EU VAT invoice requirements: what every invoice must contain

A VAT invoice is a legal document before it is a request for money. The VAT Directive fixes a minimum content that every Member State applies, and national law adds detail on top. This page lists the EU baseline, article by article, and points to where countries differ.

The mandatory content (Article 226)

Article 226 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC lists what a full VAT invoice must show. Member States may not require more for VAT purposes than the Directive allows, which is why the list below is the same in Madrid, Berlin and Warsaw.

1. The date of issue.
2. A sequential number, based on one or more series, that uniquely identifies the invoice.
3. The supplier's VAT identification number.
4. The customer's VAT identification number, when the customer is liable for the VAT (reverse charge) or receives an intra-Community supply of goods.
5. The full name and address of the supplier and of the customer.
6. The quantity and nature of the goods supplied, or the extent and nature of the services rendered.
7. The date on which the supply was made or completed, or a payment on account was made, if it differs from the date of issue.
8. The taxable amount per rate or exemption, the unit price exclusive of VAT, and any discounts or rebates not included in the unit price.
9. The VAT rate applied.
10. The VAT amount payable, except where a special arrangement excludes it.
11. Where an exemption applies: a reference to the applicable provision of the Directive, to the national provision, or any other reference indicating that the supply is exempt (point 11).
12. Where the customer is liable for the VAT: the mention "Reverse charge" (point 11a).
13. Where the customer issues the invoice: the mention "Self-billing" (point 10a). Where the cash accounting scheme applies: "Cash accounting" (point 7a). Margin schemes carry their own mentions (points 13 and 14).
14. Where a tax representative is liable: that representative's VAT number, name and address.

The prescribed mentions are not free text. The Directive gives them in every official language, and courts have treated the reverse-charge mention as non-substitutable — the invoice must carry the mention itself, in the language version used.

Simplified invoices

Articles 220a and 226b allow a simplified invoice for small amounts (EUR 100 under the Directive's own threshold, which Member States may adapt) and for documents that amend an earlier invoice. A simplified invoice still needs the date, the supplier's identity, the nature of the goods or services, the VAT due or the data to calculate it, and — for an amending document — a reference to the original. Spain, for instance, allows a simplified invoice up to EUR 400 in general and up to EUR 3,000 for certain retail activities.

Currency and language

An invoice may be issued in any currency, but the VAT amount must be expressed in the national currency of the Member State where the supply takes place (Article 230). It may be issued in any language; a Member State may, for control purposes, require a translation of invoices for supplies in its territory (Article 248a).

Electronic invoices and storage

A PDF sent by email is an electronic invoice in the Directive's sense (Article 217) and must be accepted by the recipient (Article 232). Whatever the form, the authenticity of origin, integrity of content and legibility must be guaranteed from issue until the end of the storage period (Article 233), and invoices must be stored for the period each Member State sets (Articles 244 to 247) — Spain's commercial law requires six years, for example.

Where the common mistakes are

• A reverse-charge invoice that still shows a VAT rate of 0% instead of no rate and the mention.
• A customer VAT number that was never checked in VIES, which quietly turns an intra-EU B2B supply into a taxable domestic one.
• Gaps or duplicates in the numbering, or a credit note issued in the invoice series.
• The supply date left out when it differs from the issue date.
• The mention written in the wrong language for the document.

How EUFactura applies this

Every invoice passes a baseline check against this list before it can be issued: identities and addresses, sequential numbering, line completeness, the VAT ID when the treatment needs one, and the mandatory mention when a rule prescribes one — in the document's language, with the wording the Directive gives. The free invoice checker runs the same baseline on an invoice you already have.