Some suppliers charge you VAT by mistake and later send a refund for only that VAT. Suppliers often call this document a credit note. SparkReceipt scans it as a refund with a subtotal of 0.00 and the VAT on its own. That single line can't be published as it is, so you split it into lines that say how the original purchase was booked. The original invoice stays as it is.
An example
An Irish software company bills a Finnish company. Because it doesn't have the buyer's VAT number, it charges Finnish VAT:
- Invoice, 10 Sep 2026: 90.00 + 22.95 VAT at 25.5% = 112.95.
- Refund, 27 Oct 2026: subtotal 0.00, VAT 22.95. The supplier returns the VAT and nothing else.
The buyer should have self-assessed the VAT under the reverse charge, so the 90.00 cost itself stays.
What SparkReceipt does when it scans the refund
SparkReceipt keeps the VAT on the scanned refund. The refund gets one line with a subtotal of 0.00 and VAT of -22.95 at 25.5%, so the document total is -22.95 and the rate it states is visible on the line.
That line has VAT but no subtotal, and no accounting software books it correctly. When you publish it to your accounting software, SparkReceipt refuses and tells you to split the line. How you split it depends on how you booked the original invoice.
Your Tax treatment rules don't run on a refund either. A rule that puts a reverse charge rate on the supplier's invoices leaves the refund's lines alone, because the right rate for a refund depends on how the original was booked.
If you deducted the VAT on the original invoice
Book the refund as two lines, which together total -22.95:
- The net reversal: -90.00 with VAT -22.95 on your domestic 25.5% rate. This takes back the VAT you deducted.
- The self-assessed line: +90.00 with no VAT on your reverse charge rate. This keeps the 90.00 cost and reports the purchase under the reverse charge.
On the web:
- Open the refund. On the Details tab, check that This is a refund is ticked. Its lines then reduce your expenses.
- Click the Lines tab, then click the Subtotal column header so you type subtotals. In accounts that use VAT the Total column is the one you type in until you switch.
- On the scanned line, type -90.00 as its subtotal. Click the line's tax rate and pick your domestic 25.5% rate in Change tax rate. The VAT becomes -22.95. The line type stays Refund.
- Click + Insert new line. A new line has the line type Item. Type 90.00 as its subtotal, and set its tax rate to your reverse charge rate with no VAT.
- Check that the document total is -22.95, then publish again.
The tax rates in the picker are the ones under Tax rates in your account settings, so their names depend on your account.
If you booked the original invoice gross, with no VAT deducted
If the whole 112.95 went to your costs and you didn't deduct the VAT, the refund is a cost reduction of 22.95. Book it as one line: -22.95 with no VAT, on the 0% rate you use for costs whose VAT you don't deduct. In accounts connected to Procountor this rate is usually called No VAT handling.
This one line fits only when the reverse charge never applied to the original purchase. The reverse charge can apply to a business that isn't registered for VAT or can't deduct VAT, so if you aren't sure whether it applied to yours, ask your accountant how to book the refund.
On the Lines tab, click the Subtotal column header, type -22.95 as the scanned line's subtotal, then pick that rate in Change tax rate. Its VAT becomes 0.
The original invoice stays as it is
Don't edit or republish the original invoice. It records what the supplier billed on that date. The refund is its own document, dated when the supplier issued it, and it carries the whole correction.
Which VAT period the correction belongs to
Whether the correction goes in the refund's VAT period or the original invoice's is your accountant's call.