Electronic Receipt: What Changes in 2026

Starting from January 1, 2026, the issuance of electronic receipts and the transmission of daily takings to the Revenue Agency must comply with the new rules introduced by the 2025 Budget Law. 

Merchants will be able to abandon the old telematic cash register in favor of software solutions, but they will need to adapt their systems to the regulation, starting with the obligation of integration between POS and the issuance system.

Mandatory digital receipt: what’s new in 2026

The adoption of the electronic receipt became mandatory in 2022. Since then, all businesses with a VAT number are required to issue this type of commercial document through a telematic cash register (connected to the internet) that automatically sends daily transaction data to the Revenue Agency. 

Compliant merchants already have an internet-connected telematic cash register. However, POS and telematic cash registers may not communicate with each other—something that can lead to various types of errors in transmitting data to the Revenue Agency. This is where the 2025 Budget Law comes into play, introducing the mandatory integration between POS and cash register and establishing new methods for transmitting daily takings that do not require the traditional telematic cash register.

Starting from January 1, 2026, therefore, those required to issue electronic receipts must comply with the new guidelines.

New digital receipt: how it works

Article 24 of Legislative Decree 1/2024 introduces two important innovations:

• Receipt without cash register: electronic storage and telematic transmission of daily takings “can be carried out software solutions that ensure data security and immutability”;
• POS integration: the above-mentioned software solutions “must allow full integration and interaction between the recording of daily takings and the electronic payment process”.

Alongside so-called hardware-based solutions, based on the physical presence of the telematic cash register, new software-based solutions are being introduced, which operate through two main components:

• the Issuance Point (PEM): collects data, applies a digital signature, and transmits it to the Processing Point. It can be installed on tablets and PCs as well as directly on POS terminals;
• the Processing Point (PEL): receives documents and forwards them to the Revenue Agency.

As specified by law, PEM and PEL must comply with the technical specifications set by the Revenue Agency and must therefore be certified by authorized bodies.

Telematic receipt and POS: deadlines and penalties 

On March 5, the Revenue Agency announced the activation of the service that allows—through a simple online procedure—the connection between telematic cash registers and POS required by the regulation in force since January 1.

As specified by the Agency, to complete the registration of payment instruments already in use between January 1 and 31, 2026, there is time until April 20. To associate new instruments, however, “the pairing must be carried out starting from the sixth day of the second month following the date of actual availability of the electronic payment instrument and in any case by the last working day of the same month. Therefore, if a new POS starts operating in March, it must be connected to the telematic cash register between May 6 and May 31”.

Failure to comply within the indicated deadlines may result in a penalty ranging from €1,000 to €4,000.

Electronic receipt: API integration

Technically, all interactions between modern software, including PEM and PEL, occur via API protocols. In traditional solutions, those installed on tablets and PCs, APIs are “hidden” behind the graphical interface that enables manual use of the software, the so-called UI. 

There is also a more direct approach: electronic receipt integration via APIs. In this case, the provider does not supply a standard app, but allows you to connect your management software, e-commerce, or payment system directly to the PEL servers using API endpoints.

This makes it possible to link receipt issuance to existing processes, such as an online checkout, fully automating the issuance and transmission of data to the Revenue Agency and ensuring compliance with legal obligations.