Invoice fields to review
Use this checklist to compare your draft with the local guidance. Applicability can depend on the parties, transaction, tax status, and document type.
- For an ordinary business invoice, include a unique identification number, the supplier's name, address and contact details, the customer's name and address, a clear description of each good or service, the supply date, the invoice date, amounts charged, any VAT charged, and the total due. Sole traders should use their own name and any business name; limited companies should show the registered company name and address.
- A full VAT invoice should show a sequential invoice number that uniquely identifies it; the time of supply or tax point; the date of issue if different from the tax point; the supplier's name, address and VAT registration number; and the customer's name and address.
- For each description, give enough detail to identify the goods or services and state quantities or extent, unit price excluding VAT, applicable VAT rate, and amount payable excluding VAT. Show discounts that affect the price and identify each VAT rate where a transaction has mixed-rated items.
- Show the total amount excluding VAT, the total VAT in sterling, and the total including VAT. If no VAT is chargeable, do not invent a VAT amount; a zero-rated, exempt or outside-scope supply has a different tax treatment and the record should make the transaction clear.
- A simplified VAT invoice may be used for a qualifying retail sale of £250 or less including VAT. It generally shows the supplier's name and address, VAT registration number, tax point, description, VAT-inclusive total, and the VAT rate or VAT amount for each rate. The customer normally cannot use a simplified invoice to reclaim input tax.
Tax notes
A VAT-registered supplier generally issues a VAT invoice for a taxable supply to another VAT-registered business, normally within 30 days of the tax point. Exceptions cover retail, continuous supplies, self-billing and some cross-border transactions.
A VAT invoice is not required for every consumer sale. Retail receipts and sector rules may apply. Do not charge VAT merely because a business is UK-based: establish place of supply, registration and whether the sale is taxable, exempt, zero-rated or reverse-charged.
Special schemes, exports, Northern Ireland goods movements and reverse-charge supplies need their own tax treatment and wording.
Electronic invoicing
As of 4 October 2026 there is no general UK private-sector B2B mandate to issue every invoice as a structured e-invoice. HMRC accepts electronic invoices if the required tax details, authenticity of origin, integrity of content and legibility are maintained; a PDF may be used under the current UK VAT guidance. Public-sector procurement can set separate electronic submission requirements. The Government announced a future policy that all VAT invoices are to be e-invoices from 2029, but that future change is not yet in force on this checked date.
Record retention
VAT records, including copies of issued invoices and received VAT invoices, are generally kept for at least six years. Longer periods can apply, for example to VAT One Stop Shop records. Keep records in a readable, accessible form and preserve the data needed to support VAT returns and corrections.
Important cautions
- This is a general guide, not a ruling. Verify customer status, supply location, special schemes and Northern Ireland EU-goods rules.
Official references
Rules change. Check the current source text and any updates before relying on a field or process.
- GOV.UK: Invoices — what they must include
- HMRC VAT Guide (VAT Notice 700), section 16
- HMRC: Keeping VAT records
- HMRC: Electronic invoicing (VAT Notice 700/63)
- HM Treasury: Consultation response on promoting e-invoicing
Reviewed against the references above on .