With the arrival of electronic invoicing we should all equip ourselves with a tool to receive tax documents. Here are the options available
The introduction of electronic invoicing as of January 1, 2019 will change our habits substantially. Paper invoices, stamps and seals are destined to disappear and when the time comes to ask for an invoice from any professional (plumber, electrician, dentist or even the accountant) we must be equipped with a suitable tool to receive it.
The electronic invoice, in fact, is not sent directly from the person who issues it to the "legitimate" recipient, but passes through the servers of the Interchange System, an infrastructure created by the Revenue Agency to check the correctness of the invoices and turn them over to the person or company that was to receive it.
How to receive electronic invoices
One of the major doubts that plague both the 5 million owners of a VAT number and the "common" citizens is how to send and receive an electronic invoice. To issue an electronic invoice, to tell the truth, you don't need much: if you are part of one of the categories affected by the measure (at the moment, only owners of a VAT number under the minimum or flat rate system are exempt from the electronic invoicing obligation), you will be able to send and receive an electronic invoice.If you are part of one of the categories affected by the measure (at the moment, only those with a VAT number under the minimum or flat rate scheme are exempt from the obligation) you can choose to act independently, but respecting the technical parameters decided by the Revenue Agency; or you can rely on Libero SiFattura, the administrative management platform by Italiaonline that facilitates the sending, receiving and storing of electronic invoices. Relying on this management software, the issuing and receiving of electronic invoices is subject to the use of the SDI recipient code. Let's see what it is.
What is it and how to get SDI recipient code
The SDI recipient code is a seven-digit string uniquely linked to the VAT number (and, for this reason, also called unique code) of the professional or company. It is generated directly by the Revenue Agency or can be requested by relying on an intermediary. With Libero SiFattura, for example, you can automatically obtain a unique SDI code, thanks to which you can receive invoices from your suppliers directly within the Italiaonline administrative management platform.
The unique SDI code, however, can be issued only to professionals and companies that have a VAT number and not to all those who need to receive tax documents to be used, for example, in the phase of tax return.
What to do if you don't have the SDI recipient code
In cases like these the unique code can be replaced by the Certified Electronic Mail address. The SDI, in fact, also provides a field for the Recipient PecDestinatario: to send the electronic invoice to the user, therefore, it will be enough to know his PEC address and insert it in the form to be sent to the Interchange System.
For this reason, opening an email address now could be more convenient than ever, especially for individuals. Besides the low management costs (Libero Family Pec costs just 14.99 euros and allows you to send and receive a large number of certified mail messages), the PEC will allow you to receive invoices from the dentist and the mechanic, to send cancellation letters to services and subscriptions (such as pay TV or telephone subscription), to communicate with the Public Administration and much more.