Credit notes and corrective invoices in Slovakia: when to issue them, what they must contain and VAT

A client returned part of the goods, you agreed on a discount after a complaint, or you put the wrong VAT ID on an invoice. You do not rewrite an invoice you have sent: you issue a corrective invoice that refers to the original. When the amount goes down it is called a credit note (dobropis), when it goes up a debit note (ťarchopis).^⁠[2]

This guide covers when a corrective invoice is issued, what it must contain and by when, how it shows up in VAT and the control statement, what is not a credit note, and how corrections of e-invoices will work from 2027.

When a credit note is issued

The VAT Act requires the tax base to be corrected in three situations:^⁠[1]

• when a supply is cancelled in full or in part, or goods are returned in full or in part,
• when the price is reduced after the tax point, for example a discount or a settled complaint,
• when the price is increased, which is a debit note.^⁠[1]

Formal errors are corrected with a corrective invoice too, for instance a wrong customer VAT ID or a missing date of supply. You state the number of the original invoice and the correct detail.^⁠[2]

What a corrective invoice must contain

Any document that changes the original invoice and refers to it specifically and unambiguously is also an invoice.^⁠[1] A corrective invoice need not repeat every particular: it is enough if it states the sequential number of the original invoice and the data that change.^⁠[1]⁠[2]

In practice a credit note also carries its own sequential number, the date of issue, the reason for the correction and the difference in the tax base and VAT, so the customer can see what changed and why without digging.

Deadline for issuing it

A VAT payer issues the corrective invoice within 15 days of the end of the calendar month in which the event giving rise to the correction occurred.^⁠[1]⁠[3]

The Financial Administration's example: on 1 February a school complained about painting work done in January, and the VAT payer settled the complaint with a discount on 2 February. The corrective invoice must be issued by 15 March.^⁠[3]

How a credit note affects VAT

Credit notes in the control statement

The supplier reports the corrective invoice in section C.1 of the control statement, and a customer who received it in section C.2, in each case for the period in which it was issued or received. This applies even to a purely formal correction that does not change the tax.^⁠[5]

What is not a credit note

• An unpaid invoice. If the customer does not pay, that is not a credit note. Correcting the tax base for an uncollectible receivable follows a separate procedure under § 25a, using a corrective document that is not an invoice.^⁠[1] How to recover the money is covered in Unpaid invoice in Slovakia.
• Overwriting the original invoice. You never edit or delete an issued invoice: a correction is always a separate document referring to the original number.^⁠[2]

Credit notes and non-VAT payers

Under the VAT Act, a non-VAT payer must issue a corrective invoice mainly when it corrects an invoice for a service to a foreign business whose place of supply is another country, within 15 days of the end of the month in which the event giving rise to the correction occurred.^⁠[4] For domestic sales this obligation does not apply; in practice a credit note is issued anyway, so that both the customer and the supplier have the right amount in their records.

Credit notes and e-invoicing from 2027

A document that changes an e-invoice must be an e-invoice too, and if the original went through the delivery service, so must the correction.^⁠[7] On the Peppol network the simplest route is a credit note to the original invoice followed by a new, correct invoice. If you send a corrective invoice instead, it must meet the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 rules and refer unambiguously to the original invoice.^⁠[5]

Checklist

• Is the reason a return, cancellation, discount or price increase, or a formal error?
• The corrective invoice states the original invoice number and the data that change.
• It was issued within 15 days of the end of the month in which the event occurred.
• VAT is corrected at the rate and exchange rate of the original transaction.
• A VAT payer has reported it in the return and in section C.1 of the control statement.
• It is not an unpaid invoice; that follows the § 25a procedure.

Credit notes in vporiadku

1. On the issued invoice you choose to create a credit note and add the reason for the correction.
2. vporiadku prepares a draft credit note with the lines of the original invoice; for a partial credit note you adjust only the lines that change before issuing it.
3. The credit note gets a number from its own numbering series; the PDF shows the original invoice number and the reason for the correction.
4. For a VAT payer, vporiadku puts it into section C.1 of the control statement; received credit notes recorded as expenses go into section C.2.

You can issue credit notes and invoices on every plan, including the free Start plan. You can try invoicing for free; the mandatory details of every invoice are summed up in Invoice requirements in Slovakia 2026.