Who has to issue a VAT invoice
An accountable person (a business registered, or required to be registered, for VAT) must issue a VAT invoice when supplying goods or services to another accountable person, a Department of State, a local authority, a body established by statute, a person carrying on an exempt activity, a business in another EU Member State, or a person in another Member State where the reverse charge applies. Distance sales of goods to EU consumers also need one unless you use the Union One Stop Shop. If you are not registered, none of this applies and you must not issue a VAT invoice at all. See invoicing without a VAT number.
What a VAT invoice must show
This is Revenue’s list, in Revenue’s order, with a plain reading of each item.
| # | Required item | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The date of issue | The day you raise the invoice, not the day the work was done. |
| 2 | A unique sequential number | One running sequence for the business. Gaps and duplicates are the first thing an inspector looks for. |
| 3 | Your full name, address and VAT registration number | A trading name can sit alongside, but the registered name must appear. |
| 4 | The customer’s full name and address | Their legal name for a company. Their VAT number is only required in the cross-border cases below. |
| 5 | Reverse charge: the customer’s VAT number and the words “reverse charge applies” | Revenue notes this does not apply to construction services under Relevant Contracts Tax. |
| 6 | Intra-Community supply of goods: the customer’s VAT number and the words “intra-Community supply of goods” | For goods shipped to a VAT-registered business in another EU state. |
| 7 | Triangulation: an explicit reference to EC triangulation simplification | Plus a note that the recipient is liable for the VAT. Rare for small traders. |
| 8 | The quantity and nature of the goods supplied | What and how many. |
| 9 | The extent and nature of the services rendered | What was done and how much of it: hours, days, deliverables. |
| 10 | The VAT-exclusive unit price | Net price per unit, before VAT. |
| 11 | The payment received net of VAT | Where a payment has already been made, its net amount. |
| 12 | Discounts or price reductions | Any reduction agreed, shown rather than silently netted off. |
| 13 | The breakdown by rate of VAT | Net amount and VAT amount for each rate used. |
| 14 | The total VAT payable | One figure for all the VAT on the supply. |
| 15 | The date the goods or services were supplied | Required even when it matches the issue date. |
| 16 | For advance payments, the date the payment on account was made | Only where that date differs from the invoice date. |
| 17 | Tax representative details | Name, address and VAT number of a tax representative liable for the VAT in another Member State. |
Items 5 to 7 and 17 only bite in specific situations. A domestic invoice from a designer to an Irish company needs items 1 to 4 and 8 to 15. Our free invoice generator lays out exactly those fields, including the breakdown by rate.
Reverse charge invoices
Where the customer accounts for the VAT instead of you, Revenue says “the VAT payable is not displayed on the invoice issued”. For services to a business customer elsewhere in the EU, Revenue lists the steps: obtain the customer’s VAT number and confirm it is valid (the EU Commission’s VIES checker does this), put that number on the invoice, issue the invoice “indicating reverse charge will apply”, and include the supply on your VIES return. Get the customer’s status wrong and you are liable for the VAT you did not charge. Wording such as “Reverse charge applies: VAT to be accounted for by the recipient” does the job.
Construction under Relevant Contracts Tax is the domestic version: the subcontractor shows no VAT and the principal accounts for it. Revenue exempts RCT invoices from the “customer VAT number plus notation” requirement above. The generator’s reverse-charge checkbox removes the VAT and adds a line saying the recipient accounts for it.
When the invoice must be issued
“A VAT invoice must issue within 15 days of the end of the month in which goods or services are supplied.” That is Revenue’s wording: supply in September, invoice by 15 October. A credit note that corrects an invoice has the same 15-day window. An invoice in a foreign currency must also show the figures in euro, converted at the Central Bank selling rate for the day the invoice is due to be issued (or another method agreed in advance with Revenue).
Simplified invoices
Revenue allows a simplified invoice, credit note, settlement voucher or debit note where “the amount of the invoice is not greater than €100”, or where the practices of a particular sector make full invoices impractical. It needs only four things: the date of issue; your full name, address and VAT registration number; a description of the goods or services; and either the tax payable or the price exclusive of tax. It cannot be used for intra-Community supplies. Because it must carry your registration number, a simplified invoice is still a document only a VAT-registered trader can issue. Revenue also permits a summary invoice covering several supplies to the same customer in one calendar month.
Electronic invoices
Paper or electronic is your choice, with one condition: electronic invoicing is “subject to agreement between both parties”. Revenue then sets requirements for the system. It must produce, retain and store all electronic records required for VAT and make them available to Revenue on request; reproduce any record in paper or electronic form; allow retrieval by the issuer or recipient’s name, the date, or the unique number of the message; and ensure the integrity of the contents, validate the source and provide a reliable audit trail. An emailed PDF kept in a dated folder for six years satisfies this for a small business.
Credit notes and corrections
Revenue’s rules for fixing an invoice:
- Price goes up: issue a supplementary invoice showing the VAT-exclusive increase, the rates applying, the VAT at each rate and a cross-reference to the original invoice.
- Price goes down: issue a credit note for the reduction. If the VAT payable is unchanged, no credit note is required.
- Too much VAT charged: you still owe Revenue the VAT shown until you issue a credit note and a revised invoice.
- Too little VAT charged: credit note for the full value, then a revised invoice with the correct VAT.
A VAT credit note must show: the date of issue, a unique number, your full name, address and VAT number, the customer’s full name, address and VAT number, the reason the note is being issued, a cross-reference to the original invoice, the amended consideration, the rate or rates of VAT in force when the original invoice was issued, and the amount of VAT at each rate. Show less VAT on a credit note than is correct and you are liable for the difference.
Penalties
Revenue’s schedule of fixed VAT penalties puts “failure to comply with invoicing requirements” at €4,000.
Keeping the invoices
Copies of every invoice and credit note you issue, and every one you receive, must be kept for six years from the date of the latest transaction they relate to (section 84 of the VAT Consolidation Act 2010). Paper invoices stay in paper form; electronic ones follow the rules above. Revenue also expects sales records to be separated by VAT rate, one more reason to show the breakdown on the invoice itself.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to issue a VAT invoice to a private customer?
Revenue’s list of customers who must receive a VAT invoice covers other accountable persons, State departments, local authorities, statutory bodies, exempt businesses and business customers in other EU states. Private individuals in Ireland are not on it. Most traders issue one anyway: it is the same document and it keeps the records tidy.
Is there a deadline for issuing a VAT invoice?
Yes. Revenue says a VAT invoice must issue within 15 days of the end of the month in which the goods or services were supplied. Work completed on 20 September needs an invoice dated no later than 15 October. Credit notes follow the same 15-day rule.
What do I write on an invoice for a business customer in another EU country?
For most B2B services, Revenue says you obtain and verify the customer’s VAT number, put it on the invoice, indicate that the reverse charge applies, and leave the VAT amount off. The supply also goes on your VIES return. Revenue says to apply for Intra-EU VAT registration status for this rather than Domestic-only.