reproduce invoice

For the UK the VAT guide (Notice 700) has this to say:

19.2 What records must I keep 19.2.1 General requirements You must keep records and accounts of all taxable goods and services which you receive or supply in the course of your business. [snip] 19.2.3 Maintaining and preserving records You must normally keep your business records for 6 years [snip] 19.4 Keeping copies of VAT invoices Unless you make retail supplies and issue less detailed VAT invoices (see paragraph 16.6.1) you must keep a copy of all VAT invoices that you issue

Note: Folks that use the Cash accounting scheme have different rules (usually when turning over less than 600,000) Less detailed VAT invoices tend to be for goods less than 100, I think it's permissible in that case to just keep grand totals (e.g. the till roll)

But having to keep invoices in a form that is acceptable to the VAT office (and the IR) (perhaps in invoice number order) does not imply that it is possible to find one randomly for a previous customer who, I would wager, has no idea of the invoice number.

tim

See 19.4. What if it *was* a retail sale?

In any case, VAT might be a red herring, since although theirs might be slightly more onerous, similar record keeping requirements exist for income/corporation tax purposes.

It might be useful for the OP to indicate *why* he needs to get hold of this invoice, and how much information he is able to give the supplier to help him find it.

There's a legal requirement to keep accounting records, (which would include invoices), for a minimum of 6 complete accounting years.

However AFAIAA, there's no automatic right for these to be re-produced other than at the request of the Inland Revenue, HM Customs and Excise and, I believe, the European Commission.

Otherwise it's simply down to a question of good business relationships between supplier and customer.

If you have a continuing relationship with the supplier, they're far more likely to put effort into producing a copy, than if it was a one off transaction.

Just as a matter of interest, why do you need a copy? Are you needing it to support a VAT claim you've made?

Rgds

__ Richard Buttrey Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK __________________________

Indeed. Every year, as part of the audit for all large companies, the auditors write to several suppliers asking for confirmation of the amount owed at the year end by means of a copy statement (or signed leter or something similar). Most suppliers don't bother replying to the first request. Only by making it easier to reply than field numerous requests from trainee accountants can the auditors get a worthwhile response. There isn't even a legal requirement to supply information to auditors.

HMC&E wont accept copy invoices for VAT claims. The company could, conceivably, be worried that you are going to duplicate the entry in your records.

Incidentally, the stores who offer two year and three year guarantees would suffer if everyone bothered to keep their invoice/receipt.

Tricky, if it's for less than 100 there is no requirement to issue an invoice with a seperate VAT amounts per line, however this stops being true once you go above 100.

Not as far as I know. Auditors may have a different view on this, however I don't believe there is a law which forces detailed invoice information to be kept for income/corporation tax purposes. (Of course in practice life is a lot easier if you do)

I suppose the point is that the invoice should exist somewhere, however tracking it may be impossible without already having a copy. Of course in general if the VAT man is tracking this kind of stuff down then he usually has at least a copy of the transaction and is trying to make sure it matches up at both ends.

I thought HMC&E were quite happy with copy invoices done by the supplier, just not with photocopies you've done yourself. I am more than happy to be corrected on this.

But that doesn't answer the question, there's no requirement to supply someone else with a copy of the invoice. The requirement is that the VAT registered business must keep a copy.

As a matter of interest, what is a 'copy' invoice? All our invoices are simply printed on a laser printer, if I print fifty copies of one invoice they're all effectively identical. Our invoices conform to all the VAT rules as far as possible but I can't remember seeing anything in the VAT rules about making invoices unique.

I think you meant to say C&E might be worried. :-) Not so sure of that. I'm fairly certain that over the years I've seen duplicate invoices - suitably marked "Copy Invoice" used as evidence for VAT reclaims. And presumably the very fact that it is marked 'copy' is, from C&Es point of view, preferable than having a duplicate invoice not so marked. At least it's out in the open and less likely to be considered as a fraudulent claim.

How else could genuine lost invoices be handled?

Indeed

__ Richard Buttrey Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK __________________________

Doesn't each invoice have to carry a unique number?

Rgds

__ Richard Buttrey Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK __________________________

I don't think so. Not if there are other means of uniquely identifying it. But yes, in principle each invoice has to be unique. But that doesn't mean you can't have multiple copies of it.

We must distinguish between the abstract entity which is the unique invoice, and the bit(s) of paper which is (are) evidence of the existence of that invoice. So to have multiple copies of the same invoice doesn't constitute having multiple invoices, but merely more evidence of it than having a single piece of paper.

But it does pre-empt the "that's impossible" response that seems to be the norm. I'm sure I'm not the only person who get's frustrated at people who use this line because just can't be bothered. If, on the other hand, they came up with a "that's going to be time consuming for us (and thus expensive for you) response then the ball's well an truly back in my court (methaphorically, as I'm not the OP).

tim

Yes, I forgot to mention that (of course) the invoices we produce have a number on them which is (surprise!) different for each invoice. But the question still stands, I can print as many copies as I like of one particular invoice, all identical, which one is a 'copy' and which one is an original?

If they are concerned, they will not accept anything that might be dubious. I see your point. It might be more correct to say that they would not accept a copy invoice unless they were 100% certain that the original was not also in the system (assuming it has significant value). A large number or a large value of copy invoices would, at best, lead to advice not to use copy invoices again.

My experiences are a few years' old and I'm none too sure how they respond to invoices that are delivered electronically.