Received VAT invoice: what to check before you deduct

Most writing about the required details of a VAT invoice is aimed at whoever issues it. The consequences, though, land on whoever receives it: the buyer's accountant deducts the input VAT, and if something is missing from the document, the question at an audit is put to them, not to the supplier. This article covers what to check on a received invoice in Lithuania before it is booked, and what to do when something is missing.

The required details of a Lithuanian VAT invoice

The required details are set by Article 80(1) of the Lithuanian VAT Law (the version in force since 1 May 2025). For a received invoice these matter most:

• •Series and number – how the invoice is identified in the i.SAF register and by the supplier
• •Date of issue, and the date of supply if goods were delivered or services provided on a different day
• •The supplier's name, address and VAT number
• •The buyer's – your company's – name, address and VAT number
• •Description and quantity of the goods or services
• •Unit price excluding VAT, and any discounts not already included in the price
• •The taxable amount per VAT rate, the rate itself and the VAT amount in euros

When no VAT is charged or the 0% rate applies, the invoice has to say why – a reference to the Lithuanian VAT Law or the EU VAT Directive, or another explanation – and when the buyer accounts for the VAT, it carries the note "Atvirkštinis apmokestinimas" (reverse charge).

The three details missed most often

First, the buyer. The invoice is addressed to another company in the group, uses an old company name, or leaves out your VAT number. It can still be paid, but the input VAT belongs to the company named as the buyer. For an accounting firm handling several companies this is the most common error: the invoice arrives in a shared mailbox and ends up in the wrong company's books.

Second, a separately shown VAT amount. Some suppliers, especially small or foreign ones, issue an invoice with a single "VAT included" total and no rate or VAT amount. On a document like that, the VAT you would deduct is simply not shown.

Third, the reverse charge note. Without it, a construction invoice looks like one where the supplier forgot the VAT, and it is often booked that way. With it, you calculate the VAT and deduct it yourself.

What to do when a detail is missing

Not every gap removes the right to deduct. The Lithuanian VAT Law does not require, for example, the name or signature of the person who issued the invoice at all. But when what is missing is what determines the VAT – the buyer, the VAT amount, the rate or the supplier's VAT number – the burden of showing the deduction is legitimate falls on you.

The simplest route is to ask the supplier to correct the document: a credit note and a new, correct invoice. That takes a few days; a dispute at an audit takes months. Do it before the period is declared, not after.

Where Ezura helps, and where you decide

Ezura reads every received invoice and shows what you would otherwise look for by eye: it checks a Lithuanian supplier's company code and VAT number against the Register Centre and tax authority records, assigns a VAT code to each line, recognises the reverse charge note, and notices when the same invoice arrives a second time. When something does not match, you see a warning in the review.

The decision stays with you. A warning does not stop the invoice – you decide whether to ask the supplier for a correction or whether the document is fine as it is.

Frequently asked questions

Is an invoice without a signature valid? Yes. The VAT Law does not require a signature, and an invoice received electronically is as much a VAT invoice as a paper one.

Can VAT be deducted on a till receipt? Usually not – a till receipt is not a VAT invoice. If the purchase is for the company, ask for a VAT invoice straight away – the seller issues one at the buyer's request. The exception is a fuel station receipt of up to 150 euros that carries a machine-printed buyer identifier, such as the company's fuel card number: that receipt counts as a VAT invoice.

How do these details relate to i.SAF? In the register of received invoices, the supplier's code, the invoice number, the date and the VAT amounts per rate all come from the same invoice – an error on the document becomes an error in the register.