Invoice format and locale facts for Sri Lanka

Why these defaults?

The country code comes from ISO 3166. Unicode CLDR supplies presentation-oriented locale, currency, paper, date, language, calendar, numbering, and direction metadata. Defaults reduce setup time; they do not decide what a valid document must contain.

Recorded official or regional-official language tags: si, ta.

Selected national claims reviewed

Document vocabulary and checks

Sri Lanka's mandatory tax-invoice format effective 1 July 2026, supplier and purchaser identifiers, invoice-number structure, core dates, line and LKR tax fields, five-year VAT record retention, and the National e-Invoicing/RAMIS Web API boundary are reviewed. Taxpayer selection, registration validation, ERP/API authentication, authority transmission, exempt-supply treatment and transaction-specific VAT conclusions remain separate checks.

Evidence snapshot: 3 official sources · last reviewed 2026-07-19. This is scoped guidance, not a jurisdiction-wide compliance certification.

Tax labels: VAT. Business identifier labels: VAT Registration Number.

• Required when applicable: For a Sri Lankan VAT tax invoice issued on or after 1 July 2026, show TAX INVOICE and the supplier's 9-digit TIN, registered name and address exactly as registered. Show a VAT-registered purchaser's TIN, name and address; invoice and supply dates; specific description and measurable quantity; and LKR value excluding VAT, VAT amount and total including VAT.Evidence LK_IRD_REVISED_TAX_INVOICE_2026 · reviewed 2026-07-19 · review by 2027-01-19 · automation advisory only
• Required when applicable: From 1 July 2026 the prescribed tax-invoice number follows YYMMM_QQQQ_XXXXX, with no spaces and no more than 40 characters; QQQQ is a 1–15 character classification and XXXXX is sequential numeric. A registered person approved before that date for RAMIS Web API integration completed by 31 December 2026 may treat the YYMMM_QQQQ_ component as optional under the cited circular.Evidence LK_IRD_REVISED_TAX_INVOICE_2026 · reviewed 2026-07-19 · review by 2027-01-19 · automation advisory only
• Required when applicable: VAT records in hardcopy or softcopy must generally be preserved for five years from the end of the taxable period to which they relate, unless the Commissioner-General permits earlier destruction on application.Evidence LK_IRD_RECORD_KEEPING_2017 · reviewed 2026-07-19 · review by 2027-01-19 · automation advisory only
• Guidance: The National e-Invoicing pilot connects selected VAT-registered taxpayers' ERP systems to RAMIS through a Web API for real-time VAT invoice and schedule-data transmission. This local preview is not connected to RAMIS and cannot enrol a taxpayer, transmit schedules, submit invoice records, match purchaser records or issue an authority-linked electronic invoice.Evidence LK_IRD_NATIONAL_EINVOICING_API · reviewed 2026-07-18 · review by 2027-01-18 · automation advisory only

Identifier format guidance: See the relevant authority.