, and presented in a slideshow, some 15bn invoices are sent annually in Russia.

Six in ten businesses are producing more than 1,000 invoices every year, while two in ten are producing more than 10,000.

Some 99.99 per cent of all Russia's invoices are issued on paper, and the main way for these to be sent is via the Russian Post.

However, because of the vast distances being covered, this can take anything from four to 40 days.

But electronic invoices won't just save time and postal costs. As Mr Povarov explained, there are strong penalties for tax violations in Russia, at 18 per cent of the invoice amount, plus fees.

What's more, invoices must be stored for five years and government inspections can be carried out at any time. If the documents cannot be produced, firms could find themselves in hot water.

Switching to e-invoices could therefore prove a very positive move for businesses across the country.

Read the full article at:

E-invoicing Platform