Cancelled invoices, credit notes and debit notes in Malaysia

Mistakes happen. What Malaysian SST rules don't allow is changing an invoice after you've issued it. Instead, you cancel it or issue a credit or debit note — and both leave a clear trail.

The free Malaysian invoice generator handles both: voided invoices are stamped CANCELLED, and notes carry the original invoice and the reason.

Never alter an issued invoice

Customs' guidance on issuing invoices is direct: any alteration to an invoice or its copies is prohibited. If there's an error, the original invoice and all its copies are null and void, and must be conspicuously marked "CANCELLED". You then issue a new, correct invoice.

How to cancel

1. Mark the original invoice, and any copies you hold, CANCELLED.
2. Tell your customer and ask them to treat their copy as cancelled.
3. Issue a new invoice with the next number in your series.
4. Keep the cancelled invoice with your records — don't delete or reuse its number.

In Invoice Native, open the issued invoice and choose Void: the invoice keeps its number, every PDF of it is stamped CANCELLED, and you can duplicate it into a new draft to correct and issue.

Credit notes and debit notes

When the supply changes after the invoice — goods returned, a price agreed lower, more work done — don't cancel. Issue a note:

• a credit note reduces the amount (and tax) of the original invoice;
• a debit note increases it.

Under regulation 11 each note shows:

• the words "Credit Note" or "Debit Note";
• its own serial number and date;
• your name, address and SST registration number;
• the buyer's name and address;
• the reason for the note;
• a description, the quantity and amount of each item;
• the total excluding tax, the rate and amount of tax;
• the number and date of the original invoice.

A worked example

Bukit Bintang Digital invoiced RM10,000 of web work at Service Tax 8% on 1 October. In November the client agrees to drop one page, worth RM1,000. The studio issues Credit Note CN-0007, reason "Agreed reduction in scope", for RM1,000 plus RM80 of Service Tax, referring to INV-0042 of 01/10/2026. Its SST-02 return reduces by RM80. If the client had instead added a page, it would issue a debit note for RM1,080.

Common mistakes

• Editing the PDF and resending it. Even a small fix to an issued invoice counts as an alteration. Cancel and reissue, or issue a note.
• Deleting a cancelled invoice. Keep it, marked CANCELLED, so your numbering has no gaps that need explaining.
• A credit note with no reason. Regulation 11 requires one; "price adjustment" alone is weak — say what changed.
• Forgetting the original invoice. Every note must name the invoice it adjusts, with its date.
• Using a credit note to fix a typo. A wrong address or customer name means the invoice itself is wrong: cancel it.

Copies you've already sent

If you emailed the invoice, reply to the same thread saying it's cancelled and attach the replacement, so your customer's accounts team doesn't pay both. If your customer has already paid against the cancelled invoice, record the payment against the replacement instead.

Keeping the trail

Customs and LHDN can ask to see every invoice in your series, cancelled ones included, for 7 years. A cancelled invoice that's kept, clearly marked and followed by its replacement shows nothing went missing. Signed-in Invoice Native businesses keep voided invoices in their list, with the reason and the date they were voided.

Which to use

Your SST return

Credit and debit notes change the tax you owe in the taxable period you issue them. Signed-in Invoice Native businesses see notes in their SST-02 summary: Sales Tax notes count when issued, and Service Tax follows what the customer actually pays after the note.

e-Invoicing businesses

If your business isn't exempt from MyInvois — see the RM3 million exemption — cancellations and adjustments go through MyInvois as cancelled e-Invoices and credit or debit note e-Invoices instead.