Edited by Andrea Werner Beilin, Francesco Mariani, Giulia Fantinato
Version 1.9 of the Italian tax authorities Technical Specifications for electronic invoicing, published on January 31, 2025, and effective from April 1, 2025, has introduced the Document Type “TD29”, which must be used by the customer to notify the Italian tax authorities of the omission or irregular invoicing by the supplier (the so-called “spy self-invoice”), as provided for by Article 6, paragraph 8, Legislative Decree no. 471/1997.
Regarding the spy self-invoice, it is useful to revisit the recent regulatory changes that have affected the situation, to understand the innovations introduced by the Document Type “TD29”.
Regulation applicable until August 31, 2024
The regulations in force until August 31, 2024, impose an “administrative penalty equal to one hundred percent of the tax, with a minimum of 250 euros” for the customer who purchase goods or services without a duly issued invoice or with an irregular invoice issued by the supplier. This is unless the customer regularizes it by issuing a “spy self-invoice” and paying the VAT due (i) within four months from the date of the transaction if no invoice has been received; (ii) within thirty days after registering the irregular invoice.
Therefore, to avoid substantial penalties, the customer had to:
- pay any VAT due;
- issue a self-invoice report through the Interchange data System of the Italian tax authorities (“SdI”);
- register this invoice in the purchase register.
Regulations in force from September 1, 2024
Legislative Decree no. 87/2024 has modified Article 6, paragraph 8, Legislative Decree no. 471/1997, which currently provides that “The customer who, in the exercise of business, arts or professions, has purchased goods or services without a duly issued invoice or with an irregular invoice issued by the supplier, is punished, without prejudice to the responsibility of the supplier, with an administrative penalty equal to seventy percent of the tax, with a minimum of 250 euros, unless they communicate the omission or irregularity to the Tax authorities, using the tools made available by the same, within ninety days from the due date of the invoice or from the date when the irregular invoice was issued.
The obligation to verify and criticize the legal evaluations made by the supplier [..] related to the VAT exemptions with right to deduction, VAT exemption or exclusion from VAT due to a subjective requirement of the aforementioned supplier not directly verifiable, is excluded.“
Therefore, according to the new law, the customer must simply notify the Italian tax authorities of the omission or irregularity within ninety days from the due date of the invoice or from the date when the irregular invoice was issued, without also having to pay the VAT, as previously required.
For completeness, the Tax authorities, in “Telefisco” on February 5, 2025, clarified that for identifying the correct penalty regime reference should be made to the date when the supplier should have issued the invoice, pursuant to Article 6, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972.
In conclusion:
- until August 31, 2024, in the case of a spy self-invoice, the customer was required to pay VAT and could exercise the right of VAT deduction;
- from September 1, 2024, the customer has the mere regulatory obligation to notify the irregularity but not to pay VAT, therefore it cannot exercise the right of VAT deduction.
The new TD29 document type
Starting April 1, 2025, the customer must notify the Tax authorities of omitted or irregular billing by using the TD29 XML Document Type. This notice must be sent to the Interchange System within 90 days of the invoice deadline or the date of the irregular invoice.
On this point, considering the abrogation of Article 6, paragraph 9, Legislative Decree no. 471/1997, the technical specifications of the Italian tax authorities have clarified that the TD29 document represents a mere communication without any relevance for VAT purposes, in the sense that the document does not allow the deduction of VAT related to the purchase.
The document issued with code “TD29” must report:
- in the block <CedentePrestatore>, the data of the actual supplier who did not issue the invoice or issued an incorrect document;
- in the block <CessionarioCommittente>, the data of the customer who is reporting the omission or irregularity;
- in field <CodiceDestinatario>, the conventional code of 7 zeros (i.e. “0000000”), without filling in field <PECDestinatario>
- in field <Data> of the section <DatiGenerali> the tax point, as provided for by Article 21, paragraph 2, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972.
- In the body of the document, the indication of the taxable amount not invoiced by the supplier or the taxable amount not indicated in the invoice sent by the supplier and the related VAT calculated by the customer, who is making the notification. In the case of VAT exemption, the related nature code must also be indicated;
- in field <DatiFattureCollegate>, the indication of the reference invoice, only in the case of the issuance of an irregular invoice by the supplier;
- in field <Numero> a specific progressive numbering can be inserted.
Moreover, the Italian tax authorities has specified that the correction of a notification sent with Document Type TD29 can be made by sending a new TD29 via SdI indicating the amounts with a positive or negative sign depending on the type of error to be corrected.
Finally, the Document Type “TD20”, previously used (also) for the spy self-invoice, is still usable in case of omission or irregular invoicing for transactions subject to reverse charge (pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 9-bis, Legislative Decree no. 471/97) and in the cases referred to in Article 46, paragraph 5, Legislative Decree no. 331/1993, where the customer of an intra-EU purchase has not received a regular invoice within the second month following the transaction or has received an invoice indicating a consideration lower than the actual one.
| Until August 31, 2024 | From September 1, 2024 | |
| Penalty | 100% of VAT (minimum 250 euros) | 70% of VAT (minimum 250 euros) |
| Regularization methods | Issuance of the “spy self-invoice” through SdI (TD20)Registration in the purchase register (paragraph 9)Payment of VAT | Communicate to the Revenue Agency (from April 1 with document type TD29) |
| Deadline | Omitted invoicing: within the 30th day following if no invoice is received within 4 months from the date of transaction Irregular invoicing: within the 30th day following the registration of the irregular invoice | Omitted invoicing: within 90 days from the date the invoice should have been issued Irregular invoicing: within 90 days from the date of issuance of the irregular invoice |
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