Shipping document
The commercial invoice on a citrus shipment
The invoice is the seller's demand for payment and the record of what was sold. On a cross-border sale inside the Union it carries no VAT, and that treatment rests on being able to show the goods left the country. A signed CMR note is named among the accepted items of transport evidence, which is why the two documents travel as one file.
The figures
| Who issues it | The seller |
|---|---|
| Mandatory particulars | Listed in article 226 of Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT |
| Intra-Union supply of goods | Exempt from VAT where the conditions of article 138 of Directive 2006/112/EC are met |
| Proof that the goods were dispatched | A signed CMR document or note is among the items listed in article 45a of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011 |
| Our payment terms | Not agreed |
What it changes on an order
You are set up as a new buyer
A wrong company name or VAT number on a first invoice unwinds slowly, because two finance departments and possibly a tax authority end up involved. Check the header before you check the arithmetic.
You are asked to return a signed delivery document
It looks like the seller's own administration and it is not. The transport evidence supports the VAT treatment of the invoice you were sent, which is why the request keeps coming back.
You buy on a price to be fixed
Where the price is settled after shipment, the invoice arrives later than the fruit and the reconciliation is against the packing list rather than the pallets. Agree in advance which document the price attaches to.
What this note does not settle
- This describes what the document is and what supports it. It is not tax advice, and how any supply should be treated is a question for your own adviser.
- Article 45a creates a presumption, not the only route to evidence. National rules on proof continue to apply, and tax authorities can rebut.
- We have no agreed payment terms, no agreed currency and no credit arrangement. Nothing here is an offer of any of those.
Source: Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax, Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011, article 45a
The one document everybody reads
An error on a packing list gets found by a warehouse. An error on an invoice gets found by two finance departments and, eventually, by a tax authority. That is the whole difference in how the two are treated, and it explains why an invoice query moves slower than any other kind: more people have to agree before anything is reissued.
The corollary for a buyer is to check it against the order on the day it arrives rather than on the day it falls due. Descriptions, quantities and the identity of the party being billed are all fixable early and awkward late.
Why the transport paperwork is part of the invoice file
A cross border sale inside the Union is invoiced without the seller charging tax, and that treatment depends on being able to show the goods actually left. The evidence is transport evidence, and a signed carriage note is one of the accepted items. So the file that supports the invoice is not only the invoice.
Which is why a seller chases a signed delivery document that seems, from your side of the transaction, to be entirely his own administrative problem. It is not. Send it back promptly and the rest of the relationship gets easier. Payment terms with us are still to be agreed, and nothing on this page describes a credit arrangement.
Talk to the grower
Tell us the variety, the sizes and the delivery week you need. You get a delivered price and what we can commit to in writing, from the person who picks the fruit.
The grower handles enquiries. Response times are still to be confirmed.