Client in your own country
Charge your local rate. The invoice shows the rate, the VAT amount and your VAT number.
Net 1,500.00VAT 21% 315.001,815.00
Invoice Generator
This free invoice generator works out the VAT as you type: fill in the sheet, set the rate, and download a PDF. No sign-up, nothing to install.
invoice editor
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auto tax & VAT totals
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What is a VAT invoice?
A VAT invoice is an ordinary invoice with the tax laid out so your client can reclaim it. It names both businesses, shows your VAT registration number, and splits the money into the net price, the VAT rate, the VAT charged, and the total. If you are registered for VAT, this is the document you send. If you are not, you send an invoice without VAT: set the rate to 0% and the PDF leaves the VAT line out.
In the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth the same document is often called a VAT tax invoice, or just a tax invoice. The name changes but the job does not: it is the record that lets your client deduct the VAT and lets the tax office match it to your return.
| Regular | VAT invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Your VAT number | - | ✓ |
| VAT rate and amount | - | ✓ |
| Net and gross totals | Total only | ✓ |
| Client's VAT number | - | For cross-border B2B |
How VAT on an invoice is calculated
The VAT line is always the net amount multiplied by the rate. Change the numbers in this VAT invoice example to see it.
Add up the line amounts to get the net subtotal, multiply it by the VAT rate, and add the result to reach the amount due. The sheet above works out the VAT like a VAT calculator as you type, but it helps to know what each number in the VAT breakdown means before you send it.
Pick one way of rounding and keep it. Rounding the VAT once, on the subtotal, is the most common method and gives the cleanest result.
- Net
- €1,500.00
- VAT 21%
- €315.00
- Amount due
- €1,815.00
1,500.00 × 21% = 315.00
What a VAT invoice has to show
Under the VAT invoice requirements in Article 226 of the VAT Directive, the EU VAT invoice format adds these seven details to an ordinary invoice.
- Your VAT registration numberPrinted on every VAT invoice. Without it your client cannot reclaim the tax.
- Your client's VAT numberNeeded on business sales to another EU country, and in several countries on domestic sales too.
- The rate you appliedShown as a percentage next to the VAT line, for example 21%.
- The VAT amountWritten out as a figure, not left for the reader to work out.
- Net and gross totalsThe amount before VAT and the amount due after it.
- The supply dateWhen the goods or services were delivered, if that differs from the invoice date.
- A reason when no VAT is chargedA VAT exempt invoice gives the reason and the legal reference in a note, and so does an invoice under the reverse charge or for a zero-rated sale.
Use the sheet above as a VAT invoice template: both VAT numbers go in the address blocks, the rate goes beside the VAT line, and a supply date or a zero-VAT reason goes in the notes. For the fields every invoice needs, VAT or not, see what to include on an invoice.
Invoicing with VAT when your client is abroad
Where your client is, and whether they are a business, decides what the VAT line says.
Business client in another EU country
Usually no VAT is charged: your client accounts for it under the reverse charge. Show both VAT numbers, set the rate to 0% and add a note such as “Reverse charge, Article 196 VAT Directive”. Verify the VAT number first.
Net 1,500.00VAT 0%1,500.00
Private customer in another EU country
Since 1 July 2021, once your cross-border sales to consumers pass €10,000 a year, goods and digital services are taxed at the customer's rate, usually declared through the One-Stop Shop (OSS).
Net 100.00VAT 20% (FR) 20.00120.00
VAT invoices in a foreign currency
You can invoice in any currency, but when VAT is charged the VAT amount must also be stated in the currency of the country where it is due. Use the exchange rate published by the European Central Bank or your tax authority for the invoice date.
In the editor, add an exchange rate below the totals. The sheet then prints the VAT and the total in your second currency, right under the original figures.
SubtotalUSD 1,500.00
VAT 21%USD 315.00
TotalUSD 1,815.00
1 USD = 0.92 EUR
VAT (EUR)EUR 289.80
Total (EUR)EUR 1,669.80
EU VAT rates by country
As of November 2026, standard VAT rates in the EU run from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary, according to the European Commission's Taxes in Europe Database (TEDB). A reduced VAT rate applies to some goods and services.
- Austria20%
- Belgium21%
- Bulgaria20%
- Croatia25%
- Cyprus19%
- Czech Republic21%
- Denmark25%
- Estonia24%
- Finland25.5%
- France20%
- Germany19%
- Greece24%
- Hungary27%
- Ireland23%
- Italy22%
- Latvia21%
- Lithuania21%
- Luxembourg17%
- Malta18%
- Netherlands21%
- Poland23%
- Portugal23%
- Romania21%
- Slovakia23%
- Slovenia22%
- Spain21%
- Sweden25%
Rates change. Confirm the current rate with the national tax authority before you rely on it.
Invoice generator and VAT invoice questions
Fill in your details and your client's on the sheet above, add the lines, and set the VAT rate; the totals update as you type. Then choose Download PDF; no account is needed for that. With a free account, Share makes a link and a QR code, and Save to Account keeps the invoice.
Yes. Making, previewing, and downloading invoices costs nothing and needs no sign-up; sharing and saving need a free account. The PDF invoice generator builds the file in your browser, so it downloads straight away.
Yes, this is an invoice generator with logo upload built in. Click the logo area at the top of the sheet to choose an image, then drag and resize it; the PDF prints it in the same place.
Only if you are registered for VAT. Registered businesses in the EU have to issue a VAT invoice for sales to other businesses, and usually also when a private customer asks for one. If you are under your country's registration threshold and not registered, send regular invoices and do not show any VAT.
The law allows it, as long as the invoice shows the net amount and the VAT for each rate separately. The editor here applies one rate per invoice, so for mixed rates issue a separate invoice for each rate.
With the VAT at 0%, both VAT numbers printed, and a note that names the rule: “Reverse charge, Article 196 VAT Directive” for services, or “Exempt intra-Community supply, Article 138 VAT Directive” for goods. Check your client's number with the VAT number checker before you send it.
Usually not. Exports of goods leave the EU zero-rated, and most business services to clients outside the EU fall outside EU VAT, so the invoice shows 0% with a short note saying why. Services tied to a place, such as events or property, follow their own rules.
Only when it meets the rules for a simplified invoice, which many EU countries allow for small amounts, typically up to €100 and in some countries up to €400. Otherwise a receipt only confirms that you were paid, while a VAT invoice asks for payment and documents the tax.
Yes. Add an exchange rate below the totals and the PDF prints the VAT and the total in the second currency as well, which is how EU rules ask for foreign-currency VAT invoices to be shown.