What every invoice must show
- The words 'Value Added Tax Invoice' or 'VAT Invoice' in a prominent place on the document.
- For both parties, the commercial name, postal address, physical address, TIN and VAT registration number — the buyer's details as well as your own.
- An individualised invoice number taken from a consecutively numbered invoice book or record, the date of issue, and a description with the quantity or volume supplied.
- Only one VAT invoice may exist per transaction, and a VAT invoice goes only to another registered vendor. If the buyer loses the original, the replacement must be clearly marked COPY.
Numbering, keeping and correcting invoices
Section 48(1) of the VAT Act 2001 requires the original VAT invoices, credit notes and debit notes received, a copy of every one issued, and customs documents for imports and exports to be kept in Lesotho, in Sesotho or English. Books of account must also be kept up to date in Lesotho in one of those two languages (section 48(2)). The Act sets no fixed number of years: records are kept for as long as they remain material in the administration of the Act, which RSL's guide VAT 104 reads as as long as the business exists.
A VAT invoice is not edited after issue. When the supply is cancelled, the rate or quantity was wrong, the agreed price changes or goods come back, the seller issues a credit note (tax overcharged) or a debit note (tax undercharged) under section 25, with the particulars of Schedule III. RSL guide VAT 105 asks each note to give the reason, identify the original supply and show the original value, the correct value and the VAT difference.
A vendor who fails to give an invoice, credit note or debit note when required commits an offence under section 60(1): a fine of M2,000 to M6,000, or one to three years in prison, or both. Issuing one when the law does not allow it is also an offence, with a fine of M4,000 to M12,000 and two to six years if deliberate or reckless (section 60(2)). Failing to keep proper records carries the same penalties (section 64).
Electronic invoicing in Lesotho
Yes, since 1 April 2026. The Value Added Tax (E-Invoicing) Regulations 2026 (Legal Notice No. 25 of 2026) set up an Invoice Data Management System (IDMS) run by RSL and a vendor portal called Lekuka at portal.rsl.org.ls, where you register your branches and devices and see submitted and received invoices. A vendor must buy an accredited Electronic Billing System — an ERP, accounting or billing system, a cash register or a POS solution — from an accredited supplier, register it on the IDMS, get a digital certificate for it, and arrange data connectivity so it can report transactions. Every invoice then carries, on top of the VAT Act particulars, the method of payment, the type of transaction, the name of the person issuing it, a sequential serial number, the serial number of the billing system in the IDMS, the system's digital signature and a QR code; on a business-to-business or business-to-government sale you must ask the customer for their TIN. A pro-forma must show 'PRO-FORMA' under the header and 'THIS IS NOT AN INVOICE' at the bottom. Issuing a non-compliant invoice carries a fixed penalty of M50,000, and not issuing one at all M200,000. The obligation arrives business by business: the regulations say the Commissioner-General requires a vendor to use a billing system by notice published in the Gazette, and no such notice was published on RSL's site as at September 2026, so ask RSL whether your business is in scope yet.