What every invoice must show
- The words "original tax invoice" in a prominent place — the statute asks for the phrase itself, not just a heading that means the same thing.
- Your name, address and VAT registration number, and the same three for the customer when the customer is VAT registered. You may leave the customer's details off an invoice to someone who is not registered.
- An individualised serial number, the date of issue, a description of what was supplied, and the quantity or volume.
- Three money figures shown separately: the consideration, the VAT charged, and the consideration including VAT. Any price you advertise or quote must be VAT-inclusive unless you show the exclusive price, the VAT and the inclusive price with equal prominence.
Numbering, keeping and correcting invoices
A registered person must give the customer the original tax invoice at the time of the supply, and may issue only one original per supply. If a customer loses it, you may issue a copy clearly marked as a copy (VAT Act, 2026, section 62(1)). No tax invoice is needed for a cash sale of P20 or less (section 59(2) and Schedule 5 paragraph 7). A registered customer who never received an invoice can ask for one within 60 days of the supply, and you must provide it within 14 days (section 61).
Corrections are made with documents, not by editing the invoice. A tax credit note or tax debit note, carrying the Schedule 4 particulars, must reach the customer by the end of the tax period in which the adjustment happened, and is headed "original tax credit note" or the debit equivalent (section 60 and Schedule 4 paragraph 4).
Keep every invoice and note you issue and receive, with copies of what you issued in chronological order (section 62(3)-(4)). Under the Tax Administration Act, 2026, section 14, records must be in English or Setswana, held in Botswana, in Pula, and kept for eight years after the end of the tax period. BURS can require a longer hold of up to five more years while an assessment, an unused loss or an audit is open, and can require an English or Setswana translation at your cost.
Electronic invoicing in Botswana
Mandatory, but not yet switched on. The Tax Administration Act 2026 requires anyone supplying goods or services, or taking payment for them, to issue an electronic invoice through an approved electronic billing system, and the VAT Act carries the same requirement for tax invoices and credit and debit notes. The regulations set the start at nine months after the Act commenced, which is 1 April 2027. BURS has not yet published the approved system or its technical specification. Until then a paper or PDF tax invoice carrying the Schedule 4 particulars is valid. Once it starts, not using the system costs P10,000 for each month you do not, and failing to issue an electronic invoice for a sale costs up to P10,000.