5th IOTA Annual International Conference: 'Electronic Invoicing: Implementation and Benefits'

This Conference created a valuable platform to discuss the most challenging issues around the implementation of Electronic Invoicing and Digital Reporting, and gave space to consider the potential benefits that might accrue from different approaches to electronic invoicing and data exchange from technology, business and tax administration perspective. 

During the 2 days of the event, IOTA members from Azerbaijan, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Armenia and Spain shared their experiences and knowledge. Attendees heard about the latest developments in the area of digital reporting and e-invoicing from international organisations such as the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Intra-American Network of Tax Administrators (CIAT). Attendees also benefitted from the perspectives of businesses, non-profit organisations, academia and tech companies including BIAC (Business at the OECD), Mastercard for Government, The International VAT Association, Accenture, Avalara, Capgemini, Edicom Capital S.L., the Observatory for Digital Innovation of the Politecnico di Milano, and Microsoft.

The 5^th IOTA AIC began with opening remarks by high-ranking officials of the host administration as well as the IOTA Secretariat and the IOTA Presidency. Fabio Ignaccolo, from the Italian Revenue Agency, extended a warm welcome to the audience, along with Orkhan Nazarli, IOTA President and Head of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of the Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Alix Perrignon de Troyes, IOTA Executive Secretary. Together, they set the scene for engaging discussions on e-invoicing and Digital Reporting between IT companies, businesses and tax administrations. The opening session was followed by a keynote address from Carmelo Piancaldini, Head of Procedures Sector, Services Division at the Italian Revenue Agency, who presented the Italian experience of digital reporting and mandatory e-Invoicing via a centralised system.

Throughout the Conference, our distinguished speakers delved into the core issues around e-invoicing and digital reporting, offering first-hand advice and insights into administrative and legal challenges, getting taxpayer buy-in, and exploring how different approaches can improve tax compliance and simplify processes for taxpayers.

This first day of the event featured lively plenary sessions and discussions on various topics, including international, business, and tech perspectives on the implementation of digital reporting and e-invoicing, along with impacts on businesses and tax authorities. We had the privilege of hearing from representatives from our international partner organisations, including Eduardo Jiménez from the OECD, Vinicius Pimintel De Freitas from CIAT, Ludwig De Winter from DG TAXUD, EU Commission, and Andja Komso from the International Monetary Fund.

The afternoon plenaries also welcomed professionals and forward-thinkers from the business and tech community, looking at the emerging technology solutions behind digital reporting of invoice data and e-invoicing, the broad range of benefits they can bring to taxpayers and tax authorities, and the potential impacts of different approaches to implementation. These sessions were facilitated by excellent moderation from Jim Goatcher of Fast Enterprises and Carmelo Piancaldini from the Italian Revenue Agency and included presenters such as Andrea Moroni from Avalara, Andre Menezes from Edicom Capital S.L., Dr Gabriel Bellenger from Accenture, Valentina Ion from Microsoft, and Tristan Godin & Penny Scholl from Capgemini. We were also given a range of cross-border business perspectives on the implementation of digital reporting and e-invoicing. The invited speakers such as Nathalie Bidal from BIAC, Fabian Voelkel from the International VAT Association, and Simon Wright-Lakin from Mastercard addressed issues and solutions to ensure efficiency and transparency in digitalised tax reporting systems, especially e-invoicing, and showed how payment data could hance the reporting benefits.

In the latter half of the day, the focus moved to the successful practices of various IOTA member tax administrations that have already implemented digital reporting systems and e-invoicing. We explored different approaches taken to improve the effectiveness of systems, the exchange of invoice data between businesses and tax administrations, engagement with businesses, and the use of the information for tax compliance management purposes. Each topic was discussed in different breakout rooms where IOTA member administrations, along with business and tech companies, shared their views and approaches to the subject. These parallel sessions were expertly moderated by Minesh Ladwa from SAP, Graeme Gibbs and Jack Warburton from the United Kingdom and highlighted presentations from the IOTA membership and the business community including Anna Poghosyan from Armenia, Anttu Osanen from Finland, Apostolos Kotzinos & Renos Karastathis from Greece, Alessandra Gambadoro & Giulia Marconi, along with Vincenzo Medugno from Italy, Ana Isabel Mascarenhas from Portugal, Javier Hurtado Puerta from Spain, and Valentina Ion from Microsoft.

The second day’s programme of the Annual Conference featured informative case studies from IOTA member administrations, practical insights into the use of data and country approaches to e-Invoicing and reporting, and a panel discussion on the longer-term future of e-invoicing and live tax reporting to tax authorities. These sessions were facilitated by Karen Dunne & Davena Lyons from Ireland, and Denisa Rasmussen from Fast Enterprises as moderators, and involved some fantastic speakers and panellists to the stage including; Emil Garayev from Azerbaijan, Wouter Bollaert from Belgium, Ferenc Vágujhelyi from Hungary, Carmelo Piancaldini & Antonino Virgillito from Italy, Jeanette Munkvold Skovholt from Norway, Krzysztof Rogowski from Poland, Ana Mascarenhas from Portugal,  Anna Norden representing CIAT, Simon Wright-Lakin from Mastercard, and Paola Olivares from the Osservatorio Digital Innovation, Politecnico di Milano.

All materials, presentations, and photographs from the 5^th IOTA Annual International Conference are now available via the dedicated webpage for the event on the IOTA website. Video recordings of the event will be uploaded to the same webpage soon. This event was led by the IOTA Work Programme Manager Eugenijus Soldatkovas and IOTA International Taxation Experts Jonathan Heath and  Massimo Morarelli.