E-Invoicing in Malta

by | May 27, 2024 | E-invoicing

The future of e-invoicing in Malta looks promising. With the government’s commitment to digital transformation and the impending EU regulations, it is clear that e-invoicing will play a significant role in Malta’s digital future. As businesses and government agencies adapt to these changes, the benefits of streamlined operations, improved VAT compliance, and reduced fraud are sure to follow.

Current State of E-Invoicing in Malta

As of now, e-invoicing is not mandatory in Malta. However, the Maltese government is actively promoting the adoption of e-invoicing as part of its Digital Malta national strategy. The strategy is a result of Malta’s participation in the EU-funded “eInvoicing4Islands” project, which was implemented between June 2019 and Q3 2021.

Despite the lack of a mandatory e-invoicing platform, the Treasury Department, with the support of the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), is in the process of implementing a Corporate Financial Management Solution (CFMS). This solution will incorporate the processing of e-invoices across the central government.

Status on the implementation of the European Standard on e-Invoicing

The e-Invoicing committee composed of government stakeholders in Malta agreed to adopt the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 and its Core Invoice Usage Specification (CIUS). To be able to do this Malta has become an end-user member with OpenPeppol.

Both central government and sub-central authorities will be able to receive e-Invoices via the Peppol e-Delivery network or via a suppliers’ portal. In sub-central authorities consists of various solutions in the different entities. Therefore, existing solutions can remain in use. In this context, contracting authorities and entities (as defined in the e-Invoicing Directive) will be expected to arrange access to or establish an e-Invoicing capability that supports receiving and processing of European Standard e-Invoices via the Peppol eDelivery network.

Approach for Receiving and Processing E-Invoices

Since Malta will adopt the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, it will be able to receive e-Invoices via the Peppol e-Delivery network. Moreover, a suppliers’ portal will be made available, and suppliers could input their invoice details and send them to the relative Ministry, Department, Entity, or Local Council. This portal is warranted since most suppliers still do not have their systems ready to automatically generate an e-invoice.

The benefits of electronic invoicing are maximized when the generation, sending, transmission, reception, and processing of an invoice can be fully automated. Widespread adoption of electronic invoicing within the EU is expected to lead to significant economic benefits.

The move from paper to fully automated e-Invoices allows public entities buying goods or services to reduce business costs and contribute to the modernization of domestic payment infrastructure. This is achieved by:

  • Automated validation and importation of information into payment and accounting systems, which results in faster and more cost-effective processing, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
  • Efficient control over cash flow, which is essential for businesses to maintain operations.
  • Reducing delivery and print costs, and removing the need for paper archives, envelopes, paper, and stamps, lowering material costs and environmental impact.
  • Removing manual data entry and reducing data errors, significantly reducing the time spent on balancing accounts and searching for discrepancies.
  • Increasing the transparency of the entire Procure-to-Pay (P2P) cycle, enabling businesses to have a clearer view of the entire process.
  • Offering suppliers’ access to all eInvoice status information, which significantly reduces the time spent on managing supplier inquiries.

No electronic signature is required for e-Invoices, and the archiving period amounts to 6 years.

The Future of E-Invoicing in Malta

The European Commission has adopted a proposal for digital reporting requirements and e-invoicing, which is set to modernize European VAT in the coming years. This proposal highlights the European Commission’s ambitious vision for how VAT reporting should embrace digitization, with an implementation timeline set to commence at the beginning of 2028.

The proposal includes an obligation to issue structured e-invoices for all intra-EU supplies of goods and services, and to transmit data from these invoices to the relevant national VAT authorities’ electronic portal, in near real-time. This would require significant systems and process changes, and investment from all businesses engaged in cross-border trade within the EU.

Conclusion

Embrace the digital revolution and consider SPS Commerce as your leading international E-invoicing provider.

Whether you’re a business owner, an accountant, or a curious learner, staying informed by subscribing to our newsletter about e-invoicing developments and more can empower you to make better decisions and streamline your financial processes.

Questions about E-invoicing? Contact our experts!

Nathan Trouwloon
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