As of: March 18, 2024, 11:27 p.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
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With e-invoicing, Germany could generate billions in additional tax revenue (symbolic image).
© Photo booth/K.
Schmitt/Imago
The Growth Opportunities Act could be blocked in the Federal Council this week.
This means the state is probably missing out on additional tax revenue of 10 billion euros.
Berlin – March 22nd is an important day for numerous companies in Germany: it will then become clear whether the Federal Council will accept the Growth Opportunities Act passed by the government or not.
The CSU and CDU union had threatened a blockade if the government did not give in in return in the dispute over agricultural subsidies.
The dispute between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat could be resolved through a compromise between the federal government and the Union-led states.
Business associations that have been waiting for a long time for the Growth Opportunities Act, which has since been slimmed down, were horrified by a possible blockage.
What many people don't know is that the draft not only provides for tax breaks for companies and a reduction in bureaucracy, but is also about e-invoicing.
And if this is not introduced, the state will miss out on billions in tax revenue, argues Dieter Keller, managing director of b4value.net from Kaiserslautern from the e-invoicing provider network TRAFFIQX(R), in an interview with
Ippen.Media
.
E-invoicing could bring Germany 10 billion euros in additional tax revenue
Because what sounds quite inconspicuous at first has major consequences: According to the Traffic Light Coalition's current plan, from 2025 onwards, the priority on paper invoices for domestic B2B invoices (B2B: between companies) will no longer be given - and instead the e-invoice, i.e. digital invoice come.
This not only implements an EU directive, but also an agreement in the coalition agreement.
Accordingly, the traffic light would like to introduce an electronic reporting system for invoices nationwide “as quickly as possible”.
The aim of e-invoicing is to curb sales tax fraud, which, according to the EU Commission, costs European countries around 50 billion euros.
According to the Handelsblatt
, estimates in Germany amount
to a double-digit billion sum.
Keller assumes more than 10 billion euros in additional tax revenue for Germany – per year!
He relies on estimates from the EU Commission and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The state can lose revenue from sales tax for a variety of reasons – the so-called “merry-go-round transactions” are particularly notorious.
In the EU, products such as smartphones are sold in a kind of endless loop - while entrepreneurs collect sales tax from buyers but do not pay it to the countries.
In addition, the company can then claim input tax and have it paid out by the tax office.
This is intended to curb e-invoicing - because with the reporting system introduced in parallel, you can move from the monthly sales tax report to the transaction-based report, which is easier to check and assign by the relevant authority, explains Keller.
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Entrepreneurs on the Growth Opportunities Act: “You’re now getting bogged down in political little things”
That's why he has no understanding of the haggling in the run-up to the Growth Opportunities Act: “We're discussing the three billion that we now have at the end of the Growth Opportunities Act and the agricultural diesel issue.
But on the other hand, the law could generate billions per year in additional revenue, which would help us all.
You're now getting bogged down in the political little things - and I don't understand why you don't take the chance to step on the gas for everyone's benefit.
The discussions are justified, but many other areas are now being inhibited and held up,” said Keller.
If it were postponed further, it would cause fatal problems, explains the managing director - the TRAFFIQX(R) network offers corporate customers of all sizes to digitize their invoicing systems.
In Germany, 3.5 million companies with billions of invoices need to be digitized.
“This is an effort for everyone who is active in the market.
It could still be done by the beginning of next year – but time is of the essence.” Keller hopes that the law will be introduced in March.
Alternatively, the e-invoice could also be passed separately from the Growth Opportunities Act, suggests Keller.