Nepal tax guide

The tax invoice (कर बीजक) in Nepal: format, rules, abbreviated invoices and the QR code

Last checked 27 October 2026 (10 Kartik 2083). By Black Rock, the maker of BRAccount.

A tax invoice (कर बीजक) is the bill a VAT-registered business in Nepal must issue for every sale (VAT Act section 14). Annex 5 of the VAT Rules fixes what it shows: the title, a serial number, the dates, both parties' names, addresses and PANs, each item with its HS code, the discount, the taxable value, the VAT and the total, in three copies. A retailer may issue an abbreviated tax invoice for sales up to Rs 10,000 with the tax officer's leave. Since the Electronic Billing Procedure 2082, a bill from billing software also carries a dynamic QR code, numbers from 1 each fiscal year, prints once, and is cancelled only with its reason. This guide sets out each rule with its section.

The short version

Every registered person issues a tax invoice for every supply (VAT Act s14). Not issuing one costs Rs 10,000 each time; a buyer who does not take one, Rs 1,000 (s29(1)(c)).
The bill shows कर बीजक on its face, the number and dates, the seller's and buyer's name, address and PAN, the payment method, each line with its HS code, description, quantity, unit price and amount, the discount, the taxable value, the VAT and the total (VAT Rules r17, Annex 5).
Three copies: the original for the buyer, one for the tax office, one for the seller (r17).
An abbreviated tax invoice (संक्षिप्त कर बीजक) is for retail sales only, with the tax officer's leave, never above Rs 10,000 of taxable value, naming every item; the buyer gets no input credit on it and may always ask for a full invoice (r18).
From billing software: a dynamic QR code, numbers from 1 each fiscal year and outlet, one print with every reprint marked Copy of Original, the issuing user's name and time, no deletion (Electronic Billing Procedure 2082, clause 6.2).
A wrong bill is cancelled with its reason or reversed with a credit note, never edited. Software that can delete or edit issued bill data costs the business Rs 5 lakh (Finance Act 2083).

Who must issue a tax invoice, and when

Section 14 of the VAT Act requires every person registered for VAT to issue a tax invoice for every supply of goods or services, in the form the Rules prescribe. The VAT on a sale falls due at the earliest of four events: the invoice is issued, the goods are taken, the service is done, or the money is received (s6(2)), so an advance from a customer is taxed, and billed, when it arrives.

An unregistered business must not issue a tax invoice or show VAT on any bill: collecting VAT without being registered costs all of the VAT collected (s29(1)(d)). Below the registration thresholds, Rs 50 lakh for goods and Rs 30 lakh for services in twelve months, a business displays a notice that it need not register; the VAT guide covers registration.

Prices shown to the public, on tags, menus and shelves, include VAT (r14ख), and the bill itself may state the VAT inside a VAT-inclusive price: price × 13 ÷ 113 at 13% (r18(7)).

What a tax invoice must show

Annex 5 of the VAT Rules sets the full tax invoice (r17), and Annex 6 of the Electronic Billing Procedure 2082 the same bill from software. Together:

On the bill	The rule
The title कर बीजक (Tax Invoice), printed clearly on its face	VAT Rules r17(2). A reprint from software is titled बीजक and marked Copy of Original (n)
The invoice number	In sequence; from software, from 1 each fiscal year and for each outlet (Procedure 6.2(ख), (ग))
The transaction date and the issue date	In Bikram Sambat; the AD date may sit alongside
The seller's name, address and PAN	r17, Annex 5
The buyer's name, address and PAN	r17, Annex 5; a PAN is required when the buyer is a business
The payment method: cash, cheque, credit or other	Annex 5
For each line: serial number, HS code, description, quantity, unit, unit price and amount	r17(1): at least the first four digits of the HS code, taken from the customs declaration for imported goods; a description naming the kind, size, model and brand
The discount and its percentage, the taxable value, the VAT rate and amount, the total, and the amount in words	r17, Annex 5; VAT at 13% or 5%
The seller's signature	r17; from software, the name of the user who issued the bill with the date and time (Procedure 6.2(छ))
A dynamic QR code	Procedure 6.2(ङ): seller's PAN, bill number and date, buyer's PAN if any, total and tax, and the IRD verification link when connected to CBMS
For a sale in foreign currency, the rupee amount at Nepal Rastra Bank's rate on the day	r21

The IRD's answers on HS codes allow the first four digits on the bill for goods; the full eight digits decide whether a good is exempt under Schedule 1. The three Annex 6 layouts are the tax invoice for a VAT-registered seller, the abbreviated tax invoice for retail, and the plain invoice (बीजक) of a business registered for income tax only, which shows no VAT.

The three copies

A tax invoice is made in three copies (r17): the original for the buyer, a second kept for the tax office and a third for the seller's own records. From billing software the same rule becomes one print: the first print is the original कर बीजक, and every later print or PDF is titled बीजक and marked Copy of Original with its count, with who printed which copy, and when, in the activity log (Procedure 6.2(च)).

Abbreviated tax invoices for retail sales

Who may issue one: A retailer selling to final consumers, with the tax officer's leaver18
Limit: Never above Rs 10,000 of taxable value a sale; VAT included in the price shownr18, Procedure Annex 6
What it shows: Every item named, the total with VAT included; the VAT inside it is price × rate ÷ (100 + rate)r18, r18(7)
What the buyer gets: No input credit on an abbreviated invoice; a full tax invoice whenever the buyer asks for oner18(3)
Format: Annex 6 of the VAT Rules; from software, the संक्षिप्त कर बीजक layout of the procedure's Annex 6

A business that bills some customers with full invoices and walk-in customers with abbreviated ones keeps both in the same sales book, and the same bill series rules apply.

Bills from billing software: the 2082 rules

Since 2082/12/01 (15 March 2026) the Electronic Billing Procedure 2082 sets what a bill from software must do, whether or not the business is connected to CBMS. Clause 6.2:

Bills print in the Annex 6 format and meet the tax laws (6.2(क)).
Bill numbers start at 1 every fiscal year and run in sequence; a business billing from several places gives each outlet its own code and sequence (6.2(ख), (ग)).
Hotels and restaurants may use order slips, numbered and logged, tied to the bill (6.2(घ)).
A dynamic QR code on every bill (6.2(ङ)).
A bill prints once; a reprint says Copy of Original and shows how many times it was printed (6.2(च)).
The bill shows the name of the user who issued it, with the date and time (6.2(छ)).
A bill is cancelled only with its reason, as a reverse entry; returns are sales returns; both keep their own registers and update the Annex 5 Standard View (6.2(ज)).
No entered transaction can be deleted or altered, from the front end or the back end (6.3(घ)).

Above the turnover lines the IRD sets, the same bills must reach CBMS the moment they are issued. Using billing software at all needs the software to be listed with the IRD and the business to hold its tax office's permit (Annex 4); a business below the lines may keep issuing paper bills.

Credit notes, debit notes and cancelled bills

A bill is never edited after it is issued. Goods returned, a price reduced or an error found are handled with a credit note (क्रेडिट नोट) or a debit note (डेबिट नोट) under rule 20: headed as such, with a serial number, the date, both parties' names, addresses and registration numbers, the original invoice's number and date, the description and the reason, the amount and the tax. A monthly account of credit and debit notes is kept, and they are declared in the VAT return's adjustments.

From software, a bill not yet reported to CBMS is cancelled with its reason and listed in the Reverse Entry Register; a bill CBMS has already received is reversed with a credit note, which goes to CBMS's bill-return endpoint; a corrected bill is listed beside its original. A bill issued without any supply costs 50% of its value (s29(1c)).

Goods on the move

Goods worth more than Rs 10,000 moved outside the area the IRD designates travel with their tax invoice; moving them without it costs Rs 10,000 each time (s14(4), s29(1)(c1)), and breaking the IRD's directive on moving goods Rs 50,000 each time (s29(1)(m), Finance Act 2083).

What a wrong or missing invoice costs

Breach	What it costs	Section
No tax invoice issued for a sale	Rs 10,000 each time	VAT Act s29(1)(c)
A buyer who does not take the invoice	Rs 1,000 each time	s29(1)(c)
Collecting VAT without being registered	All of the VAT collected	s29(1)(d)
Goods above Rs 10,000 moved without the invoice	Rs 10,000 each time	s29(1)(c1)
An invoice issued without a supply	50% of the invoice value	s29(1c)
Billing software that can delete or edit issued bill data	Rs 5,00,000; other breaches of the e-billing duties Rs 1,00,000	s29(1)(छ२), Finance Act 2083
Stock above what the purchase book supports	50% of its market value	s29(1b)

Late returns and payments have their own fees and interest; the VAT return guide and penalties and appeals set them out.

Keeping invoices and the books they feed

Every invoice issued and received, with the credit and debit notes, feeds the sales book (Annex 9) and the purchase book (Annex 8) a registered business keeps for each tax period, and the monthly VAT account (Annex 7). Records are kept six years (r23(4)). The sales book lists, per bill, the date, the invoice number, the buyer's name and PAN, the total, exempt sales, taxable sales with VAT, and exports with the country and the export declaration; the purchase book lists the supplier's invoice or customs declaration, the supplier's name and PAN, and the taxable purchases and imports with their VAT. A buyer claims input credit only on a full tax invoice dated within the last year (r39), never on an abbreviated one.

How BRAccount issues tax invoices

The IRD Tax Invoice is the default print of every sales invoice in BRAccount, with the abbreviated tax invoice and the income-tax-only invoice as the other two Annex 6 layouts. Each bill carries the QR code, the PAN of both parties, the Bikram Sambat and AD dates and the fiscal year; the series starts afresh each fiscal year and outlet; the first print is the original and every reprint says Copy of Original with its count; a cancellation needs its reason and a return is a credit note. The IRD sales and purchase books and the Annex 5 Standard View are built from the same bills. The VAT billing page shows the billing side in full; BRAccount is not yet on the IRD's list of e-billing software.

Questions

What is a tax invoice in Nepal?

The bill (कर बीजक) a VAT-registered business must issue for every sale under section 14 of the VAT Act, in the form Annex 5 of the VAT Rules prescribes, in three copies. It is the document on which the buyer's input credit and the seller's VAT return rest.

What must a VAT bill in Nepal show?

The words कर बीजक, the invoice number, the transaction and issue dates, the seller's and the buyer's name, address and PAN, the payment method, each item with its HS code, description, quantity, unit price and amount, the discount, the taxable value, the VAT at its rate, the total and the seller's signature. From billing software it also shows the issuing user, the time and a dynamic QR code.

Can I issue a tax invoice without the buyer's PAN?

To a consumer, yes: the buyer's PAN goes on the bill when there is one, and it is required when the buyer is a business. The QR code then carries the buyer's PAN if any. A business buyer needs its PAN on the bill to claim input credit.

What is an abbreviated tax invoice?

A short bill a retailer may issue to final consumers with the tax officer's leave, for sales up to Rs 10,000 each, naming every item with the VAT inside the price. The buyer gets no input credit on it and may always ask for a full tax invoice (VAT Rules r18).

How do I work out the VAT inside a VAT-inclusive price?

Multiply the price by the rate and divide by 100 plus the rate: at 13%, price × 13 ÷ 113 (VAT Rules r18(7)). A Rs 1,130 bill holds Rs 130 of VAT.

Can I cancel or edit a tax invoice after issuing it?

Never edit it. A wrong bill is cancelled with its reason and reissued, or reversed with a credit note that names the original bill; from software, a bill already reported to CBMS can only be reversed by a credit note. Software that can delete or edit issued bills costs the business Rs 5 lakh.

Does every line need an HS code?

Yes, at least the first four digits (VAT Rules r17(1)), taken from the customs declaration for imported goods. The full eight-digit code decides whether a good is exempt under Schedule 1.

Does a tax invoice need a QR code?

A bill from billing software does, under clause 6.2(ङ) of the Electronic Billing Procedure 2082: the seller's PAN, bill number and date, the buyer's PAN if any, the total and tax, and the IRD verification link once connected to CBMS. A paper bill from a business below the turnover lines does not.

What is the fine for not issuing a tax invoice?

Rs 10,000 each time for the seller, and Rs 1,000 for a buyer who does not take one (VAT Act s29(1)(c)). An invoice issued without any supply costs 50% of its value.

How long must invoices be kept?

Six years, with the sales book, purchase book, VAT account and the credit and debit notes (VAT Rules r23(4)). The IRD may assess within four years of a return, with no limit for fraud.

Sources

IRD billing software guide Request access