Free Invoice Generator (Ethiopia)

Ethiopia has two layers of receipt rules, and they apply side by side. Under article 19 of the Federal Tax Administration Proclamation No. 983/2016, a taxpayer that must keep books of account has to register the type and quantity of its receipts with the Tax Authority before they are printed, and has to issue a receipt for every transaction. A printing press must check that registration before it prints receipts for you.

Article 20 and Council of Ministers Regulation No. 139/2007 (Negarit Gazeta No. 48, 26 January 2007) add the sales register machine. Which taxpayers must use one is set by Ministry directive, not in the Regulation, and the machine and its software must be accredited. A machine receipt shows, among other things, your registered name, TIN, receipt number, date, what was sold and a separate figure for taxable and non-taxable sales. It does not have to carry the buyer's name and TIN unless the buyer is VAT-registered. While a machine is under repair you may use receipts printed with the Authority's approval, and the duplicate of each is attached to the machine record to avoid double counting.

A plain PDF made in a word processor is none of these: it is neither a registered receipt nor a machine receipt. The article 113 penalty of ETB 50,000 (now article 130 after the 2026 renumbering) applies to transactions carried out without a receipt or invoice, or using any receipt not generated by a sales register machine, unless the machine is under repair or there is another justifiable reason. Proclamation No. 1434/2026 also obliges the Authority to issue a directive on electronic invoices carrying a Quick Response code.