Certification Scheme of Electronic Document Software for Statutory Requirements

Introduction

With the establishment of the Act on Special Provisions Concerning Preservation Methods for Books and Documents Related to National Tax Prepared by Means of Computers (Electronic Book Preservation Act) in 1998 and deregulation in 2005 that enabled the preservation of paper-based taxation-related documents received from external parties as electronic data (scanner preservation), preservation as electronic data became possible for computer-created books and records that previously had to be printed out on paper for preservation, provided that certain requirements are satisfied.

JIIMA introduced the Certification Scheme of Scanner Preservation Software for Statutory Requirements under the Electronic Book Preservation Act in 2016, followed by the Certification Scheme of Electronic Accounting Software in 2018, to promote wider use under the Electronic Book Preservation Act. These developments roughly coincided with the state of emergency declared in Japan in April 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19. This prompted changes such as the expansion of teleworking schemes and drew interest in the Electronic Book Preservation Act established for the digitization of business operations. This was followed by the dramatic deregulation of requirements under the Electronic Book Preservation Act as part of the major tax scheme reforms of FY2021. However, this also posed greater self-responsibility on the part of the taxpayer and is also expected to further increase the importance of JIIMA certification schemes.

Against this background, JIIMA has created the Certification Scheme of Electronic Document Software for Statutory Requirements so that people will be able to use with a sense of security electronic document systems for issuing documents related to financial statements and transaction-related documents, as well as for the preservation of file copies, etc., that are required as taxation-related documentation.

This certification scheme is aimed at the inspection of commercially available software and software services used in electronic data preservation to ascertain whether they satisfy the requirements of Article 4-2 of the Electronic Book Preservation Act, when used for file copies of tax-related documents that have been created on computers and printed out on paper. If the product is found to be satisfactory, certification is issued.

Objective

The functional specifications of the software compliant with the Electronic Book Preservation Act used for creating and preserving taxation-related documents are inspected. The software is certified if JIIMA determines that the statutory requirements are satisfied. In this way, corporate users of such software are able to deploy it safely without checking into each of the requirements under the Electronic Book Preservation Act and other tax laws on their own.

Certification Scheme

In software certification, the functions of the software product published in its user manual, handling instructions, etc., are inspected by a neutral, third-party body. After confirmation that all of the necessary functions are found in the product, the results are deliberated by the Certification Audit Committee, followed by certification of the product. Also, the list of certified products is published on JIIMA website. At the same time, the list of certified products is submitted to the National Tax Agency.

Certification Patterns

• Certification Pattern 1: Creation and preservation of documents related to financial statements.
• Certification Pattern 2: Creation and preservation of transaction-related documents.
• Certification Pattern 3: Preservation of transaction-related documents.

Certification Logos

Products that have been certified as satisfying the statutory requirements under the Electronic Book Preservation Act bear a logo similar to those below. (The choice of Type A or Type B is optional.)

Disclaimer

This certification scheme is aimed at the evaluation and verification of the functions required of electronic document software products under the Electronic Book Preservation Act, Ordinance for Enforcement of the Electronic Book Preservation Act, government notices, etc., and other tax laws, based strictly on certification criteria and on inspection of product manuals, etc. Certification under the scheme does not provide a warranty regarding any other matter.