Finance and Logistics Teams
How do businesses manage Intrastat declarations alongside e-invoicing?
Intrastat is the EU system for collecting statistics on goods movement between EU member states. VAT-registered businesses with intra-EU goods movements above the relevant threshold must file monthly Intrastat dispatches and arrivals returns. Intrastat data (commodity codes, transaction values, country of origin, partner country) must align with the values on the corresponding invoices. E-invoicing data can automate Intrastat return preparation.
What must Intrastat declarations include?
Intrastat declarations require specific data elements for each movement:
- Commodity code: 8-digit CN code for each type of goods
- Value: Invoice value in domestic currency for the movement
- Partner country: EU member state of dispatch (for arrivals) or destination (for dispatches)
- Net mass: Weight in kilograms for each commodity code
- Quantity: Supplementary unit where applicable per commodity code
- Nature of transaction: Transaction type code (11 for outright purchase/sale, etc.)
- Mode of transport: Transport method used at the EU border
Frequently Asked Questions
- How does e-invoicing data support automated Intrastat filing?
- E-invoice line item data includes commodity codes (CommodityClassification in UBL/Factur-X), quantities, values, and country information that maps directly to Intrastat requirements. AP and AR systems that process structured e-invoices can extract Intrastat-relevant data automatically. The primary gap is that commodity codes may not always be included in invoices; where they are missing, they must be added from product master data. ERP systems with trade compliance modules can combine invoice data with product classification to generate Intrastat returns.
- What is the relationship between Intrastat and EC Sales List reporting?
- Intrastat is a statistical data requirement separate from VAT reporting. The EC Sales List (ESL, or Recapitulative Statement) is a VAT reporting requirement that summarizes intra-EU B2B supplies. Both report intra-EU movements but for different purposes: Intrastat for trade statistics; ESL for VAT cross-checking. The values should be consistent but the data sets are different. Many organizations prepare Intrastat and ESL from the same underlying invoice dataset.