The e-invoicing regulation distinguishes two invoice types: the standard tax invoice for business-to-business and business-to-government transactions, and the simplified tax invoice for selling to consumers at the point of sale. The difference is not cosmetic — the two types differ in required fields, in the QR code, and in how they reach ZATCA in Phase 2.
The standard tax invoice (B2B)
Issued from one business to another, or to a government entity. It is the document the buyer relies on to deduct input VAT, so it carries fuller data — most importantly the buyer's VAT registration number where the buyer is registered.
In Phase 2, a standard invoice is submitted to the Fatoora platform for real-time clearance: the Authority's system validates and clears it before you share it with your customer. An uncleared invoice is not a valid tax document.
The simplified tax invoice (point of sale)
Issued when selling to an end consumer — a shop, a restaurant, a pharmacy, a salon — and handed to the customer at the moment of purchase. Its QR code has been mandatory since Phase 1, and the Authority's app verifies it.
In Phase 2, a simplified invoice does not wait for clearance before delivery: it goes to the customer immediately, and is then reported to the platform within 24 hours of issue.
Side by side
| Standard tax invoice | Simplified tax invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction | business ↔ business / government | business → consumer |
| Buyer VAT number | required where the buyer is registered | not required |
| Input VAT deduction | yes — it is the deduction document | not usable for it |
| Phase 2 path | cleared before sharing | reported within 24 hours |
| Delivery | after clearance | immediate, at sale |
Practical notes
- Credit and debit notes follow the type of the original invoice and must reference it; corrections after submission happen through notes, never by editing the invoice.
- The type is decided at issue time from the nature of the transaction, not retrofitted later. A sound invoicing system picks the right type from the context of the sale.
- If your customers are a mix of consumers and businesses — a wholesaler that also sells to walk-ins, say — you will issue both types, and your system must support both paths: clearance and reporting.
In alFatora both types are built from the same document model and take the correct path to the Authority automatically, and you can run the full cycle in a free sandbox before committing to anything.
Was this useful? Review alFatora on Google.
