South Africa: Getting VAT invoices from your suppliers

South African authorities have strict rules for what constitutes a valide VAT invoice. The "invoiced to" name must be exactly the same as name that appears on your business registration with the South African government. We recommend that supplier contracts reflect the correct name to enable them to issue correct invoices. There are two sets of requirements depending on the invoice amount:

FULL TAX INVOICE
this is required where the supply (including VAT) exceeds R5000

Contains the words “Tax Invoice”, “VAT Invoice” or “Invoice”
Name, address and VAT registration number of the supplier
Name, address and where the recipient is a vendor, the recipient’s VAT registration number
Serial number and date of issue of invoice
Accurate description of goods and /or services (indicating where applicable that the goods are second hand goods)
Quantity or volume of goods or services supplied
Value of the supply, the amount of tax charged and the consideration of the supply (value and the tax)

Note: all seven criteria must be met for the invoice to meet the requirements of a Tax Invoice

ABRIDGED TAX INVOICE
where the supply (including VAT) is greater than R50 and less than R5000

Contains the words “Tax Invoice”, “VAT Invoice” or “Invoice”
Name, address and VAT registration number of the supplier
Serial number and date of issue of invoice
Accurate description of goods and /or services
Value of the supply, the amount of tax charged and the consideration of the supply (value and the tax)

As with all countries, it's paramount that you receive a valide VAT invoice so that the VAT paid out can be claimed back in the periodical VAT returns.