Czechia (2021 eInvoicing Country Sheet)

Legislation

Act no. 134/2016 Coll. on Public Procurement transposes EU legislation related to public procurement, including the Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing (eInvoicing) in public procurement, into the Czech national legislation.

Section 221 of the Act stipulates that public contracting authorities shall not reject any eInvoice issued by an economic operator if it is issued in a format compatible with the European standard on eInvoicing. The Act became effective on 1 October 2016.

eInvoicing platform and management solutions

Launched in 2015, the Národní elektronický nástroj (NEN) platform enables central, regional and local public contracting authorities to process the entire eProcurement life-cycle. Developed by the Ministry of Regional Development, the platform replaces the Public Procurement and Concessions Portal (Portál VZ) as foreseen in the Public Procurement Strategy 2016-2020. Fully deployed by the end of 2017, the usage of the NEN is obligatory for all contracting authorities, unless they have the authorisation to use their own procurement tool. 

Approach for receiving and processing

Public contracting authorities differ in their use of automated and integrated systems, semi-automated processes, or even manual processing. The NEN allows connections of contracting authorities' internal systems for receiving and processing eInvoices.

The process of handling eInvoicing is considered as mostly automated. The vast majority of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) and accounting programmes enhance the usage of eInvoices. Some software providers are already working on their automatic distribution. 

All economic operators must issue eInvoices for B2G transactions with public administrations [1]. For receiving eInvoices, all public contracting authorities are mandated within a B2G context, while within a B2B context the buyer’s consent is required. An eSignature is not required and the archiving period for eInvoices amounts to ten years, while, archiving abroad is allowed under conditions[2].

eInvoicing implementation in sub-central level contracting authorities 

There is no information available on the approach used at the subcentral level. For all exchanges related to non-domestic suppliers, only XML, UBL 2.1 syntax, and the Czech standard ISDOC are accepted. 

In addition to the European standard, Information System Document (ISDOC) is also used nationally. 

The communication to SMEs about eInvoicing is done through workshops and regular meetings with entrepreneurs at the Chamber of Commerce.

There is an archiving process in place to deal with eInvoices. 

Monitoring eInvoicing implementation 

There is a monitoring mechanism in place but only at the central level. 

Status on the implementation of the European Standard on eInvoicing (EN)

The translation of the new European standard on eInvoicing (EN 16931) into Czech language and integration into the system of national technical standards (ČSN) was completed and published on 8 January 2018. This activity is led by the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing (ÚNMZ) in cooperation with the National eInvoicing Forum, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Interior.

Accepted formats are the national ISDOC as well as EDIFACT and UBL[3].

Additional information

On 16 October 2008, 14 major Czech economic operators signed a Declaration on a common approach to electronic invoicing solutions in the Czech Republic, which contained a commitment to build and implement a common standard for eInvoicing within one year. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior also signed this document. This initiative leads to the launch of the national eInvoicing standard, ISDOC, on 19 March 2009.

The Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry the Interior developed the Public Procurement Strategy for the period 2016-2020. This strategy foresees the timely and effective compliance with the legislative and technological requirements arising from the adoption of the eInvoicing Directive 2014/55/EU.

[1] (List of countries for your e-invoicing requirements, 2021), [2] (Compliance updates Czech Republic, 2021), [3] (List of countries for your e-invoicing requirements, 2021)

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Last updated:  Jun 29, 2021 11:58