Free Invoice Generator (Botswana)

Today a Botswana invoice can be issued in any form the law accepts as a document. The VAT Act, 2026 defines an invoice as any document, including in electronic format, that states an obligation to make a payment, so a PDF or a paper invoice is a genuine invoice. A VAT-registered business gives the customer the original tax invoice at the time of the supply (VAT Act, section 59(1)), with a cash sale of P20 or less the one exception (section 59(2) and Schedule 5).

Two cases run the other way round. On a reverse charged supply, such as services bought from a foreign supplier, the registered buyer prepares the invoice at the time of the supply and the supplier does not issue one (section 59(3)-(4)). For ordinary purchases a customer may prepare the invoice for its supplier, called a recipient-created tax invoice, but only with written approval from the Commissioner General for those supplies and a written agreement with the supplier that the supplier will not invoice. The original goes to the supplier and the customer keeps a copy (section 59(5)-(6)). Without that approval, the supplier invoices.

The duty to invoice electronically is wider than VAT. Section 15 of the Tax Administration Act, 2026 applies to every taxpayer who supplies goods, renders services or receives payment for them, and section 59(8) of the VAT Act repeats it for tax invoices, credit notes and debit notes. The system is not a PDF template. The Act defines an electronic billing system as one approved by BURS that both issues the electronic invoice and records and transmits the sales data to BURS. A document you build in a word processor or invoice generator is not issued through that system.

Misuse of the system carries more than a fine for not using it. Issuing an electronic invoice that is false or incorrect in a material particular, misleading the Commissioner General through the system, or tampering with it is an offence punishable by a fine of up to P100,000, up to two years in prison, or both (Tax Administration Act, section 112). Repeated failure to comply with the system can also lead BURS to give seven days' notice and then close the business premises for up to 14 days (section 48). BURS has not published the approved system, so watch burs.org.bw and eservices.burs.org.bw for the onboarding notice.