Software developers propose change to system for registering prior tax – “The current way is too complicated for the users”

The Rulebook with the amendments to the registering of prior tax at the System of Electronic Invoices (SEF), has been in effect since September 1, and the current system for the registering of prior tax (EPP) is too complicated for end-users, believes the Association of Software Developers of Serbia.

As the Association says, this system requires manual corrections for the documents which arrive between the 10th and the 15th each month. They add that “without a reason, it limits the users by the shortened deadlines for the preparation of the records.”

Therefore, the Association is proposing a solution.

– We propose to introduce, for each e-invoice, a special field EppId which SEF fills out when that invoice is included in an EPP – the Association explains.

According to their proposition, the system would work as follows – at any moment following the end of the taxation period, and no later than the 15th of the next month, the user can create an EPP. That means that an EPP can be created anywhere between October 1 and 15, without additional processing. Furthermore, the system takes on all the invoices currently on SEF and which, per the VAT due date, belong to that taxation period or have been left over from the previous one and have no EppId field filled out.

For example, if at the moment of generation, the system has the following invoices and if the user creates an EPP on October 6, the EPP takes into account the invoices 123 and 124.

If the invoice 125 is added later on – it is not calculated in for September. However, this invoice will be calculated in for October, because its transaction date is September 30 and it doesn’t have a filled out EppId (which means that it is not included in the EPP).

– The result is quite similar to the current system of filling out the Overview of VAT Calculation: the current situation is taken into account, and the invoices which arrive in the meantime are taken into account in the next taxation period – the Association says.

The situation after the calculation for October is made could therefore look like this:

The invoice 128 would now be included in the EPP for November, when it is created.

– This kind of a system would be far simpler for the users, because it doesn’t require manual corrections for the invoices which would potentially arrive between the 10th and the 15th in the month and because it is similar to the existing system for VAT calculation. The submission of an EPP on any date between the 1st and the 15th in the month is enabled, without the need for subsequent corrections. The shortening of the deadline for the preparation of EPP is also avoided. We believe that there is no technical reason to intake data with a one-day delay, but if there is some reason for that delay after all, the system will work even if invoices are taken in with a delay – concludes the Association of Software Developers of Serbia.

The Association had warned of the numerous problems in the implementation of the Rulebook even before it came into effect on September 1.

As they specified, the problems that occurred were the very short deadlines for the realization and implementation of the changes in the programs that the businesses use.

– The requests of the Ministry of Finance need to be analyzed, a plan of changes to the existing programs should be created and changes to the software need to be made. The officially published documentation of the Ministry of Finance is sparse and incomplete. There are terms which are not clearly defined. It lacks explanations and examples of the registering of some on-the-cusp business records – the Association noted at the time.

Let us remind that, recently, Aleksandar Vasic, a member of the Management Board of the Association of Tax Advisors of Serbia, said for eKapija that both the technical changes and the new demands had caused worry among companies due to the short implementation deadline.

– The rulebook and the user guide which regulate the new rules were adopted only in August, which leaves very little time for many companies to adapt their business software, so they will be forced to do much more manual work – said Vasic.

I. Z.

Udruženje proizvođača softvera Srbije

Udruženje poreskih savetnika Srbije Beograd

Aleksandar Vasić

Rulebook with the amendments to the registering of prior tax at the System of Electronic Invoices

SEF

VAT registration

VAT calculation

prior tax registration