Valid VAT Invoices: What Finance Needs From a Reagent Supplier

What must a document show to count as a VAT invoice under VAT Notice 700 section 16, why does a card receipt or order confirmation fail, and what happens when a supplier will not issue one?

A VAT invoice is a document that carries the particular information HMRC lists in section 16.3 of VAT Notice 700. A supplier must give one to a VAT-registered customer for standard-rated and reduced-rated supplies, and the customer needs it as evidence for reclaiming the VAT as input tax ^[1]. An order confirmation fails because it usually lacks the supplier's VAT number and the tax point. A card receipt fails unless it has been adapted to include the missing details.

If a supplier will not issue a valid invoice, the first step is to ask again in writing. HMRC has a narrow discretion to accept other evidence, but it describes that discretion as allowed only in exceptional circumstances ^[3]. This article sets out the fields, the simplified version, the traps and the fallback, as the guidance reads on 10 October 2026.

Why finance rejected your order confirmation

An order confirmation records that an order was placed. It is typically issued before the goods are supplied, often with no VAT number and no tax point. HMRC's guidance is explicit that a VAT invoice is a document containing the information in paragraph 16.3, not any document with a price on it ^[1].

Finance offices apply this strictly because the cost of getting it wrong falls on them. If the VAT is reclaimed on a document that does not qualify, the claim can be disallowed later. The question 'can I have a proper invoice' is a request for a specific document, not a courtesy.

The full VAT invoice, field by field

Section 16.3.1 lists what must appear on any VAT invoice ^[1]. The fields below are the ones a finance reviewer checks.

1. A sequential number, in one or more series, that uniquely identifies the document.
2. The time of the supply, known as the tax point.
3. The date of issue, where different from the tax point.
4. The supplier's name, address and VAT registration number. A trading name is allowed, but the name and address under which the supplier is registered must appear somewhere on the document.
5. The customer's name and address.
6. A description sufficient to identify the goods or services.
7. For each description, the quantity, the rate of VAT and the amount payable excluding VAT.
8. The total payable excluding VAT, any cash discount rate, and the total VAT chargeable in sterling.
9. The unit price, for countable goods.

The amounts can be shown in another currency, but the total VAT must be in sterling ^[1]. A supplier may write the invoice in a language other than English, though an English translation may be requested ^[1].

GOV.UK's general page on invoices lists what any invoice must include, such as a unique number, the supplier and customer details, a description, the dates and the amounts ^[4]. A VAT invoice includes more than that, and it is the Notice 700 list that applies to a VAT claim.

The simplified invoice for £250 or less

A supplier can issue a simplified invoice if the value of the supply is £250 or less and the customer agrees ^[1]. It must show the supplier's name, address and VAT number, the time of supply, a description that identifies the goods, and for each VAT rate the total payable including VAT and the rate ^[1].

The same section describes the retailers' version. Where a retailer accepts card payments, it may adapt the card sales voucher so that it serves as the invoice, by adding the VAT registration number, the VAT rate and a description of the goods. A full invoice must be issued where the sale is more than £250, or £250 or less and the customer asks for one ^[1].

Pro forma invoices

Pro-forma invoices are used to offer goods before they are supplied, or to request payment in advance. HMRC states that where they are used in this way they cannot be used as evidence to reclaim input tax, even if they show all the details of a VAT invoice, and should be marked as not a VAT invoice ^[1].

If the goods are then supplied or payment is received, the supplier must issue a proper VAT invoice ^[1]. A department that pays against a pro-forma and files it as the record should therefore chase the follow-up document, not rely on the one it paid against.

Suppliers outside the UK

A document from a supplier based abroad is not necessarily a UK VAT invoice. Whether UK VAT is charged by the supplier, accounted for by the customer, or collected on import depends on where the supplier is, what is supplied and how it travels. The article on import VAT and postponed VAT accounting covers imported goods.

For imports, the evidence of VAT paid is usually an official import document rather than the supplier's invoice, and the guidance points to the import VAT certificate for this purpose ^[1]. Ask finance which document it expects before assuming the supplier's invoice will do.

When no valid invoice exists

Notice 700 says that if you do not hold a VAT invoice, the first thing to do is go back to the supplier and ask for one that meets the requirements ^[1]. If that fails, the business must satisfy HMRC that a supply took place, that it was in the UK, that it was taxable at the standard or reduced rate, that the supplier is a taxable person, that the supply was made to the claimant, and that the claimant is a taxable person who intends to use it for business purposes ^[1].

HMRC's manual states that it will not simply refuse a claim without reasonable consideration, but that alternative evidence is allowed only in exceptional circumstances. It will not consider it where VAT was not due or paid, it expects reasonable steps to have been taken to obtain an invoice, and it can refuse where the approach is used routinely. Where the claimant fails to provide satisfactory evidence, the input tax cannot be deducted ^[3].

Retention

HMRC's record-keeping notice says that VAT records must generally be kept for at least six years, and that invoices received are the main evidence for reclaiming input VAT ^[2]. For each supply received, the records must show the time of supply, the value, and the input tax to be claimed ^[2]. Notice 700 adds that invoices must be kept so that, given the invoice date and the supplier's name, they can be presented to HMRC on request ^[1].

It also helps to agree the invoicing arrangement before the first order, not after. A supplier setting up a new account for an institution will normally be asked for the same details every time: legal name, address, VAT number, and the person or address to which invoices go. Put those on the supplier-setup form, and ask the supplier to confirm that every order will produce a VAT invoice with the institution's name and the purchase order number on it. That single confirmation removes most of the later correspondence.

A one-line request that works

Small suppliers often send a confirmation and consider the matter closed. A short, specific request gets a compliant document faster than a general complaint. Use the order number and name the document you need.

Please send a VAT invoice for order [number], showing your VAT registration number, the invoice date and tax point, and the VAT amount, for our records.

If the supplier is not VAT registered, it cannot issue a VAT invoice, and HMRC notes that using an invoice from an unregistered person knowingly to reclaim VAT is an offence ^[1]. Check the supplier's registration number before the order is placed, not after the invoice is rejected.