Following European case law, the State Secretary for Finance has relaxed the requirements that a VAT invoice must meet. He has set this out in a decision. We set out the requirements for a valid VAT invoice in our guidance note The invoice for VAT purposes.
Minor faults
The fact that minor errors on a VAT invoice should not prevent VAT from being deducted is evident from the court rulings we described in our article Deduction allowed despite an incomplete VAT invoice. Just over a year after these judgments were handed down, the decision on this point is being amended.
If the VAT invoice contains formal errors, the VAT stated on the invoice may still be deducted provided that all the information required to verify compliance with the substantive conditions for VAT deduction is available. This information may also have been provided separately, in addition to the invoice. We set out the substantive conditions for VAT deduction in our memorandum Deduction of VAT.
According to the amended decree, the VAT deduction may still be refused if:
- the person issuing the VAT invoice has not paid the VAT due, or has not paid it in full, whilst the recipient of the invoice was aware of this or ought reasonably to have suspected it and has benefited from it;
- the facts and circumstances as a whole justify the conclusion that allowing the deduction of VAT would be contrary to the purpose and spirit of the statutory provisions.
Public transport chip card
The deduction of VAT on journeys by public transport does not need to be supported by a VAT invoice. The VAT may be deducted on the basis of the train or bus ticket.
It has now been approved that transaction statements for journeys made using a public transport chip card may be used for VAT deduction. This approval also applies to cards comparable to the public transport chip card.
The transaction statement must, however, include at least the following:
- the date of award;
- the identity of the entrepreneur carrying out the work;
- the date on which the transport services were provided;
- the distance travelled;
- the amount of VAT payable or information on the basis of which the amount of VAT can be determined (for example, by stating that the price includes 6% VAT).
Several entrepreneurs
The basic principle is that each business owner issues their own invoice. In practice, however, business owners sometimes agree that their individual services will be invoiced by one of them on a single invoice.
Such a notice may be regarded as a VAT invoice provided that it contains all the relevant information. This means, amongst other things, that the notice must include the details of all the traders involved. The individual traders remain fully responsible for meeting their VAT obligations.