The content of records which should be kept by the taxable person is laid out in Council Regulation 282/2011 (Article 63c). This includes general information such as the Member State of consumption of the supply, the type of supply, the date of the supply and the VAT payable, but also more specific information, such as details of any payments on account and information used to determine the place where the customer is established, has his permanent address or usually resides.
These records must be kept for 10 years from the end of the year in which the transaction was made, regardless of whether the taxable person has stopped using the scheme or not.
These records have to be made electronically available, on request, to the Member State of identification or any Member State of consumption without delay. To obtain the records held by a taxable person or intermediary, the Member State of consumption first has to make a request to the Member State of identification. That Member State will provide information on how this is to be done in practical terms when the records are requested from the taxable person/intermediary.
The OSS Standard Audit file (SAF-OSS) can be used by a trader who is then assured that the file containing his records will be accepted by all Member States: SAF-OSS
It should be borne in mind that a failure to make these records available within a month of receiving a reminder from the Member State of identification will be regarded as persistent failure to comply with the rules relating to the scheme and will result in exclusion from the scheme.
Invoicing
In relation to invoices, the following rules apply. For further details please also see the Explanatory Notes.
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Non-Union scheme |
Union scheme |
Import scheme |
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In general, there is no obligation for the supplier to issue an invoice. If the supplier chooses to issue an invoice, the rules of the Member State of identification apply. |
There is no obligation for the supplier to issue an invoice. If the supplier chooses to issue an invoice, the rules of the Member State of identification apply. Please note that the supplier has to issue an invoice for intra-Community distance sales of goods if he does not use the Union scheme. |
In general, there is no obligation for the supplier to issue an invoice. If the supplier chooses to issue an invoice, the rules of the Member State of identification apply. |
When the customer does not pay the taxable person, that taxable person may be entitled to bad debt relief. In such cases, the taxable amount should be reduced accordingly. In the context of the One Stop Shop, the taxable person should make a correction to the taxable amount in a subsequent One Stop Shop return, as he would with any other correction. The Member State of consumption is entitled to check this correction to ensure that it complies with their national rules.