Feature

Vouchers and store credit with their own register

Q: Why are there two documents for goods plus a voucher?

They are two transactions: a taxable sale of goods and a non-taxable voucher sale. The e-invoice standard EN 16931 does not allow both in one document. The two documents refer to each other and go to the customer in one email. Shipping costs are on the invoice, because the goods are what gets shipped.

Q: How are Shopify gift cards handled?

As multi-purpose vouchers, even if the product classification is still open. If a customer pays partly with a gift card, Rechnungskit works out the redeemed share from your shop's payment transactions.

Q: Can I classify many voucher products at once?

Yes. In the multi-select of the product list you pick one classification for all of them, or let the AI make a suggestion with a reason for each voucher, which you review and accept. Uncertain cases stay open on purpose. When in doubt, your tax advisor decides.

Rechnungskit tells purchased vouchers, store credit from returns or goodwill, and referral rewards apart, and keeps each case in its own register. A multi-purpose voucher gets a purchase receipt without VAT when it is sold; the VAT only arises when it is redeemed. Store credit acts as a means of payment on redemption and does not reduce the VAT base.

Why it matters

A sold voucher looks like revenue, but depending on its type it is something else. For a multi-purpose voucher the VAT only arises on redemption (§ 3 para. 15 UStG, the German VAT Act). If the sales receipt shows VAT anyway, you risk owing that tax under § 14c UStG, at least when a business buys the voucher. For invoices to end consumers the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) ruled that § 14c para. 1 UStG creates no tax liability (judgment of March 26, 2026, V R 46/25). Store credit from a return, on the other hand, is a reduction of the price of the original delivery. If these cases get mixed up, neither the VAT nor the liabilities are right.

Three kinds of credit, three rules

Rechnungskit does not treat every credit the same way, because for VAT they are different transactions:

Purchased voucher. Usually a multi-purpose voucher. The VAT only arises on redemption (§ 3 Abs. 15 UStG); until then the amount is a liability. Only if the place of supply and the tax due are fixed for every redemption at issue is it a single-purpose voucher, taxed when sold (§ 3 Abs. 14 UStG).
Store credit from a return or goodwill. This is a reduction of the price of the original delivery under § 17 Abs. 1 UStG. The VAT is corrected through the cancellation invoice (Storno), and the credit is then just the form the refund takes.
Referral reward. A money claim of the recipient, not a voucher sale.

On redemption all three work the same way, as a means of payment. VAT is calculated on the full price of each line, not on an amount reduced by the credit.

Vouchers · Three cases

When VAT arises for which kind of credit

Purchased voucher

Usually a multi-purpose voucher. The sale gets a purchase receipt without a tax line, and the amount sits in the register as a liability.

VATon redemption (§ 3 Abs. 15 UStG)

Credit from a return or goodwill

A reduction of the price of the original delivery. The credit is just the form the refund takes.

VATcorrected through the cancellation invoice (§ 17 Abs. 1 UStG)

Referral reward

Not a voucher sale: the recipient is credited with a money claim.

Treated asmoney claim

On redemption all three work as a means of payment: VAT is calculated on the full price of each line. A single-purpose voucher (§ 3 Abs. 14 UStG) is different and is taxed at its fixed rate when sold.

What is on the receipt?

For a multi-purpose voucher the purchase receipt shows a single amount, the voucher amount. There is no tax line, not even one at 0%, and no net or gross wording. Rechnungskit adds the note that this is the non-taxable sale of a multi-purpose voucher, so it does not look like a taxed service. A single-purpose voucher, by contrast, is a normal invoice line with its fixed tax rate.

The register

In the register every voucher and every store credit gets an entry. Issue, partial redemption, cancellation and expiry are recorded continuously and cannot be changed. For each entry you see the open liability, and the DATEV export carries it through the account role for voucher liabilities.

With Shopify store credit the origin is often unclear. Rechnungskit does not guess in that case but creates a task: you classify the credit as a return/goodwill or as a purchased voucher and jump into the Shopify admin through a direct link. The details are in Shopify store credit. Vouchers in everyday shop operations are covered in Vouchers in your online shop.

In detail

Single-purpose and multi-purpose vouchers under § 3 paras. 13 to 15 UStG
A purchase receipt instead of an invoice for multi-purpose vouchers: its own number range, no VAT shown, no e-invoice data
If goods and a multi-purpose voucher are in one order, two documents are created that refer to each other and reach the customer together
Store credit stays a means of payment and does not reduce the VAT base by mistake
A continuous, immutable register for issue, partial redemption, cancellation and expiry
Open liability per store credit, including the DATEV connection
Shopify store credit of unknown origin: guided resolution (return/goodwill or purchased voucher) with a direct link into the Shopify admin instead of a silent assumption
Optional rule per shop to remember your choice; every automatically classified case stays documented as a completed task

Legal basis

§ 3 UStG (Abs. 13 bis 15, Gutscheine): Vouchers, paras. 13 to 15. Distinguishes single-purpose and multi-purpose vouchers and sets when the tax arises.
§ 14c UStG (Unrichtiger oder unberechtigter Steuerausweis): Incorrect or unauthorized VAT statement. Showing VAT on the receipt for a voucher sale that is not taxable can create a tax liability.
BFH, Urteil vom 26. März 2026, V R 46/25: Federal Fiscal Court, judgment of March 26, 2026. Headnote 2: § 14c para. 1 UStG creates no tax liability when the invoice is issued to an end consumer (change in case law).
§ 17 UStG (Änderung der Bemessungsgrundlage): Change of the taxable amount. If the price is reduced afterwards, for example through store credit from a return or goodwill, the VAT of the original delivery is corrected.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the buyer of a multi-purpose voucher not get an invoice?

Selling a multi-purpose voucher is not taxable; only the delivery or service on redemption is taxed (§ 3 Abs. 15 UStG). Rechnungskit therefore creates a purchase receipt with its own number range and without VAT. It shows only the voucher amount and the note that VAT arises on redemption.

Why are there two documents for goods plus a voucher?

How are Shopify gift cards handled?

Can I classify many voucher products at once?

When is a voucher a single-purpose voucher?