Norway investigates e-invoice requirements for businesses

In a new push to simplify the everyday life of businesses, and improve the quality of reporting to the authorities, Norway's Ministry of Finance has commissioned the Directorate of Taxes - which is equivalent to the Swedish Tax Agency - to investigate the introduction of requirements for digital accounting and the use of e-invoices between private companies.

Since 2019, public administrations and companies in Norway have been required to use e-invoices when trading with the private sector, but similar requirements are lacking for transactions between private actors. The current red-green government, consisting of the Labor Party (Ap) and the Center Party (Sp) and led by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre(Ap), aims to change this.
"We aim to simplify the everyday life of businesses. Requirements for digital accounting and mandatory e-invoicing can offer significant savings and help fight financial crime", explains Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) in a recent press release.

The Directorate of Taxes' investigation will focus on developing requirements for electronic accounting systems that support e-invoicing. This approach has been chosen with systems where the solution is that the supplier is responsible for the necessary functionality, an approach already implemented in Denmark.

Economic benefits and law enforcement

Minister of Economic Affairs Cecilie Myrseth(Ap) highlights the economic benefits:
"We have so far identified simplifications worth close to NOK 3.5 billion. The increased use of e-invoicing can in the future bring additional billions in savings in the private sector, while reducing both time and costs for businesses."

Whether the Norwegian government's request to the Tax Administration will lead the Swedish government to follow suit remains uncertain. The petition submitted by Digg (the Agency for Digital Government), the Swedish Companies Registration Office, and the Swedish Tax Agency, in which these government agencies expressed a desire for mandatory e-invoicing for businesses and authorities to be investigated, is now two years old. There are still no signs that the government office and the Ministry of Finance intend to take up the matter.

According to Digg, the government is under no obligation to respond to a petition. "But we hope they will," said Anderz Petersson, a specialist at Digg in public e-commerce, during a digital seminar late last fall.

Source: regjeringen.no

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