E-invoices… and what next?

Issuing and transmitting invoices via the Internet is one of the factors increasing trade. In Great Britain, it has been calculated that this reduces the costs of transmitting legally required documents by as much as 80 percent. It is no wonder, therefore, that work is underway in the European Union to unify the standards for this type of communication. In Poland, operations using electronic signatures and the Internet are still waiting to become widespread. Although the Sejm passed the relevant act on e-signatures in 2001, the number of certificates issued in connection with this is estimated to date at over 7,000, of which more than 4,500 were issued last year. Specialists expect that an increase in interest could be triggered by e-invoices, or administrative decisions imposing on entrepreneurs the obligation to use certified e-signatures in contacts with the broadly understood administration (e.g., with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), the statistical office, the tax office, or the municipal economic department). Opponents of such solutions primarily point to the flaws of the act, the provisions of which are more restrictive than European Union directives. According to representatives of the Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications (PIIT), the law on e-signatures is to be amended in the autumn following objections from the European Commission. Meanwhile, based on this act, the Minister of Finance, in consultation with the Minister of Science and Informatization, signed a Regulation on July 14, 2005, regarding the issuing and sending of invoices in electronic form, as well as the storage and making available of these invoices to the tax control authority. In this document, clearly guided by the flawed act, e-invoice issuers are given only two options: using a secure electronic signature within the meaning of Art. 3 point 2 of the Act of September 18, 2001, on electronic signatures (Journal of Laws No. 130, item 1450, as amended), verified with a valid qualified certificate, or through electronic data interchange (EDI).