Credit notes with VAT

When is the VAT ID needed for credit notes?

When you create a credit note (type 381), the recipient's VAT ID is required under certain conditions:

Validation for XRechnungen and electronic invoices

If you send a credit note as an XRechnung, as ZUGFeRD or via the API:

• Standard transactions (within Germany or with a VAT rate): the VAT ID is required
• Tax-exempt or 0% rate (e.g. intra-community supply): the VAT ID can sometimes be empty, but the system may validate this

If the system shows the error message "VAT ID missing despite credit note", this indicates that the system considers the field required.

Solution: add the VAT ID

1. Open the credit note in DRAFT status
2. Enter the customer's VAT ID (if available)
3. Save and generate the XRechnung again

If the customer really has no VAT ID (e.g. a consumer or private individual), select a different transaction type or mark the line item as tax-exempt.

Negative amounts on credit notes

Credit notes are shown in the system with negative amounts. There are two approaches to representing them correctly:

Method 1: Negative quantities (recommended)

Enter the quantity as a negative number:

• Item: consulting services
• Quantity: -10 (instead of 10)
• Price: 120 EUR (positive)
• Calculation: -10 × 120 = -1,200 EUR

Advantage: It is clear that the quantity is negative

Method 2: Negative net price

Enter the price as a negative number:

• Item: consulting services
• Quantity: 10 (positive)
• Price: -120 EUR (negative)
• Calculation: 10 × -120 = -1,200 EUR

Advantage: Serves to document a price reduction

Choose the method that best reflects your business case.

Intra-community supply (reverse charge)

For a credit note for an intra-community supply:

• The VAT rate is 0% (no tax)
• The customer's VAT ID should still be present (to document the reverse charge)

If the system displays the error message "VAT ID missing despite tax category 0%", check:

1. Is the tax category set to "Reverse charge" or "0%"?
2. Has the customer's VAT ID been entered correctly?
3. Regenerate the invoice

XRechnung is still rejected after changing the VAT ID

If you add the VAT ID but the XRechnung is still rejected:

1. The XRechnung must be regenerated: delete the old XML file and create the invoice again (status: DRAFT → CREATED)
2. Cache problem: the system may have cached validation results; generating the file again updates them
3. Check the validation profile: check in your account settings whether a strict XRechnung profile is active

How credit notes are shown in the PDF

Credit notes are often shown with a specific text in the PDF export:

• Sometimes as a "credit note" with negative values
• Sometimes as a "cancellation invoice"
• Sometimes with special symbols or formatting

This is controlled by the program and can be adjusted in the template if necessary.

Displaying and printing UBL credit notes (type 381)

If a UBL credit note can neither be displayed nor downloaded:

1. Check format support: make sure the invoice format supports UBL (e.g. ZUGFeRD, XRechnung)
2. Check the status: the invoice should not be in DRAFT status
3. Contact support: if the file is not generated in a usable form

Labeling negative amounts correctly

For recipient systems to recognize the credit note correctly, the system should use invoiceTypeCode 381. This is set automatically when you create a credit note via the cancellation function.

For manually created credit notes: make sure that you select "Credit note (code 381)" as the invoice type (not 384 = corrected invoice).