The esterometro is a tax obligation established 3 years ago. It requires VAT payers (with some exceptions) to communicate the data of commercial operations , carried out cross-border including within the EU, with non-resident companies The esterometer must be reported quarterly to the Agenzia Entrate ( Italian Revenue Agency)
Italy will abolish the esterometer tax reporting obligation on 1 January 2022. The data of transactions with foreign companies will be sent through the Exchange System (SDI or Sistema di Interscambio) as an electronic invoice (fattura elettronica or fatturapa), according to the following timelines:
- Transmission of data related to the documents issued to foreign subjects must take place within the terms established by law for the issue of invoices (generally within twelve days from the date of the operation);
- Taxpayers must send the documents received from foreign subjects to the SDI by 15th of the month following the month in which the documents are transmitted.
The fines and sanctions in the event of omitted or incorrect communication of cross-border transaction data also changes. The 2021 budget law modifies article 11, paragraph 2 of the legislative decree 18 December 1997, n. 471 , provided that:
“For transactions carried out starting from January 1, 2022, an administrative fine of € 2 per invoice is applied, up to a maximum limit of € 400 per month. The sanction is reduced by half, within the maximum limit of 200 euros for each month, if the transmission is made within fifteen days following the deadlines established by article 1, paragraph 3-bis of legislative decree August 5, 2015, n. 127, or if, within the same term, the correct transmission of the data is carried out “.
