Technical data (exact time, end point identified)
SAF-T Requirements in Hungary
Portugal, Norway and Poland have already introduced the reporting of accounting data in accordance with the international SAF-T standard. Hungary is now following suit. With the introduction of SAF-T in addition to the existing real-time invoice reporting, the Hungarian government wants to replace the Adatexport audit report. This has so far extracted certain accounting information from invoices at the request of the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV).
A pilot project was organized for this purpose, involving many large companies and technology providers. The aim was to test the functionality of the new format. To this end, as many opinions and suggestions as possible were to be gathered and problems uncovered in order to test the format with regard to the new requirements.
The SAF-T requirements were originally scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2021, although the public consultation document on the NAV website still allowed comments until January 1.
Around the world, many governments continue to introduce measures to increase tax efficiency and reduce tax evasion. That is why it is important for companies to ensure that their processes and systems can meet the respective requirements. For this reason, SAF-T provides tax authorities with access to reliable accounting data in an easy-to-read format, ensuring effectiveness and compatibility.
Real-time invoice reporting
For domestic invoices, real-time VAT reporting is mandatory in Hungary, starting from a tax burden of 100,000 HUF/320 € per invoice already since July 1, 2018. Since July 2020, this limit is void and all taxpayers are required to submit their invoices to NAV. NAV provides an appropriate IT system to handle these transactions. The so-called “Online szamla system” is used to transmit VAT data from electronic invoices.
The XSD file format used and other technical details are continuously optimized by the Hungarian authorities. These adjustments result in a large number of changes, which is provided by the competent authority.
You can find the link here.
How does the process work?
With ERP integration, the invoice data is transferred to the HU TA system via a web service using the XML structure of the form in accordance with the legal requirements. The HU TA system also provides a status message in XML format for each invoice sent.
The HU TA system can return 3 types of status messages: Technical Error, Semantic Error, and Confirmation of Acceptance of Invoice. Each returned message is transferred to the ERP system.
Contents of the XML file
Required fields:
Additional information may be included in the invoice if the taxpayers deem it appropriate.
In addition, the user system must support the transmission of standard audit files (SAF) containing the following information:
XSD 2.0 and 3.0
Up to and including June 4, 2019, XSD version 1.0 could be used. Since then, the system of the Hungarian tax authority cannot process invoice data using this 1.0 XSD schema. The use of the 1.1 XSD schema was therefore mandatory. Version 2.0 was then introduced in April 2020.
The Hungarian NAV online invoice data reporting undergoes another update. The new XML Schema 3.0 XSD was introduced on January 1, 2021. This has to be applied to all documents since this date, although the update to XSD version 2.0 came only three months earlier. The Hungarian government is thus presenting new standards with rapid steps.
With the new XSD 3.0 version, invoices from joint transactions, export transactions and sales to private individuals must also be reported electronically. This means that the tax authority can now view all invoices issued by companies in the system. In order that the new data content could also be reported, significant further developments of version 2.0 were necessary. E-invoicing is another change that could be added in the near future, as the new 3.0 XML template is also considered an electronic invoice. As soon as a taxable person gives his consent, the submission in XML format will also issue an electronic invoice. In this case, the entire data content of the invoice must be provided and not only the mandatory content according to the VAT Act. Therefore, a change in the relevant legislation is to be expected.
In this case, an invoice must contain the name and address, although the upload and reporting of this data in XML format for private individuals is expressly prohibited for data protection reasons. Therefore, the authority is forced to differentiate and ensure that the XML format is not considered an electronic invoice for invoices to private individuals.
Our INPOSIA Solution
With the INPOSIA e-Invoicing solution, invoice documents and standard audit files can be created that meet the requirements for real-time invoice reporting and other legal regulations. The INPOSIA solution can be used with electronic invoice management tools or a user interface with specific rules. This automatically creates an invoice document according to the public institution. INPOSIA e-invoicing management completes the process of legally signing invoice documents (if required) and archiving them within the borders of the European Union according to customer requirements.
Throughout the entire process, our support team provides 24/7 support with any questions/problems.
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Muzaffer Havcarci
INPOSIA e-Invoicing-Specialist
