Proforma Invoice vs Quote vs Tax Invoice: The Difference

Quote, proforma, invoice: they look similar, but in Malta they do very different jobs, and mixing them up can cause VAT errors and confused clients. Here is what each document means, when to use it, and why the distinction matters for your VAT.

The three documents at a glance

Document	Purpose	Binding?	Triggers VAT?
Quotation	Offer a price before work starts	An offer the client can accept	No
Proforma invoice	Request payment or confirm an order	No	No
Tax invoice	Demand payment for a completed supply	Yes	Yes

Quotation: a price offer

A quotation tells a prospective client what a job will cost before they commit. It should list the work, the price, how long the quote is valid, and your terms. It is an offer: once the client accepts it you have the basis of an agreement, but no money is due and no VAT is recorded yet.

Proforma invoice: a request, not a tax document

A proforma invoice looks like an invoice but is issued before the sale is final, often to request an advance payment, confirm an order, or support a customs or financing process. Crucially, it is not a tax invoice: it does not create a VAT point, your customer cannot reclaim VAT from it, and it should be clearly labelled "proforma". Once payment is made or the goods are supplied, you issue the real tax invoice.

Tax invoice: the document that counts

The tax invoice is the legal record of a completed supply. It carries the sequential number, your VAT details, the VAT breakdown and the amount due, and it is what your customer uses to reclaim VAT and what you report in your VAT return. For the full required-fields list, see our guide to writing a compliant invoice in Malta.

Why the difference matters for VAT

Only the tax invoice, or a fiscal receipt, feeds your VAT return. If you treat a proforma as a tax invoice you risk declaring VAT at the wrong time, or letting a client claim input VAT they are not yet entitled to. Keeping the documents distinct keeps your VAT clean. If you need to correct an invoice you have already issued, use a credit note rather than editing it.

A typical Maltese sales flow

• Quote the client and win the work;
• Optionally issue a proforma to take a deposit or confirm the order;
• Deliver the work;
• Issue the tax invoice, which is what gets recorded and paid.

One tool for the whole flow

With invoices.mt you can send a quote, then convert it to a final tax invoice in a click, keeping the numbering and VAT correct at each step so nothing is recorded as a sale until it should be. Create a free account and move from quote to paid without re-typing anything.