VAT Invoice Template UK: The Required Fields, and a Free Template

Once you are VAT-registered in the UK, the document you send stops being an invoice and becomes a VAT invoice. That is not a naming change. It is a different document with a longer list of mandatory fields, because it is doing a second job: it is the evidence your customer needs in order to reclaim the VAT you have charged them.

That second job is why finance teams reject non-compliant VAT invoices, sometimes months later. If the invoice is wrong, their reclaim is at risk.

The template#

VAT INVOICE

[Your business name]
[Trading as: — if applicable]
[Street address]
[Town, county, postcode]
VAT registration number: GB 123 4567 89
[email]  ·  [phone]

INVOICE TO
[Customer name / registered company name]
[Address]
[Customer VAT number — required for reverse charge / EU supplies]
[Purchase order number, if issued]

Invoice number:   2026-014
Invoice date:     3 September 2026
Tax point:        29 August 2026     (if different from invoice date)
Payment due:      3 October 2026     (30 days)

Then the line items. Note the VAT rate column — it is required per line, not just per invoice:

And the totals, broken out per rate:

Then the payment block:

HOW TO PAY
Bank: [Bank name]   Account name: [As on the account]
Sort code: [00-00-00]   Account number: [12345678]
Payment reference: 2026-014

TERMS
Payment due within 30 days of the invoice date. Statutory interest and
fixed recovery costs under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts
(Interest) Act 1998 apply to overdue amounts.

Note the structure of the totals block. VAT is shown per rate, not as a single lump, because a customer reclaiming needs to see which portion of the supply carried which rate.

Every mandatory field#

HMRC's requirements for a full VAT invoice:

Two of these cause most of the trouble.

The VAT number. Leaving it off makes the document invalid as a VAT invoice, and your customer's reclaim is at risk. It is also the first thing a careful accounts-payable clerk checks.

VAT per line, not just per invoice. If your invoice mixes rates — standard-rated services and zero-rated printed matter, say — each line needs its rate, and the totals block needs a subtotal per rate. A single "VAT: £437.50" on a mixed invoice is not compliant.

The tax point, properly explained#

The tax point (or "time of supply") is the date a supply is treated as taking place for VAT. It decides which VAT return the transaction falls into, which is why it matters most around a quarter end.

The basic tax point is when the goods are delivered or made available, or when the service is completed.

The actual tax point overrides it in two common situations:

• You issue a VAT invoice within 14 days of the basic tax point — the invoice date becomes the tax point. This is the ordinary case for most service businesses, which is why the tax point and invoice date usually match.
• You receive payment before the basic tax point — the date of payment becomes the tax point, for the amount received. Deposits therefore create their own tax point.

If you issue the invoice more than 14 days after completing the work, and have not been paid, the tax point stays at the basic tax point — the completion date. That can pull a sale back into the previous quarter.

Practical rule: invoice promptly, and if you take deposits, remember each one creates a tax point on the day it lands.

Continuous supplies — retainers, ongoing services — have their own rules based on invoicing or payment dates. If you work on retainer, it is worth ten minutes with your accountant on how yours is treated.

Simplified and modified VAT invoices#

You do not always need the full document.

Simplified VAT invoice. Allowed for retail supplies, and for other supplies where the total including VAT is £250 or less. It must show:

• your name, address and VAT registration number
• the time of supply
• a description of the goods or services
• the total amount payable including VAT
• the VAT rate for each item

It does not need the customer's name and address, or a separate VAT total. This is what a shop receipt is.

Modified VAT invoice. For retail supplies over £250, with your customer's agreement, you may issue an invoice showing the VAT-inclusive value of each standard-rated or reduced-rated item rather than the net value, provided the totals block still separates out the net, VAT and gross amounts.

For ordinary business-to-business service work, you want the full VAT invoice. Use the template above.

Rates, and the four things people confuse#

Zero-rated and exempt are not the same thing, and the difference is not cosmetic. Zero-rated supplies are taxable at 0%, count toward your VAT-taxable turnover for the registration threshold, and let you recover input VAT. Exempt supplies do neither.

Which category a supply falls into is genuinely specific — GOV.UK maintains a detailed list, and some categories are notoriously fiddly. If a meaningful part of your income is zero-rated or exempt, confirm the treatment rather than assuming.

Reverse charge#

Two situations where you do not charge VAT but must say why on the invoice.

Business-to-business services to a customer in another country. Where the place of supply is the customer's country and the reverse charge applies, you do not charge UK VAT. The invoice must show the customer's VAT number and a note that the reverse charge applies — wording along the lines of "Reverse charge: customer to account for VAT to HMRC".

Domestic reverse charge for construction services (CIS). If you supply construction services covered by the domestic reverse charge, you do not charge VAT; the customer accounts for it. The invoice must say so and state the rate that would have applied.

In both cases the note is mandatory, not optional courtesy. Its absence leaves the invoice non-compliant.

Currency#

You may invoice in any currency. The VAT total must be shown in sterling.

HMRC accepts more than one conversion method — its own published rate, or the European Central Bank rate among others — but you should pick one and use it consistently. Note the rate used on the invoice; it saves an argument later.

Making Tax Digital#

VAT-registered businesses must keep digital records and submit VAT returns through compatible software. That is a record-keeping and filing obligation rather than a rule about the invoice document itself, but it has a practical consequence: a VAT invoice typed into a word processor and saved as a PDF is fine as a document, while your underlying VAT records must live somewhere digital and MTD-compatible.

GOV.UK publishes a list of compatible software. Check it against what you actually use rather than trusting a vendor's marketing claim.

Records#

Six years for VAT records, kept in a form HMRC can inspect. You must also be able to demonstrate the authenticity of origin and integrity of content of stored invoices for that period — which, for a small business keeping its own PDFs in a backed-up folder, is satisfied.

Keep copies of the VAT invoices you issue and the ones you receive. The received ones are what support your input VAT reclaims, and they are the ones people lose.

Common mistakes#

VAT number missing. Invalidates the document.

One VAT total on a mixed-rate invoice. Needs a subtotal per rate.

Charging VAT before your registration number arrives. Raise your prices, invoice without a VAT line, then reissue proper VAT invoices once the number comes through. Do not invent a number.

Treating zero-rated as exempt. Different consequences for both threshold calculation and input tax recovery.

Omitting the reverse charge note. Mandatory where it applies.

No tax point shown when it differs from the invoice date. Particularly around quarter ends, and particularly where a deposit was taken.

Foreign currency invoice with no sterling VAT figure. Required.

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Our free invoice generator supports GBP and a configurable VAT rate with the tax label of your choice, and produces the PDF in your browser.

Related: the self-employed and sole trader invoice template, the best invoice format for UK freelancers, the general invoice template, and a proforma invoice template.

General information about UK VAT requirements as at the review date. VAT is detailed and the treatment of a particular supply can turn on facts this guide cannot know. This is not tax advice — check GOV.UK and speak to an accountant. See our disclaimer.