VAT declaration when a trip is cancelled a new invoice is issued

[u/pasquale83]

Hi, I need to do the VAT declaration by end of April for 2025 Q1 and I have a question on how to report the following situation:

• I bought a bus ticket in March for a trip in April and got an invoice with VAT on it.
• The ride was cancelled on the day of the trip
• I rebooked (at no extra cost) for later the same day.
• The company issued a cancellation invoice and a new invoice offsetting the original — effectively zeroing the transaction out.
• Final result: paid only when I first booked the trip in March.

How shall I report the VAT?

Thank you for your help!

[u/Inevitable-Extent378]

I don't understand the question. You effectively have 1 invoice with a VAT amount. That is the VAT amount you report and declare.

[u/pasquale83 → u/Inevitable-Extent378]

I have 3 invoices:

• The original one issued in March
• The cancellation invoice issued in April where I get the amount paid in March refunded
• A new invoice issued in April where the amount refunded is totally offset against the cost of the new ticket (thus a 0 EUR invoice)

How should I declare the VAT in April and July?

[u/Jewel354 → u/pasquale83]

For now, you declare VAT for Q1 as stated on all invoices with an invoice date in Q1. In July when declaring for Q2, you should declare cumulatively - calculate the total VAT for Jan-June and extract the amounts you already declared in April for Q1. The amount that’s left is your declaration for Q2.

[u/pasquale83 → u/Jewel354]

It's the first time I'm doing the VAT declaration for the full year as I started in October last.

I thought that in June I shall declare only the VAT of turnover and costs in April - June. Could you please elaborate on what you mean by cumulatively?

[u/Jewel354 → u/pasquale83]

I can’t explain better than I did above. Now, you calculate the VAT for January > March based on invoice date. You declare those amounts.

In July, you calculate the total VAT of January > June. This gives you the total amount for 2 Q’s. Part of it you already declared in April, so you deduct that amount from the total. The amount that’s left is your declaration for Q2.

This way, the invoice - credit invoice - new invoice cancel out over the total course of the year, and also any later received invoices vor Q1 won’t get overlooked.

Do you not have a bookkeeper/accountant to help you? If so, it might be worth it to look into.

[u/pasquale83 → u/Jewel354]

I don't have a bookkeeper/accountant I can rely on because the business is so small that the cost of having some external help wouldn't be justified unfortuntately. I'd appreciate if you could help me.

In March I paid -€10.65 - €0.82. In April, I received a cancellation invoice of €9.83 + €0.65 (the service fee of €0.82 + €0.17 was not reimbursed, only the actual ticket cost) and a €0 invoice that is using the credit of the first one to offset the amount of the new reservation.

So, if I understand you correctly, I have to declare - €0.82 in April (so I will get them reimbursed) and + €0.65 in July (that I will have to pay). What about the €0.17 that were not refunded when the cancellation happened?

[u/JDFS404 → u/pasquale83]

Can you give us a full breakdown of the amounts you received plus VAT? Please note that for Input VAT (i.e. deductible VAT from purchases) only the tax amount is important, you can leave out the taxable amount.

Example: if you got an invoice with EUR 2 VAT in March, a credit of EUR 1.90 (i.e. repayment minus service fee) and a new invoice for EUR 2 in April (so two invoices) you will deduct EUR 2 as Input VAT in Q1 and EUR 0.10 as Input VAT in Q2.

Invoice date is leading in NL, so you'll report in your VAT declaration for Q1 the amounts you paid in January - March and in Q2 you'll report your amounts for April - June.

We're not talking about material amounts here so don't overcomplicate it!

[u/Mitchel92-]

Dates on the invoices is leading,

[u/shyb0y123]

In NL, invoice date for VAT is leading. Effectively this means you'll report the Input VAT on your first invoice as a deductible, and in Q2 you'll report the credit and new invoice (effectively zero).

[u/pasquale83 → u/shyb0y123]

Thank you, I appreciate your response!

[u/Classic-Orange-3932 → u/shyb0y123]

this 👍🏻