How to issue a credit note or debit note under ZATCA e-invoicing

When one is needed

• The sale is cancelled, in whole or in part.
• Goods are returned.
• The price changes after the invoice, for example a discount agreed later.
• A mistake in the invoice changes the amount or the VAT.

What it must carry

• The document type: credit note or debit note.
• The number of the original invoice, or of each invoice it corrects for the same customer.
• The reason it is issued. ZATCA rejects a note without one.
• Everything a tax invoice of the same kind carries: a standard note for a standard invoice, a simplified note for a simplified one.

The deadline

Issue the note within 15 days after the end of the month in which the change happened. The buyer adjusts its input VAT in the period it receives the note.

Phase 2: clearance and reporting

In Phase 2 a note follows its invoice's path: a standard credit or debit note is cleared by ZATCA before the buyer receives it, and a simplified one is reported within 24 hours.

How Aqid ERP does it

In Aqid ERP a credit note asks for its reason before it is approved, refers to the invoice it corrects, and goes to ZATCA with the reason in the field ZATCA reads. The VAT return picks up the reduction in the same period.