Tax Invoice Requirements South Africa

A tax invoice is a document that a VAT-registered business must issue when it supplies goods or services. It is not the same thing as an ordinary invoice. Section 20 of the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991 prescribes what it has to contain, and the reason the detail matters is that the document is what allows your customer to claim back the VAT they paid you.

Get a field wrong and the consequence lands on them, not on you, which is why procurement departments send invoices back.

Who has to issue one

Only businesses registered for VAT with SARS. If you are not a registered vendor you must not charge VAT at all, and the document you send is an ordinary invoice rather than a tax invoice. Charging VAT without being registered is a contravention of the VAT Act.

Registration becomes compulsory once your taxable turnover passes the SARS threshold, which rose to R2.3 million in any 12-month period with effect from 1 April 2026. Voluntary registration is available from a much lower level of turnover. A good deal of published guidance still quotes the previous R1 million figure, so check the date on anything you read about this.

The three thresholds

South Africa runs a three-tier system based on the VAT-inclusive value of the supply. Which tier you are in decides how much detail the document needs.

What goes on a full tax invoice

For any supply over R5,000 including VAT:

• The words "Tax Invoice", "VAT Invoice" or "Invoice"
• Your business name, address and VAT registration number
• The customer's name and address, and their VAT registration number if they are a vendor
• A serial number for the invoice
• The date of issue
• An accurate description of the goods or services, noting where goods are second-hand
• The quantity or volume supplied
• The value of the supply, the amount of VAT charged, and the total consideration

On that last point, there is more than one acceptable way to present the amounts. What matters is that the VAT charged is determinable from the document.

What goes on an abridged tax invoice

For a supply of more than R50 and up to R5,000 including VAT, you may leave the customer's details off. Everything else stays:

• The words "Tax Invoice", "VAT Invoice" or "Invoice"
• Your business name, address and VAT registration number
• The invoice number and date of issue
• An accurate description of the goods or services
• The value of the supply, the VAT charged and the total consideration

All five have to be there. An abridged invoice missing one of them is not a valid abridged invoice.

When it has to be issued

Within 21 days of the time the supply was made. Issuing late does not by itself invalidate the document, but it does put you outside the rules, and in practice a late invoice is a late payment.

What happens when a field is missing

SARS checks tax invoices against these requirements, and an invoice that does not meet them can be disallowed in full. The immediate effect is that the input VAT your customer claimed is denied. Interest and penalties on the resulting shortfall follow from there.

From your side, the practical cost is different but real: a client who has had a claim disallowed on your paperwork will scrutinise every invoice you send afterwards, and some will simply hold payment until you reissue.

The way to avoid all of this is boring and effective. Capture the client's details properly once, put your VAT number into your document template rather than typing it each time, and let the numbering run sequentially without gaps.

Frequently asked questions