Tax Invoice Template for South African Venues and Caterers

Full or abridged: the R5,000 line

SARS works with two tax invoice formats. A full tax invoice is required when the consideration for the supply, including VAT, is more than R5,000. An abridged tax invoice is allowed when it is more than R50 and no more than R5,000. At R50 or below you do not need to issue a tax invoice at all, although you still need a record of the sale.

For a venue or caterer this is simple in practice. A plated dinner for 80 people is never below R5,000, so the full format is your default. The abridged format is useful for small add-ons billed separately, such as a cake-cutting fee or an extra hour of hire.

The template has both layouts on separate sheets. It checks the VAT-inclusive total and warns you if you try to use the abridged layout above R5,000.

Full tax invoice: corporate year-end function

Friday year-end function for 80 staff of a VAT-registered company at a Sandton function venue

• Client VAT number shown because the recipient is a vendor.
• Deposit received earlier is deducted from the amount due.
• Issued within 21 days of the function.

The seven things SARS checks on a full tax invoice

The SARS checklist for a full tax invoice has seven criteria, and all seven must be met. The document must carry the words Tax Invoice, VAT Invoice or Invoice. It must show your name, address and VAT registration number, and the recipient's name and address, plus their VAT number if they are a vendor. It needs a serial number and date of issue, an accurate description of what you supplied, the quantity or volume, and the value of the supply, the VAT charged and the total consideration.

The abridged version drops the recipient's details and the quantity, which is why it is only allowed for smaller amounts. It still needs the heading, your details and VAT number, the serial number and date, a description, and the value, VAT and total.

Two things trip venues up. The first is the description: one line saying Function, 12 December is not an accurate description of hire, catering and a bar package. The second is the client's VAT number. Corporate clients will send the invoice back if it is missing, and their input tax claim depends on it.

When to issue it, and what deposits do to the timing

The VAT Act gives you 21 days from the time of supply to issue the tax invoice. Under section 9 the time of supply is generally the earlier of the invoice or the payment, which is why a large pre-payment can pull the VAT into an earlier period than the event itself.

Deposits have their own rule. A deposit, refundable or not, is not treated as payment for the supply until you apply it as consideration. A booking deposit that is simply held to secure a date sits outside VAT until it is applied to the final bill or forfeited. Once you apply it, it counts. Agree the treatment with your accountant, write it into your booking terms, and follow it the same way every time.

A clean pattern for functions: issue a receipt for the deposit, issue one full tax invoice after the event showing the full value, deduct the deposit already received, and show the balance due.

What your invoice must show in South Africa

Guest numbers changed after the invoice? Use a credit or debit note

Final numbers often move after the invoice has gone out: the client confirms 90 guests and 84 arrive, or the bar tab runs over. Do not edit and resend an invoice with the same number. Issue a credit note for a reduction or a debit note for an increase, referencing the original invoice number, and let both documents stand in your records.

The same applies to cancellations. If a function is cancelled after you invoiced it, a credit note reverses the VAT. Any cancellation fee you keep is itself a charge that your accountant may treat as a taxable supply, so check how it should be shown before you issue the paperwork.

Registered, deregistering or never registered

From 1 April 2026 compulsory VAT registration applies once taxable supplies pass R2.3 million in any 12 months, up from R1 million, and voluntary registration starts at R120,000. Some smaller caterers now sit below the compulsory line.

Only a registered vendor may issue a tax invoice or charge VAT. If you deregister, your documents must stop showing VAT from the date SARS confirms. If you were never registered, call your document an invoice, not a tax invoice, and leave VAT off entirely.

Whatever your status, keep copies. SARS requires vendors to retain records, including issued tax invoices, for five years from the end of the relevant tax period.

Billing a client from outside South Africa

Destination weddings bring clients who live in the UK or Germany and want to pay in pounds or euros. The event still happens at your venue in South Africa, so the service is supplied here and standard-rated at 15% like any local booking. Invoice in rand, state the rand VAT, and if the client pays in another currency, record the rand amount your bank actually credited on the receipt.

Exchange differences are a banking matter, not a VAT one. If the rand weakens between the deposit and the balance, the rand price on the invoice does not change unless your contract says it does. Put that sentence in the terms so nobody argues about it at the final payment.

Producing it from the booking instead of retyping it

Most invoice errors come from retyping. The quote said 120 guests, the kitchen sheet said 118, the invoice says 128. In Venura the invoice is built from the booking record, so the menu, numbers, hire and extras you quoted flow into the invoice, and deposits already received are deducted automatically. You set VAT at 15% per line in rand. Pricing for South Africa is quoted individually, so ask us for a price.

Invoice questions from South Africa