Motion RK‑N (22.3004): Facilitate digital accounting
Submitted text
The Federal Council is instructed to amend the Business Records Ordinance (GeBüV) and other necessary decrees in order to facilitate the digitalization of accounting. Documents should be able to be stored on modifiable data carriers without a digital signature or similar procedures, provided that proof of origin and unalteredness can be provided via the principles of proper accounting in accordance with OR 957ff. A digital signature of documents or the use of similar procedures should be voluntary.
Justification
- The GeBüV requires in Art. 9 par. 1 lit. b in connection with par. 2 Complicated and non-SME-capable procedures for digital retention of records: Receipts are to be provided with a digital signature and a time stamp so that they may be archived on commercially available storage media. The required procedure is too expensive, too complex and too risky for most SMEs. The implementation costs several tens of thousands of francs. Only very few SMEs are financially, organizationally or technically capable of operating such a process according to these requirements.
- The GeBüV presupposes much higher requirements than the CO for a practicable digital archiving. The CO does not require a digital signature for digital archiving of accounting documents and only the principles of proper accounting must be observed. A qualified electronic signature is only mandatory where the handwritten signature is equated with the written form for compliance (e.g. OR 14 IIbis).
- In practice (https://www.estv.admin.ch/estv/de/home/mehrwertsteuer/fachinformationen/elektronischer-geschaeftsverkehr.html), the FTA has put the paper invoice on an equal footing with the scanned paper invoice and the electronic invoice. The FTA does not require a digital signature in their controls. Proof of origin and unchangedness is deemed to have been provided if the principles of proper accounting in accordance with Article 957 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations have been complied with. Other authorities, also at the cantonal level, continue to follow the GeBüV.
- The contradictions between the GeBüV and the practice of individual authorities create uncertainty. Therefore Most SMEs, on the advice of their trustees, take the pragmatic route and continue to 100% their accounting in paper form.because, according to GeBüV Art. 9 Para. 1 lit. a, this is possible without hesitation and without complicated procedures.
- Digital accounting would open up considerable potential for SMEs and thus strengthen Switzerland as a business location:
- If receipts were exchanged digitally, much more could be automated in accounting. This significantly reduces administration costs and makes SMEs more competitive.
- Financial information can be prepared more easily, quickly and precisely using digital documents. The financial transparency thus created allows important decisions about the future of the SME to be made on a more solid basis of figures.
- Paper consumption is reduced and the environment is less polluted.
Statement of the Federal Council of 23.2.2022
Swiss companies are not obliged to digitize their accounting (incl. vouchers). If a company maintains digital accounting, it must comply with Art. 957 – 958f of the Code of Obligations (OR; SR 220) and the Business Records Ordinance of April 24, 2002 (GeBüV; SR 221.431).
The GeBüV is formulated in a technology-neutral manner. This means that the open wording of the ordinance provisions is not closed to technical innovations and further developments. This can be seen in particular in Art. 9 (1) (b) (1) and (2) GeBüV mentioned in the explanatory memorandum.
Art. 9 para. 1 let. a GeBüV permits electronic information carriers without additional requirements if they immutable i.e. a change or deletion cannot be made without the process being recognizable on the data carrier itself. In contrast, Art. 9 para. 1 let. b GeBüV requires for the admissibility of changeable information carriers, among other things, a technical process which Integrity of the stored information is guaranteed (item 1) and that the Time the storage of the information is verifiable without falsification (item 2). The text of the ordinance explicitly mentions digital signature procedures and time stamps as examples. The text of the ordinance thus makes it clear that the use of digital signature procedures is only a possibility, but not a mandatory requirement for the creation of digital accounting data is. There is therefore no obligation in the GeBüV to use a digital signature or even a regulated or qualified electronic signature within the meaning of the Federal Electronic Signature Act of 18 March 2016 (SR 943.03). Furthermore, there is also the option of archiving data on unchangeable information carriers (Art. 9 para. 1 let. a GeBüV). For example, data carriers such as WORM media (Write Once, Read Many) or CD-ROMs are considered unchangeable.. The legal basis for the praised practice of the FTA mentioned in the motion can be found in Art. 122 of the VAT Ordinance of 27 November 2009 (SR 641.201). This provision refers to Art. 957 – 958f OR and the GeBüV for the storage of paperless documents. However, it is precisely the GeBüV that generally allows electronic accounting vouchers not to have a digital signature in order to be accepted by the tax authorities as the basis for taxation of a legal entity.
In view of the clear wording of Art. 9 para. 1 let. b GeBüV, it is the objective of the motion already fulfilled and there is no need to adjust the legal basis.
Proposal of the Federal Council of 23.2.2022
The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected.
The NR adopted the motion.