Tax invoice or Fiscal Receipt?

The misunderstanding of a Tax Invoice and

a Fiscal Receipt

There is a common misconception when it comes to issuing either a tax invoice or a fiscal receipt.

One must be very careful when issuing such documents in order to remain compliant with the Value Added Tax Act and avoid any penalties which may be incurred.

A tax invoice must be issued when a person registered under Article 10 makes a supply to another registered person.

A fiscal receipt must be issued when a registered person makes a supply to a non-registered person. A practical example of this would be a restaurant issuing a fiscal receipt to its customers.

A tax invoice issued by a registered person who is not classifier as an exempt person should contain the following information:

the date of issue;
a sequential number, based on one or more series, which uniquely identifies the invoice;
the name and address of the supplier and the VAT identification number under which he made the supply;
the name and address of the person to whom the supply is made and the VAT identification number under which the customer acquired the goods or services supplied to him;
the quantity and nature of the goods supplied or the extent and nature of the services rendered;
the date on which the supply was made or completed or the date on which a payment on account of the supply was made insofar as that date can be determined and differs from the date of issue of the invoice;
the taxable value per rate or exemption, the unit price exclusive of tax and any discounts or rebates if they are not included in the unit price;
the VAT rate applied;
the VAT amount payable, except where a special arrangement is applied;
where the person liable for payment of VAT is a tax representative in another Member State, the VAT identification number of that tax representative, together with his full name and address;
where the VAT becomes chargeable at the time when the payment is received, the mention "Cash accounting";
where the customer receiving a supply issues the invoice instead of the supplier, the mention "Self-billing";
where a tax invoice refers to supplies on which no tax is chargeable, it shall indicate a brief reference to the relevant provisions of the VAT Act, or the appropriate provisions of Council Directive 2006/112/EC, or any other indication on the grounds of which no tax is chargeable;
where the customer is liable for the payment of the VAT, the mention "Reverse charge";
where the margin scheme for travel agents is applied, the mention "Margin scheme - Travel agents";
where one of the special arrangements applicable to second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' items and antiques is applied, the mention "Margin scheme - Second-hand goods"; "Margin scheme - Works of art" or "Margin scheme - Collector's items and antiques" respectively;
in an invoice for the intra-Community supply of a new means of transport the description of the goods supplied shall contain the particulars referred to in the definition of "new means of transport" in the VAT Act.

On the other hand a Fiscal Receipt should be issued from a Fiscal Cash Register or manual fiscal receipts. If a registered person intend to use a computerised receipt, such person must seek approval in writing from the VAT Department. The computerised is first audited by an auditor and forms an opinion whether such system is compliant. Upon approval, the Department would then issue an exemption number which needs to be shown on the receipt.

A fiscal receipt is considered as such when issued in one of the following situations:

By means of an approved fiscal cash register
On manual fiscal receipt books supplied by the Department
By means of a computerized or electronic system or a point of sale system, provided that prior approval has been obtained from the Department and the exemption number issued by the Department is printed on the receipt
On application and following approval by the Department, tickets of admission to a function may be approved as fiscal receipts provided that the information as required in writing by the Department is printed on each ticket
By means of a fiscal taxi-meter.

Medical, health and education services are exempt without credit supplies and are not required to issue fiscal receipts, although they are still obliged to issue an ordinary receipt under other existing legislation.

Such persons are not required to register with the Department.