Receipts for deposits and function payments in Ireland

Receipt and advance-payment VAT invoice: you usually need both

A receipt is the customer proof that they paid: amount, date, method and what it was for. A VAT invoice for an advance payment is the tax document Revenue requires within the 15-day window. For couples and private hosts the receipt is what they keep. For companies, the VAT invoice is what their accounts team needs to reclaim VAT.

A practical approach many Irish venues use is to issue the receipt the same day and batch the advance-payment VAT invoices once a month before the 15th. The template on this page has a column that flags any deposit without its VAT invoice.

Treat the two documents as a pair in your records, each pointing to the other by number.

What your receipt must show in Ireland

What an Irish function receipt should show

Your business name, address and VAT number, a unique receipt number, the date received, who paid, the amount including VAT, the method and reference, what the payment was for, and the function date. Then the running total paid and the balance due. If the deposit is non-refundable, one sentence stating it, with the contract clause.

• Business name, address and VAT number
• Receipt number and date the money arrived
• Payer name, and customer name if different
• Amount including VAT, method and reference (IBAN transfer, card, cash)
• What the payment covers and the function date
• Total paid to date and balance due
• Refund terms, with the contract clause
• Reference to the advance-payment VAT invoice number

Receipt schedule: 21st birthday party, function room, Cork

Saturday 21st birthday party for 110 guests in a function room above a Cork city bar and restaurant, 8 pm to 1 am; the sample shows the booked amount the deposit receipt is applied to

• Deposit is VAT-inclusive and taxable when received; advance-payment VAT invoice issued by the 15th of the next month.
• Food at 9% from 1 July 2026; room hire, drinks and equipment at 23%.
• Balance due seven days before the party.

Working out the VAT inside a deposit

Quote deposits as VAT-inclusive round figures, €1,000 or €2,000, and work the VAT out of them. Where a deposit covers a function with mixed rates, apportion it the same way you will apportion the final bill. On a wedding where roughly two-thirds of the value is catering at 9% and one-third is drinks and room hire at 23%, the deposit should be split in the same proportion.

Room hire has its own wrinkle this year. Revenue guidance says an advance payment for the hire of a room is taxed at the rate in force when the invoice for that payment was, or should have been, issued. Deposits taken before 1 January 2026 for hotel function rooms were at 13.5%; later ones are at 23%.

Refunds, cancellations and retained deposits

When a function is cancelled and you refund money, issue a refund receipt that references the original and a VAT credit note for the advance-payment invoice. When you keep a deposit under your cancellation terms, be aware that the Revenue relief allowing venues to reduce their VAT liability on retained deposits only applied to cancellations before 1 January 2022. For later cancellations, take advice on the VAT position of a retained deposit before assuming you can reclaim anything.

Bank transfers, cards and payments from abroad

Most function deposits in Ireland now arrive by bank transfer to your IBAN, often from a parent or from a relative living in the UK or further away. The name on the transfer may not match the booking at all. Ask payers to use the booking reference as the payment reference, and when a transfer arrives without one, match it the same day and send the receipt, so nobody wonders whether their money arrived.

Card payments bring processing fees and the risk of a chargeback. Keep the signed booking form, the receipt showing the refund terms, and the confirmation email together, because the card company will ask for them if a customer disputes the payment months later. Cash is still common for balances on the night of smaller parties. Count it with the host, write the receipt immediately, and bank it the next business day.

Parties paid by many people

Twenty-firsts, retirement dos and communions are often paid for by several family members, sometimes in small amounts over months. Keep one booking and one running balance, and issue a receipt to each payer that shows both their payment and the remaining balance for the whole party. When the host asks who has paid what, a single statement from your template answers it. It also stops the awkward case where two relatives both think they paid the balance.

Tips paid on the night

Hosts sometimes hand over a tip for staff at the end of a function. Record it separately from function payments. Under the Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022, tips paid electronically must be distributed to staff, and businesses must display how tips and service charges are distributed. A tip that is not on the bill is outside the scope of VAT, so it should never appear on the VAT invoice.

Keeping receipts

Revenue requires records relevant to the business to be kept for six years, and written permission is needed to keep them for less. Keep receipts, advance-payment invoices, credit notes and the final invoice for each function together, in date order.

Number receipts in one unbroken sequence across the business, not per function room or per member of staff. If a receipt is issued in error, mark it void and keep it, then issue a correct one. A missing number is the first thing an inspector will ask about, and a voided copy answers it immediately.

Receipt questions from Ireland