What is a tax invoice?

Learn how to use and create a tax invoice to list the taxes paid so that you can claim deductions at fiscal year-end.

Tax invoices are different from a standard invoice or receipt. An invoice requests payment from a customer, a receipt proves payment, and a tax invoice shows the amount of tax payable from a transaction.

How is a tax invoice used?

Companies and tax-registered customers claim tax credits on purchases. Of course, the government isn’t going to just hand out tax credits without proof, so tax invoices show that customers and businesses paid their taxes on a purchase and can now legally claim credits.

What information should be included?

If you need to write an invoice that shows all taxes on a purchase, there are certain pieces of information to include, such as:

• The words “tax invoice”
• Invoice date and number
• Customer name
• Billing and shipping address
• Seller business number and identity
• Description of the goods and services rendered, along with the quantities and price
• Tax applied to each item
• Total taxes
• Supplier signature

Since tax invoices are submitted to the government, it’s important that all essential information be included. Otherwise, you or your customers might not be able to claim the tax credits due.

How to create a tax invoice.

Tax invoices look very similar to regular invoices, except they put an emphasis on the taxes. They must also be clearly labeled as a tax invoice — typically in large bold letters at the top. You can build tax invoices from scratch, but it’s much easier to download a template online.

Since all tax invoices need a signature, using e-signature software like Acrobat Sign can make the process much simpler. That way, you can create, sign, and send invoices without fighting with printers, scanners, or fax machines.

Learn more about how Acrobat Sign can simplify the process of authorizing and sending tax invoices.