The authority responsible for electronic invoicing procedure is the Revenue Agency.

All invoices that economic entities (resident or established in Italy) issue to Italian government departments need to be in electronic form and digitally signed. Paper or electronic form invoices can be issued by the non-Italian economic operators.

XML is the official format of the Fattura PA model and the only one accepted by the SDI. The electronic signature of the person issuing the invoice is necessary for authentication and integrity. The unique identification code of the office receiving the invoice must also be included for the transmission.

One of the certifiers will have to be contacted to get a qualified signature certificate. A list of Authorized Trust Service Providers (includes the present certifiers) has been published on the website of Agency for Digital Italy (AGID). CAdES-BES (CMS Advanced Electronic Signatures) and XAdES-BES (XML Advanced Electronic Signatures) signature formats are accepted by the Exchange System.

To send an e-Invoice to an Italian government department, establishing a channel of communication with the Exchange System is necessary. These different channels of communication are available for each economic operator:

• Web services
• Secure File Transfer Protocol
• Certified email
• Bills & Charges (invoices and charges) portal

Engaging directly with the Exchange System or delegating the task to an intermediary is possible. Entering into a service agreement with any intermediary is obligatory. Certain checks are carried out by the exchange system before forwarding the e-Invoice to the relevant government department. When the invoice is delivered, a delivery receipt is provided by the Exchange System. To correctly address an electronic invoice, it is necessary to enter the code of the receiving government department on the invoice.

All the relevant services for issuing, transmitting, consulting and storing are offered by the Revenue Agency. To use these services, you will need to access the restricted area of the Fattura e corrispettivi (invoices and charges). These services are available free of charge to all economic operators. Depending on the transmission channel used and the volume of incoming invoices, the time for processing invoices can vary, up to a stimulated maximum of 48 hours.