1. Introduction

In the previous News, we mentioned the registration process under the Invoice System. In this News, we will introduce obligations of qualified invoice issuers, referring to “Q&A regarding the Invoice System” released by the National Tax Agency (the NTA).


2. Points of attention

The Q&A updated by the NTA clarifies the contents of issuance of qualified invoices and obligations of qualified invoice issuers as follows.

(1) Qualified simplified invoices (Q 24)
In cases where your business transactions involve a large number of unspecified customers such as retailers, restaurants, and taxi businesses, qualified simplified invoices can be issued instead of qualified invoices. In this case, the recipient’s name is not required to describe. Whether sellers can issue the qualified simplified invoices or not should be judged depending on the character of each seller’s business.

(2) Errors in qualified invoices (Q 29)
In cases where qualified invoice issuers (sellers) find any errors in invoices they have issued, they have to correct them and reissue the revised invoices to buyers.

(3) Revised invoices (Q 30)
Any errors in invoices should be corrected by the following ways.
① Issue a new qualified invoice in which errors in the former invoice have been corrected.
② Clarify the corrected parts of errors in the former invoice.

(4) Rounding of fraction (Q46)
The rounding of the tax amount to less than JPY 1.0 in a qualified invoice should be made only once in each tax rate. Even if the amount of consumption tax on a line-by-line basis is indicated just for reference, the rounding should be performed only once in the subtotal of each tax rate. Qualified invoice issuers can select any rounding method (round-up, round-down, normal-rounding) at their discretion.


3. Conclusion

In this News, we mentioned obligations of qualified invoice issuers, referring to “Q&A regarding the Invoice System” released by the NTA. As the next step after registration, qualified invoice issuers should ensure that they can issue qualified invoices appropriately. If necessary, they should reimplement IT systems to meet the requirements under the Invoice System. Due to the introduction of the multiple tax rate system, the Japanese consumption tax system has become increasingly complex. It is highly recommended that businesses should understand the Japanese consumption tax system thoroughly and prepare for the start of the Invoice System in October, 2023.

Please note that this News only introduces general outlines and does not include professional advice. So please make sure not to make any decisions without taking professional advice individually. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

(Reference)
National Tax Agency
“Q&A regarding the Invoice System”（Updated in April, 2022）(in Japanese)

https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/zeimokubetsu/shohi/keigenzeiritsu/pdf/qa/01-01.pdf

（Accessed on 28 September, 2022）