What is a Simplified Invoice?
Written by Arnon Shimoni
✓ Expert
Last updated on:
A simplified invoice is a VAT invoice with five pieces of information instead of fifteen. It exists because demanding a customer's legal name, address and VAT number on a €12 taxi receipt would be absurd, so the EU VAT Directive (Articles 220a, 226b and 238) lets Member States accept a shorter document for small amounts.
The customer can still deduct the VAT on a simplified invoice. That's what makes it a real invoice and not just a receipt.
At a glance | Simplified invoice |
|---|---|
Legal basis | VAT Directive Articles 220a (mandatory up to €100), 238 (optional up to €400) and 226b (contents) |
Minimum threshold | Every Member State must allow it up to €100 including VAT |
Maximum threshold | €400 including VAT, where the Member State has opted in |
Required fields | Issue date, supplier identity and VAT number, type of goods or services, VAT amount or the data to calculate it |
Not required | Customer name, address or VAT number. Unit prices. Per-rate breakdown |
Never allowed for | Intra-EU supplies of goods, distance sales, and reverse-charge supplies by a non-established supplier |
VAT deductible | Yes |
What a simplified invoice must contain
Article 226b sets the minimum. A Member State cannot require more than this on a simplified invoice.
Date of issue
Identification of the supplier: name, address and VAT identification number
Type of goods or services supplied
VAT amount payable, or the information needed to calculate it. A gross total and the VAT rate is enough
For a credit note or other document that amends an earlier invoice, a specific and unambiguous reference to that invoice and to what is being changed
A sequential invoice number is not on the list. Most national rules require one anyway, and every billing system assigns one, so treat it as required in practice.
Full invoice vs simplified invoice
Field | Full invoice | Simplified invoice |
|---|---|---|
Date of issue | Required | Required |
Sequential invoice number | Required | Not required by the Directive, usually required nationally |
Supplier name, address, VAT number | Required | Required |
Customer name and address | Required | Not required |
Customer VAT number | Required for reverse charge and intra-EU goods, optional nationally otherwise | Not required |
Description of goods or services | Quantity and nature per line | Type of goods or services |
Supply date if different from issue date | Required | Not required |
Unit price excluding VAT, discounts | Required | Not required |
Taxable amount per rate | Required | Not required |
VAT rate and VAT amount | Required, per rate | VAT amount, or gross amount plus rate |
Special wording (reverse charge, exemption, self-billing) | Required where applicable | Not applicable, since those supplies can't use a simplified invoice |
Thresholds by country
Article 220a obliges every Member State to accept simplified invoices up to €100 including VAT, or the equivalent in national currency. Article 238 lets a Member State raise that to €400 after consulting the VAT Committee, and lets it apply the simplification where commercial or technical practice makes a full invoice particularly difficult. Each country has picked its own figure.
Country | Maximum amount (incl. VAT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Austria | €400 | Kleinbetragsrechnung, §11(6) UStG |
Belgium | €400 | Vereenvoudigde factuur, Royal Decree No. 1 Article 13. Still allowed under the 2026 Peppol mandate; a B2B simplified invoice must then be a structured e-invoice too |
France | €150 | Facture simplifiée, CGI Annexe II Article 242 nonies A |
Germany | €250 | Kleinbetragsrechnung, §33 UStDV |
Ireland | €100 | |
Italy | €400 | Fattura semplificata, Article 21-bis DPR 633/72, raised from €100 in 2019 |
Netherlands | €100 | Vereenvoudigde factuur, Article 34d Wet OB |
Spain | €400 | Factura simplificada, RD 1619/2012. €3,000 for retail, hospitality, transport, parking and other listed sectors |
EU minimum | €100 | Article 220a |
EU maximum | €400 | Article 238 |
The threshold is tested against the total of the invoice including VAT, not against individual lines.
When a simplified invoice is not allowed
Article 220a(2) and Article 238(3) rule it out in three cases, regardless of amount:
Intra-EU supplies of goods (Article 138). The customer's VAT number is what makes the exemption work, and a simplified invoice doesn't carry it.
Distance sales taxable in another Member State.
Reverse-charge supplies by a supplier not established in the customer's country. A cross-border B2B SaaS subscription for €49 a month cannot go on a simplified invoice. It needs the customer's VAT number and the words "reverse charge".
Beyond that, national rules add their own limits. Several countries restrict simplified invoices to B2C or to retail-type sectors, and some require a full invoice whenever the customer asks for one.
Where you actually see them
Simplified invoices are the receipts in your expenses pile:
A restaurant till receipt for a client lunch. Name, address, VAT number, items, total, VAT rate. It qualifies, and your accountant can reclaim the VAT on it.
A parking garage or toll ticket.
A hardware store receipt for €85 of cables.
An app store or marketplace purchase receipt under the national threshold.
For a subscription or usage-based software business they are rare. B2B contracts almost always exceed the threshold, the customer's finance team wants its name and VAT number on the document anyway, and cross-border B2B is excluded outright. Where they do appear is in B2C and prosumer plans sold domestically, and in physical retail channels.
Simplified invoices and e-invoicing mandates
Mandatory structured e-invoicing doesn't abolish the simplified invoice but it narrows it. Belgium's rule since January 2026 is the clearest example: domestic B2B invoices must be exchanged as structured e-invoices over Peppol, and the Belgian tax authority's position is that a simplified invoice between two Belgian businesses must also be structured. Since a Peppol BIS invoice has mandatory buyer fields, the simplification is largely theoretical for B2B. B2C receipts are untouched by the mandate and can stay on paper or as a PDF.
Spain's Verifactu rules take a different route: simplified invoices keep the same thresholds but from 2027 must carry a QR code and be registered with the tax authority like any other invoice.
Where Solvimon fits
Solvimon issues full invoices. Every invoice carries the billed entity's name, address and validated VAT number, line-level descriptions and unit prices, a per-rate VAT breakdown and the tax notes a cross-border supply needs, so a Solvimon invoice is valid in every Member State no matter the amount. A full invoice is always acceptable where a simplified one would be, and the reverse isn't true, so for a B2B software business there's no reason to issue anything less. If you are selling the same product to consumers and businesses across several countries and want one invoice format that is correct everywhere, talk to one of our experts.
FAQ
Can I deduct VAT on a simplified invoice?
Yes, as long as it carries the five mandatory items. It is a valid VAT invoice.
Does the threshold include or exclude VAT?
It includes VAT. A Dutch simplified invoice can be for €100 gross, meaning €82.64 net at 21%.
Is a cash register receipt a simplified invoice?
If it shows the supplier's name, address and VAT number, the date, what was sold and the VAT amount or rate, yes. A receipt that shows only a total is not.
Can I issue a simplified invoice to a business customer?
EU law doesn't forbid it below the threshold for domestic supplies. Some Member States restrict it to consumers, and any business customer can demand a full invoice. In Belgium a B2B simplified invoice must now also be a structured e-invoice.
Can I issue a simplified invoice to a customer in another EU country?
Not for goods shipped intra-EU, not for distance sales, and not for services where the customer accounts for the VAT. In practice that excludes almost all cross-border B2B.
What if the amount later exceeds the threshold?
The test is the invoice total. If you are consolidating several supplies onto one invoice and the total passes the threshold, issue a full invoice.
This page was checked against the VAT Directive and national tax authority guidance in October 2026. It is a general explanation and doesn't replace advice from your tax adviser.
Related
EU invoice requirements. When an invoice is compulsory and the full field list.
Invoice. The document and the invoice-to-cash process.
Reverse charge invoice. The cross-border B2B case that can never be simplified.
E-invoicing. The mandates that are narrowing where simplified invoices apply.
Invoice numbering. Not strictly required on a simplified invoice, required everywhere else.
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