Free Invoice Generator (Namibia)

A VAT-registered business produces its tax invoice itself, in whatever tool it likes: word processor, spreadsheet, accounting package or an online generator. The VAT Act does not prescribe the medium for issuing one.

What the Act does regulate is who may issue it and when. Section 21(1) of the VAT Act obliges a registered supplier to provide a tax invoice on request, and section 21(3) says no tax invoice may be given in circumstances other than those the section sets out. So a business that is not VAT-registered should not issue a document headed "tax invoice"; it can issue an ordinary invoice or receipt instead.

A PDF sent by email is acceptable as an invoice. Under section 17(1) of the Electronic Transactions Act 4 of 2019, a communication is not invalid just because it is a data message, and section 19 treats a data message as "writing" where it remains accessible for later reference. The usual route is therefore a PDF that is numbered, kept and sent to the customer.

The Commissioner can allow departures from the standard layout (Schedule VI, paragraph 1, opens with "except as the Commissioner may otherwise allow"), and a buyer can issue the invoice instead of the seller (self-billing) only with the Commissioner's prior written approval and an agreement with the supplier that the supplier will not issue its own (section 21(9)).

Whatever tool you use, the copies you keep must be held in English at your place of business in Namibia (section 48(1)).