Press Release: VAT: European Commission welcomes political agreement on simpler invoicing rules

The European Commission has welcomed the political agreement reached on the Directive to simplify and modernise VAT invoice rules at the Council of Finance Ministers held on 4 December 2001. The measure will be of significant practical benefit to firms operating within the Internal Market because it will ensure that they have only to deal with a single, simplified set of rules on invoicing valid throughout the EU instead of fifteen different sets of legislation. At the same time, the Directive will require Member States to recognise the validity of electronic invoices and allow cross-border electronic invoicing and electronic storage.

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