What a valid tax invoice must include: full, abbreviated, and e-Tax Invoice

A full tax invoice must include 8 items

• The words "Tax Invoice" clearly displayed
• Seller's name, address, and taxpayer ID number
• Buyer's name and address, plus the buyer's taxpayer ID number if the buyer is VAT-registered
• Tax invoice number, and book number if any
• Name, kind, type, quantity, and value of the goods or services
• VAT amount, shown clearly separate from the value of the goods
• Date the tax invoice was issued
• A statement of head office or branch number, for both the seller and the buyer

Abbreviated tax invoices: who can use them and what they must include

Retail businesses that sell directly to large numbers of consumers, such as convenience stores, restaurants, and pharmacies, can issue abbreviated tax invoices. The required items are the words "Abbreviated Tax Invoice", the seller's name or abbreviated name and taxpayer ID number, the invoice number, the date, the items sold, and the VAT-inclusive price with a statement that VAT is included. The buyer's name is not required.

The key limitation is that a buyer cannot claim an abbreviated tax invoice as input VAT. When a business customer asks for one, the store must issue a full tax invoice instead.

Mistakes that make a tax invoice invalid

• Not stating head office or branch, even though the law has required it since 2014
• Misspelling the buyer's name or using an abbreviation that doesn't match the registration
• Correcting figures on the tax invoice with a pen instead of canceling and reissuing it or issuing a credit note
• Duplicate or skipped numbers, because invoices come from several machines that don't share one running sequence
• Issuing tax invoices before the VAT registration takes effect

What is an e-Tax Invoice, and do small stores need one?

e-Tax Invoice and e-Receipt are tax invoices in electronic data form, digitally signed and sent directly into the Revenue Department's system. Businesses must apply to use the system and hold an electronic certificate. It is not currently mandatory for businesses in general, but some large trading partners have started accepting only e-Tax Invoices.

A tax invoice printed from a POS program or sent as a PDF by ordinary email is still a paper tax invoice under the law and is valid as usual. VAT-registered businesses with revenue up to 30 million baht a year have another option, e-Tax Invoice by Email: send a PDF/A-3 file from the email address registered with the Revenue Department, with a copy to the time-stamping system. GORINY can prepare the file and subject for this. The digitally signed e-Tax Invoice is not supported yet.

Frequently asked questions

Can a receipt and a tax invoice be the same document?

Yes. Use a single document titled with both "tax invoice" and "receipt", as long as it includes every item required on a full tax invoice.

A customer asks for a tax invoice several days after the sale. Can I issue one?

It should be issued on the day of the sale. If you already issued an abbreviated one and the customer later asks for a full one, issue the full tax invoice referencing the original number, and don't count it as a second sale.

Does GORINY fill in head office or branch automatically?

Partly. The shop's name, address and tax ID are filled in from the business details, and a business customer's branch code can be recorded. The shop itself cannot issue invoices as a sub-branch yet, so every invoice is issued as head office.

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