Ireland VAT Invoice Requirements: What Revenue Requires

An Irish VAT invoice must show a unique sequential number, the issue and supply dates, your and your customer's names and addresses, your VAT number, a description, unit prices excluding VAT, a breakdown by VAT rate and the total VAT payable. You must issue it within 15 days of the end of the month of supply.

Last reviewed: 3 November 2026 against Revenue's VAT invoice guidance and the Revenue pages listed at the end.

What must be on an Irish VAT invoice

Revenue lists the details a VAT invoice must show. The checklist below follows Revenue's list in order; the last column says when each one applies.

Three situations change what the invoice shows:

• Reverse charge: the VAT payable is not displayed. Your customer accounts for it instead, which is why the customer's VAT number and the "reverse charge applies" note are required.
• Margin scheme and auctioneers' scheme: the invoice must not include an amount of VAT. Endorse it "Margin scheme — second-hand goods" or "Margin scheme — auction goods".
• Foreign currency: you can invoice in another currency, but the invoice must also show the corresponding figures in euro. Use the selling rate recorded by the Central Bank at the time the invoice is due to be issued. Revenue can agree another method with you, but you then have to use it for all your foreign-currency invoices.

For small amounts, Revenue allows a simplified invoice when the invoice is €100 or less, or when practices in your sector make full invoicing difficult. It needs only the issue date, your name, address and VAT number, a description, and either the VAT payable or the price excluding VAT. You can't use one for intra-Community supplies.

Who has to issue one

You must issue a VAT invoice when you are registered for VAT (an "accountable person") and you supply goods or services to:

• another accountable person
• a Department of State or a local authority
• a body established by statute
• a person who carries on an exempt activity
• a business customer in another EU Member State, or any customer there who is liable under the reverse charge.

Intra-Community distance sales of goods to non-registered customers also need an invoice, unless you are registered for the Union One Stop Shop scheme. Private individuals in Ireland are not on Revenue's list.

When you must issue it: the 15-day rule

A VAT invoice must issue within 15 days of the end of the month in which you supplied the goods or services. The deadline comes from Regulation 23 of the VAT Regulations 2010, and Revenue repeats it in its guidance.

That gives you a deadline linked to the calendar month, not to each individual sale:

• A supply on 3 March must be invoiced by 15 April.
• A supply on 31 March has the same deadline: 15 April.
• A supply on 24 October 2026 must be invoiced by 15 November 2026.

If a customer pays you in full or in part before you supply the goods or services, you must issue a VAT invoice for each payment, no later than the 15th day of the month after the month you received it. A deposit received on 20 May needs an invoice by 15 June. This doesn't apply to intra-Community supplies of goods.

The deadline is about issuing the invoice, not about when your customer pays. Your payment terms are separate; see payment terms for how to set them and for the EU late-payment rules that apply if a business customer pays late.

Irish VAT rates in 2026

Ireland has four positive VAT rates plus the zero rate. The figures below are Revenue's current rates from 1 January 2026.

What changed on 1 July 2026: food and drink supplied as part of a restaurant, catering or hot take-away service, and hairdressing services, moved from 13.5% to 9% (Finance Act 2025, section 71). Hotel accommodation did not move: it stays at 13.5%. Pages written before July 2026 often still show catering at 13.5%. Invoices for supplies made up to 30 June 2026 keep the 13.5% rate; supplies made from 1 July 2026 use 9%.

Worked example: one invoice, three VAT rates

A fictional caterer, Harbour Kitchen Catering Ltd (VAT number IE1234567T, example only), invoices a fictional events company for a buffet supplied on 24 October 2026. The invoice is issued on 2 November 2026, inside the deadline of 15 November.

The food is at 9% because it is supplied as part of a catering service. The soft drinks are at 23% because Revenue excludes soft drinks from the reduced rates even when they are served with a meal. Cleaning is generally at 13.5%. Showing VAT separately for each rate gives your customer "the breakdown by the rate of VAT" that Revenue asks for. If several elements form a single supply (for example, a fixed price per head for food and drinks), the rate depends on how that supply is treated; check Revenue's restaurant and catering guidance before splitting a package price.

Do you need to register for VAT?

You must register once your annual turnover goes over one of these thresholds, which have applied since 1 January 2025:

Revenue measures annual turnover over a calendar year, excluding VAT. Occasional sales of business assets, such as a van, don't count. You become an accountable person as soon as you complete a transaction that takes you over the threshold, and you must apply to register within 30 days of that transaction. Below the thresholds, you can still choose to register, for example to reclaim VAT on start-up costs.

Businesses not established in Ireland must register if they supply taxable goods or services here, whatever their turnover, unless they use the EU VAT SME Scheme.

Ireland vs UK: key differences

Many businesses sell into both countries. The rules look alike but the details differ:

The UK rules are covered in detail in UK VAT invoice requirements.

E-invoicing from 2028: what changes and for whom

Revenue plans to introduce mandatory e-invoicing in three phases:

• Phase 1, from 1 November 2028: VAT-registered large corporates, meaning businesses established in Ireland whose tax affairs are managed by Revenue's Large Corporates Division (about 2,400 businesses), must send e-invoices for domestic business-to-business sales and report part of the invoice data to Revenue in real time.
• Phase 2, from 1 November 2029: the same obligations extend to VAT-registered businesses that trade with business customers in other EU countries.
• Phase 3, from 1 July 2030: the EU's "VAT in the Digital Age" (ViDA) rules for cross-border business-to-business sales apply across all Member States.

The part that affects everyone: from 1 November 2028, every business in Ireland must be able to receive structured e-invoices from suppliers who are required to send them.

An e-invoice in this sense is structured data that follows the European standard EN 16931. A PDF or a scanned paper invoice does not count. Revenue's draft regulations name Peppol as the default network for sending e-invoices.

Status in November 2026: the legal basis is in the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026, published on 19 October 2026, and the provisions remain subject to the legislative process. The regulations are still drafts. Revenue says businesses that will only need to receive e-invoices don't need to take any action yet. Today, Revenue's rules allow paper invoices, and electronic ones (such as a PDF sent by email) where you and your customer agree to it.

How long to keep invoices

Keep your VAT records, including copies of the invoices you issue and the ones you receive, for six years from the date of the latest transaction they relate to (VAT Consolidation Act 2010, section 84). Some records need longer: for example, where a claim, appeal or Revenue inquiry is open, keep them until it is finalised.

Revenue also says:

• Paper invoices you issued should be kept in paper form.
• Paper records must stay within the State, unless Revenue agrees otherwise.
• Keeping records for a shorter period needs Revenue's written permission.

Can Invoice Builder do this?

I tested each point below on 2 November 2026: I built the catering invoice above in the editor and exported it as a PDF, then did the same for a reverse-charge invoice to a German business customer.

What works:

• Euro amounts are formatted as € 1,773.20.
• Several VAT rates on one invoice. Each line has its own rate, decimal rates such as 13.5% work, and the totals show VAT separately for each rate (VAT 9%, VAT 23%, VAT 13.5%) on screen and in the PDF.
• Your VAT number goes in the VAT / Tax ID field under your details.
• Unit prices excluding VAT are in the "Price (excl. VAT)" column.
• A supply date different from the issue date: set Supply date next to Issued; both print on the PDF.
• Discounts go in the Discount field and are applied before VAT is calculated.
• Reverse-charge and other required notes: text in the Note or Terms & conditions field prints on the PDF. For a reverse-charge invoice, write: "Reverse charge applies. The customer is liable to account for the VAT."
• Sequential numbering: each new invoice gets the next number (2026-001, 2026-002 and so on), and you can edit the number. The counter is stored in your browser, so it starts again from 001 in another browser or on another device, or if you clear your browser data. Check each number against your own records before you send the invoice.

Workarounds:

• Customer VAT number: there is no separate field for it. Type it into the customer details in the To box (for example "VAT number: DE123456789"). It prints on the PDF.
• Reverse-charge invoices still show a VAT line. Set the line to 0% and add the note above. The totals will still show "VAT 0% € 0.00"; the tool can't hide that line.
• Delivery charges: the Shipping field is added after VAT and is never taxed. If your delivery charge carries VAT, add it as a normal line with the right rate.

Not supported:

• Margin-scheme invoices. These must not show any VAT amount, and the tool always prints a VAT line, so it isn't suitable for them.
• Euro figures on a foreign-currency invoice. An invoice uses one currency. If you invoice in another currency, work out the euro figures yourself and write them in the Note field, with the Central Bank rate you used.
• E-invoices. Invoice Builder creates PDF invoices. It does not produce EN 16931 e-invoices or send them over Peppol, so it won't meet the e-invoicing obligation once your phase begins. It also doesn't receive e-invoices.

A note from Mohamed, who builds Invoice Builder: Revenue requires every VAT invoice to carry a unique sequential number, so before writing this guide I tested how Invoice Builder numbers invoices — and found a real bug: reloading the page could skip a number, leaving gaps in the sequence. I fixed it before publishing: the number now only advances when you start a new invoice. One thing worth knowing: the counter lives in your browser, so if you switch devices or clear your browser data, check that your next number follows the last one you issued. The tool also can't yet produce structured e-invoices; that matters mainly for large companies from November 2028, and I'll update this guide as Revenue's rules are finalised.

Common Irish VAT invoice mistakes

• Using last year's catering rate. Food supplied as part of a catering or restaurant service has been at 9% since 1 July 2026, not 13.5%.
• Putting soft drinks at the food rate. Alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water stay at 23% even when served with a meal.
• Missing the 15-day deadline. It runs from the end of the month of supply, so late-month supplies have the shortest window.
• No supply date. The issue date alone isn't enough when the supply happened on a different date.
• Leaving out the customer's VAT number on a reverse-charge invoice. It is required along with the "reverse charge applies" note.
• Showing VAT on a margin-scheme invoice. The invoice must not show a VAT amount.

For the fields every invoice needs, VAT or not, see what to include on an invoice. For how VAT invoices work elsewhere, read the VAT invoice guide.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Check Revenue's guidance or ask a tax adviser about your own situation.

Sources

• Revenue, invoices: What is a VAT invoice?, Who must issue a VAT invoice?, What information is required on a VAT invoice?, Other types of VAT invoices, Invoice requirements of payments received in advance
• Revenue, rates: Current VAT rates, Reduced rate, Second reduced rate, Zero rate, Livestock rate, Tax and Duty Manual: restaurant and catering services, Finance Act 2025 notes for guidance
• Revenue, registration: VAT thresholds, Who should register for VAT?, Non-established businesses, Finance Act 2024 notes for guidance
• Revenue, records: How long do you keep records for?
• Revenue, e-invoicing: VAT Modernisation timeline, Large corporates for Phase One, Press release: VAT Modernisation (October 2026)
• Legislation: Value-Added Tax Regulations 2010 (S.I. No. 639 of 2010), Regulation 23, Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, section 84