In accordance with EU Directive 2014/55, B2G e-invoicing was introduced throughout the EU. This directive requires public procurement and all public bodies to be able to send and receive electronic invoices in accordance with the European Standard EN-16931.

The deadline for compliance with the Central Government of Ireland Central Directive was April 2019. The deadline for sub-central government was set at April 2020. Now all local authorities and public administration bodies in Ireland must be able to send & receive electronic invoices.

Suppliers are not required under this Directive to send electronic invoices in Ireland.

The Directive does not prescribe the way in which electronic invoices should be exchanged. The Irish government has opted for PEPPOL, which allows e-invoices to be exchanged in accordance with European standards.

The EU-wide project PEPPOL (= Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine) enables international companies to handle their procurement process standardized & electronically. Documents are exchanged by accessing the OpenPEPPOL network via access points.

The Brexit transition period has now expired. That is why new compliance rules apply with immediate effect to the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. This is because Northern Ireland remains part of the EU single market, customs union, and EU VAT regime.

The following measures will apply to the transport of goods between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom from then on:

• Shipments of goods between Northern Ireland and non-EU countries (including the UK), will require an EORI number beginning with XI.
• Shipments of goods between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, or shipments of goods outside the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland, can sign up for the free Trader Support Service
• If you do not want to use the Trader Support Service, you can hire someone to handle the customs issues for you or find a training provider to help.
• When transporting goods to Northern Ireland, it is important to ensure that the correct rate of duty is applied to goods imported from the UK or from other countries outside the EU and the UK. Preferential rates of duty for goods covered by the UK’s agreement with the EU must also be taken into account.
• If goods are transported on a regular basis, a duty deferral account can be applied to defer payment of most customs duties.
• To understand which duties or other measures apply to the goods, the correct commodity code must be indicated on the customs declaration when goods are shipped to or from Northern Ireland.
• Accounting for the Northern Ireland VAT rate on shipments of goods.

Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, EU VAT rules continue to apply in Northern Ireland to all goods.

VAT-registered businesses must obtain active identification under the Northern Ireland Protocol when trading between Northern Ireland and the EU.
Once identified, an “XI” prefix must be included before the normal UK VAT number in all communications with EU businesses and systems.