How to deduct VAT on invoices received in 2023, but not yet registered

4 April 2024

Articolo•The sun 24 hours•VAT form•How to deduct VAT on invoices received in 2023, but not yet registered

Come detrarre l’Iva delle fatture ricevute nel 2023, ma non ancora registrate – Luca De Stefani

While waiting for the VAT tax reform, for 2023 invoices, the last chance of deduction lies in the 2024 VAT form. Then, the supplement in favor is only possible due to a mere error

For invoices received, but not registered, in 2023, still due last year, it is possible to deduct the relevant VAT only with the 2024 annual VAT form, relating to 2023, expiring on 30 April 2024, subject to annotation in 2024 in a “special section” of the “VAT register of purchases relating to all invoices received” in 2023. After 30 April, this VAT can only be recovered in a supplementary VAT declaration in favor, provided that its failure to deduct derives from a “mere error” and not from an “arbitrary” delay in receiving and/or noting the purchase invoice. These are the principles contained in the Revenue responses of 26 September 2023, n. 435, and of 18 December 2023, n. 479.

The VAT deduction relating to goods and services purchased is possible, according to the circular of 17 January 2018, n. 1/E (article 178 of Directive 2006/112/EC and ruling of the EU Court of Justice of 29 April 2004, case C-152/02 Terra Baubedarf-Handel GmbH), only after verification of this “dual requirement”:

VAT must be “payable” (therefore, if immediately payable, the moment of carrying out the operation applies, i.e. for the sale of movable goods the delivery date and for the provision of services the payment);
the VAT subject must be in “possession of a valid purchase invoice”, therefore, not the pdf or courtesy paper invoice, but the xml received via the Exchange System (except in cases of import).

From 24 October 2018, however, the VAT “relating to the purchase documents received and noted by the 15th of the month following the month in which the operation was carried out” can also be deducted from the periodic payments for the period in which the operation is carried out. article 1, paragraph 1, second sentence, Presidential Decree 23 March 1998, no. 100). For example, the VAT on invoices for operations “carried out” in November 2023, dated November 2023 (or from 1 November to 15 December 2023, if deferred), could be deducted in the November VAT settlement even if the invoices were received from 1st to 15th December.

Backdating the deduction: possibility and not an obligation

The possibility of also deducting the VAT “relating to the purchase documents received and noted by the 15th of the month following the month in which the operation was carried out” in the payment for the month in which the operation was carried out is only an option and not an obligation. Therefore, nothing prevents you from deducting this VAT in the month of receipt of the invoice (following the month in which the operation was carried out) or even after the month of receipt, without therefore making use of the possibility of backdating the VAT deduction to the month of execution of the operation (see the Expert’s response of 12 February 2024). This method of recording passive invoices in the month of receipt, not only for general accounting purposes, but also for VAT settlement purposes, greatly simplifies the accounting controls relating to the end-of-month balance of the “VAT credit” account, as it only if backdating is avoided for the purposes of deduction in the VAT settlement of invoices received in the first 15 days following the month in which the operation was carried out, the balance of this account is equal to zero at the end of the month (or of the quarter, for quarterly) .

Invoices at the turn of the year

The backdating of the deduction to the month of immediate payability (and the related execution of the operation) for invoices received by the 15th of the following month, however, does not apply to “purchase documents relating to operations carried out in the previous year” (article 1, paragraph 1, Presidential Decree no. 100 of 23 March 1998). Therefore, it does not apply to invoices for operations carried out in 2023 (regardless of whether immediate and dated 2023 or whether deferred and dated in 2024), which were received by the transferee/principal in 2024 (within 12 days of the operation for immediate or by January 15th of next year for deferred applications).

The VAT on these invoices can be deducted “starting from the periodic payment relating to the month” of receipt, therefore, in the VAT form relating to 2024 (Cndcec event of 15 January 2019). The VAT of an invoice relating to 2023, received on 5 March 2024 can only be deducted “starting from the periodic payment relating to the month of March” 2024, which was “closed” on 16 April 2024, with the invoices relating to March 2024 and received by 15 April 2024 (response no. 36 of the Revenue to Telefisco 2019). This deduction, however, is not mandatory in the March 2024 liquidation, but can be exercised from this liquidation onwards and until the end of 2024.

Registration in the year following the year of receipt of the invoice

For invoices for operations carried out in 2023, with VAT payable in 2023 and received in 2023, but not registered by the transferee/purchaser in 2023 (for example, due to an oversight or because it is disputed), the only method to deduct the relevant VAT is their registration by 30 April 2024 (deadline date for sending the annual VAT form for 2023) in a “special section” of the “VAT purchase register relating to all invoices received” in 2023, making it contribute “to the determination of the balance of the annual VAT return relating to the year 2023 (circular 17 January 2018, no. 1/E). Therefore, the registration must be carried out in 2024 (by 30 April 2024), in a specific section relating to 2023, taking care not to include the operation in the periodic payment of the month or quarter of registration, to avoid deducting the taxed twice (see Il Sole 24 Ore of 15 January 2024, Matteo Balzanelli and Massimo Sirri).

In this 2024 VAT return, for 2023, the deduction will take place directly in lines from VF1 to VF13 (passive operations), in the line corresponding to the rate applied, reporting both the taxable amount and the VAT. Assonime also agrees with this interpretation (see Il Sole 24 Ore of 14 February 2018) (circular of 19 April 2018, n. 9).

Once the deadline for sending the 2024 VAT form relating to 2023 has passed, the right to the deduction will be lost and it will therefore not be possible to deduct this VAT in the periodic payments relating to 2024 (response no. 37 of the Revenue Agency to Telefisco 2019 and circular 17 January 2018, n. 1/E) or in subsequent years.

Supplementary VAT declaration in favor

This VAT can be recovered by sending a supplementary VAT declaration in favor (without the payment of penalties), no later than the deadline established by Article 57 of Presidential Decree 633/72, i.e. “by 31 December of the fifth year following the one in which the original declaration was presented (for example, by 31 December 2029 for the annual VAT form relating to the year 2023, for 2023 invoices). According to the response dated 26 September 2023, n. 435, however, this additional benefit is possible only in the hypothesis contemplated by circular no. 1/E of 2018, i.e. that of «timely receipt of invoices» and not in the case in which the transferee/client, despite being aware that the invoice issued is «available» in its reserved area of the «Invoices and Fees» portal , remains “inert, arbitrarily procrastinating” the date of “viewing” and, consequently, also that of exercising the deduction.

Electronic invoices not delivered: possession of the invoice postponed until “viewing”

If the Exchange System (Sdi) manages to deliver the e-bill to the recipient, the “date of receipt” is the one certified by the “reception systems used by the recipient”. If, however, “for technical reasons not attributable” to the Sdi (therefore, due to problems with the transferee’s/purchaser’s electronic channel), it is not possible to deliver the invoice to the recipient, it will be made “available” in his reserved area of the portal « Invoices and Considerations”, communicating this information to the transmitting party, so that the transferor/provider communicates to the transferee/client, via methods other than the Sdi (for example, via certified e-mail), that the electronic invoice is available to him in the aforementioned reserved area. In these cases, “for tax purposes the date of receipt of the invoice is represented” by “viewing or downloading of the invoice file” on the Revenue website by the transferee/customer (Revenue FAQ of 19 July 2019, n. 129, point 4.6 of the provision of 30 April 2018, no. 89757 and response of 26 September 2023, no. 435).

As indicated on the Revenue website, therefore, if the invoice passes the checks, but the Sdi is unable to deliver it due to problems with the electronic channel to which it tries to deliver it, the date from which VAT can be deducted coincides with that of « having read” (by the customer) the invoice in the reserved area “Consultation”, “Relevant data for VAT purposes” of the “Invoices and Fees” portal.

Postponement to the “viewing” date only if “in good faith”

This postponement to the “acknowledgment” date of the moment in which the “formal requirement of possession of the invoice” occurs (which together with the substantial requirement of collectability, is necessary for the right to deduct VAT), however, applies only if the transferee/principal who receives the invoice late is “in good faith”, that is, if he is not “aware of the issue of the same by the transferor/provider”. However, it does not apply if the transferee/customer is already “aware” of:

that the substantial prerequisite, constituted by the collectability of the tax, has already been met, through the payment of the “consideration relating to the services received” or through the delivery of the goods by the supplier; in this case, however, the transferee/customer, after 4 months from the date of carrying out the operation without having received the invoice, should activate the procedure provided for by article 6, paragraph 8, of legislative decree 18 December 1997, n. 471 (procedure which is about to be modified by the tax reform);
that the invoices have already been issued, as the transferee/customer has already “received the courtesy copies (similar to equivalent documents)” and that, therefore, it is “possible to complete the formal requirement as soon as possible”;
that your receipt system is malfunctioning and that the invoices are already “available in the reserved area”.

Therefore, if, despite this information, the transferee/client remains “inert, arbitrarily procrastinating” the date of “viewing” and, consequently, also that of exercising the deduction, it is not possible to postpone the moment of possession of the invoice to the date of “reading” the same in the “Invoices and Fees” portal. “The exercise of the right to deduct” cannot be arbitrarily “continued until the moment in which the same decides to view the invoices stored” in his reserved area of this portal.

Consequently, in these cases, it is not possible to send a VAT supplement to recover this non-deducted VAT, «since this is an option contemplated by circular no. 1/E of 2018 in the sole event of timely receipt of invoices” (reply 26 September 2023, n. 435).

This principle was better explained by the response of 18 December 2023, n. 479, according to which the supplement in favor is possible only in cases of “mere error” and not for a culpable delay in receiving and/or noting the purchase invoice. In the case of the response 18 December 2023, n. 479, in fact, the supplement in favor was possible because the right to deduction was not promptly exercised “through mere error”, despite the transferee/purchaser having correctly “received and registered the purchase invoice”.

Luca De Stefani

In-depth study by Studio De Stefani to the article by Luca De Stefani in the insert of Il Sole 24 Ore of04 april 2024

How to deduct VAT on invoices received in 2023, but not yet registered

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