S.I. No.  504  of 2002

REGULATIONS

Value-Added Tax (Electronic Invoicing and Storage) Regulations 2002

made by the

Revenue Commissioners

VALUE-ADDED TAX (ELECTRONIC INVOICING AND STORAGE) REGULATIONS 2002

S.I. No. 504 of 2002

The Revenue Commissioners, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 17 and 32 of No. 22 of 1972 ) hereby make the following regulations:

1.   These Regulations may be cited as the Value-Added Tax (Electronic Invoicing and Storage) Regulations 2002.

2.   (1)    In these Regulations-

“Act” means No. 22 of 1972 );

“Electronic Commerce Act” means the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 ( No. 27 of 2000 );

“advanced electronic signature” means an electronic signature which is -

(a)  uniquely linked to the signatory,

(b)  capable of identifying the signatory,

(c)  created using means that are capable of being maintained by the signatory under his or her sole control, and

(d)  linked to the data to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change of the data is detectable;

“electronic signature” means data in electronic form which are attached to or logically associated with a message and which serve as a method of authentication;

“electronic data interchange” means the electronic transfer, from computer to computer, of commercial and administrative data using an agreed standard to structure a message;

“electronic record” means a record required to be kept for the purposes of section 16 of the Act which is generated, transmitted and stored electronically;

“message” means an invoice, credit note, debit note, settlement voucher or document issued or received in accordance with section 17 of the Act and which is transmitted electronically;

“registration number” in relation to a person, means the number assigned to the person for the purposes of registration under section 9 of the Act;

“trading partners” means any two persons engaged by prior agreement in the electronic exchange of messages;

“transmission” means the transfer or making available of a message to a trading partner by electronic means;

“unique identification number” means a sequential number which is based on one or more series and which uniquely identifies a message transmitted between trading partners.

(2)    In these Regulations “signatory”, “signature-creation data”, “signature-creation device”, “signature-verification-data”, and “signature-verification device” have the meanings assigned to them by the Electronic Commerce Act.

(3)    In these Regulations-

(a)  a reference to a Regulation is to a Regulation of these Regulations, and

(b)  a reference to a paragraph, subparagraph or clause is to a paragraph, subparagraph or clause of the provision in which the reference occurs,

unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

3.   (1)   A message issued or received by electronic means by a taxable person shall be deemed to be so issued or received for the purposes of section 17(1A) of the Act if each such message -

(a)  is transmitted between trading partners using an electronic data interchange system which satisfies the requirements specified in paragraphs (2) and (3), or

(b)  is transmitted between trading partners using an advanced electronic signature and an associated system which satisfy the requirements specified in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2)    The electronic data interchange system or the advanced electronic signature and associated system used by the taxable person referred to in paragraph (1) shall be capable of-

(a)  producing, retaining and storing, and making available to an officer of the Revenue Commissioners on request, electronic records and messages in such form and containing such particulars as may be required in accordance with sections 16 and 17 of the Act and Regulations made under the Act,

(b)  causing to be reproduced on paper any electronic record or message required to be produced, retained or stored in accordance with sections 16 and 17 of the Act and Regulations made under the Act,

(c)  allocating a unique identification number for each message transmitted, and

(d)  maintaining electronic records in such manner as will allow their retrieval by reference to the name of a trading partner or the date or the unique identification number, of the message.

(3)    The electronic data interchange system or the advanced electronic signature and associated system used by the taxable person referred to in paragraph (1) shall-

(a)  preclude the repeated transmission of a message,

(b)  preclude the omission of any message from the electronic record,

(c)  verify the origin or receipt of a message by a trading partner, and

(d)  guarantee the integrity of the contents of a message, or of an electronic record related to that message, during transmission and during the period provided for in section 16 for the retention of records, invoices or any other documents specified in the Act or in Regulations made under the Act.

(4)    (a)   A taxable person who issues or receives messages by electronic means in accordance with paragraph 3(1) shall retain and store such messages or copies of such messages as appropriate and electronic records related to those messages and in addition shall retain and store electronically the following data:

(i)   details of the form of encryption, electronic signature, signature creation data or device, signature verification data or device, or any other method used to ensure the integrity of the records and messages transmitted, retained and stored and the authenticity of their origin,

(ii)  details of where and in what format the information required in accordance with clause (i) is stored and how it can be accessed.

(b)    A taxable person who issues or receives messages by electronic means shall-

(i)   provide details on request to an officer of the Revenue Commissioners on where and how an electronic record or message is stored on that taxpayer's system and how it can be accessed by that officer,

(ii)  allow such access to electronic records or messages for inspection by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners at all reasonable times, and

(iii) reproduce any such electronic record or message on paper on request by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners including details required to be retained and stored under subparagraph (a).

4.   A taxable person may transmit messages by means other than those referred to in Regulation 3(1) where-

(a)  he or she is satisfied that such messages are recorded, retained and transmitted in accordance with section 17(1A) of the Act,

(b)  the requirements of paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) of Regulation 3 are met, and

(c)  he or she notifies the Revenue Commissioners accordingly, and until 31 December 2005 such notification shall be made prior to the commencement of the transmission of such messages.

5.   The Value-Added Tax (Electronic Data Exchange and Storage) Regulations 1992 ( S.I. No. 269 of 1992 ) are revoked.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

Section 17(1A) of the VAT Act provides, inter alia, that an invoice or other document required to be issued by a person under section 17 of the Act is not deemed to be so issued by that person unless the person complies with conditions specified by regulations and the system or systems used by the person conforms with such specifications as are required by regulations

Section 17 (1A) also provides that a person in receipt of an electronic transmission will not be deemed to be in receipt of an invoice or other document unless the system used by that person conforms with specifications as are required by regulations and the person complies with conditions specified by regulations.

These Regulations lay down these conditions and systems specifications and partially implement Council Directive 2001/115/EC of 20 December, 2001 insofar as invoices sent by electronic means are concerned.

The Regulations revoke the Value-Added Tax (Electronic Data Exchange and Storage) Regulations 1992 ( S.I. No. 269 of 1992 ).