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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly check whether a VAT invoice is correct.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

5 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ita professional

What the alternative costsNanonets is an AI document-processing tool for invoices, receipts and forms, so it can help extract invoice data for a separate review.

If this goes wrong: you reclaim VAT or pay a supplier using an incorrect invoice, and your business has to correct the records and carry the tax consequences.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open the invoice and the relevant VAT invoice guidance on GOV.UK, then save the invoice as a clear PDF or copy its text.
    2. Gather the supplier's VAT registration details, your business details, the purchase description, delivery location and any purchase order or contract that explains the transaction.
    3. Paste the prompt into a chatbot, attach the invoice, and replace the bracketed business context with the facts you have confirmed.
    4. Compare the model's extracted supplier details, invoice number, dates, net amount, VAT rate, VAT amount and total with the original invoice and recalculate the totals yourself.
    5. Check every claimed invoice requirement against the current GOV.UK guidance and mark any VAT treatment question that depends on facts the invoice does not show.
    6. Ask the supplier to correct missing or inconsistent invoice details, or send the invoice, transaction evidence and AI's flagged questions to a VAT accountant before posting or reclaiming the VAT.

    Prompt

    Check this UK VAT invoice against the current requirements on GOV.UK. First extract the supplier name, supplier VAT registration number, invoice number, invoice date, tax point if shown, customer details, description of goods or services, net amount, VAT rate, VAT amount and total. Recalculate the arithmetic and identify any mismatch. Then separate your findings into: 1. fields that are present and appear consistent, 2. missing or inconsistent fields, 3. VAT treatment questions that you cannot settle from the invoice alone, and 4. information I need to confirm with the supplier or a VAT accountant. Do not guess, do not approve the invoice solely because the arithmetic works, and do not give tax advice where the place of supply, reverse charge, exemption, zero rating or customer status is uncertain. State exactly which source or rule supports each requirement, and say when you cannot verify that the source is current. Invoice: [paste the invoice text or attach the file]. Business context: [describe what was bought, where the supplier and customer belong, and whether either is VAT registered].

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot establish the correct VAT treatment from an invoice when the place of supply, customer status or nature of the service is unclear.
  • It cannot prove that a supplier's VAT registration number is genuine or current unless you check it through an authoritative service.
  • It cannot replace the evidence in your contract, purchase records, delivery documents or correspondence.
  • It cannot take responsibility for an incorrect VAT reclaim or payment.
  • It cannot give you a reliable professional conclusion where the transaction involves reverse charge, exemption, partial exemption or another unusual rule.

What caps this at PARTLY: legal accountability, regulated advice and judgement under ambiguity.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs1
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta2
Total7 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can AI check whether a VAT invoice is correct?
Partly. AI can extract the fields, check the arithmetic and identify missing details, but it cannot reliably settle uncertain VAT treatment from the invoice alone. Use a VAT accountant for a serious or unusual case.
Can ChatGPT check if a VAT invoice is correct?
It can perform a useful first-pass checklist if you provide the invoice and the transaction context. It should not be the final approval where the VAT treatment is unclear, and this is not professional advice.
What does a UK VAT invoice need to include?
The requirements depend on the type of invoice and transaction, but they generally include identifying details for the supplier and customer, invoice information, a description of the supply, VAT details and totals. Check the current GOV.UK guidance rather than relying on a chatbot's memory.
Can I rely on AI to reclaim VAT from an invoice?
No, not on its own. Your business remains responsible for the accuracy of the VAT return and the evidence supporting the reclaim, so have uncertain or material cases checked by a VAT accountant.

Nearby answers

All Invoicing & credit control rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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