Advance invoice - when is it necessary?

Advance invoice - when should it be issued?

As soon as the taxpayer receives the advance payment, a VAT obligation arises. Each advance payment, if paid by an economic entity, entails the necessity to issue an invoice confirming the amount received. The output VAT resulting from the transaction is settled on the basis of the advance invoice. The document should be issued no later than the 15th day of the month after the advance payment was received.

In a situation where the buyer is a natural person who does not run a business, an advance invoice is issued only at the request of that person. Receipt of the advance payment may in this case be confirmed by a cash register receipt, if the seller is obliged to record the sale with its help. Then, if the buyer requests an advance invoice, the original receipt should be attached to the copy of the document.

What should be included in the advance invoice

The advance invoice should contain at least:

• date of issue,
• next number,
• names and surnames or names of the seller and buyer and their addresses,
• NIP numbers of the seller and the buyer,
• the date of receipt of all or part of the payment, if it differs from the invoice date,
• the amount of all or part of the receivables received, and if more than one advance invoice has been issued and these invoices include the entire amount, the last of these (final) invoices should also contain the numbers of previous invoices,
• the tax amount calculated according to the formula:
  KP = (ZB x SP) / (100 + SP)
  where:
  KP - the amount of tax,
  ZB - means the amount of the received part or all of the receivables,
  SP - means the tax rate;
• order or contract data, in particular: name (type) of goods or services, net unit price, quantity of ordered goods, net value of ordered goods or services, tax rates, tax amounts and gross value of the order or contract.

If the advance invoice does not cover the entire value of the transaction (sale of goods or services), the seller is obliged to issue a final invoice at the time of its implementation.