E-commerce Receipts: Are They Mandatory?

Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular. Many people prefer the convenience of ordering and paying for goods online, without leaving their homes.

But the question arises - should online stores issue a receipt for every sale?

The general rule in Bulgaria is that every sale of goods or services must be documented with a receipt. This applies to all retail outlets, including online stores.

However, there are exceptions for e-commerce provided in Ordinance Н-18 on the use of fiscal devices. According to the Ordinance, persons who make sales through an online store are not required to issue a cash register receipt when all these conditions are met:

1. The software of the online store meets the requirements of the Ordinance.

2. Credit or debit card payments are accepted in a non-face-to-face environment. This does not prevent the acceptance of payments by postal money order (PMO), bank transfer, virtual wallets, etc. Only cash payments without an intermediary like Econt and Speedy are affected.

3. An alternative document for registering the sale is issued - we informally call it an “electronic receipt”.

The alternative document can be in electronic format and replaces the cash register receipt. It must contain data about the merchant, a description of the purchased goods, the total amount, and the method of payment.

Failure to issue a receipt when there is an obligation to do so leads to sanctions for merchants. Fines can be in the thousands.

Take a NAP issues the said alternative document and makes the process very easy. You just need to connect your store to the web application.

Electronic receipts are related to the Alternative Regime for Registering and Reporting Sales and Audit Files. The practice is for online stores that have chosen to report their sales this way to submit an audit file to the NRA every month.

When issuing an electronic document, fiscal information about the transaction is not submitted to the NRA. the NRA receives information about all orders in the store through the audit file, which links the order in the store with the issued electronic document.

In short, without an audit file, there is no point in electronic receipts. This is how the Alternative Regime of the NRA works.

How do I start issuing electronic receipts?

Once you are already reporting with an audit file, you just need to connect your store to Take a NAP. Currently, our officially supported platforms are Shopify and WooCommerce.

By registering with Take a NAP, you also get a 14-day free trial. You can start right now from here:

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You can configure your store in Take a NAP the way you want. We have tried to provide as many configuration options as possible to cover every interpretation of Ordinance № Н–18. We recommend that your accountant help you.

Configuration is easy, fast, and Take a NAP gives you practical tips at every step of the process.