From 1 January 2013, businesses must mention various standard clauses on their VAT invoices. Although harmonization of the VAT rules in the EU Member States is a positive development, mentioning prescribed clauses on VAT invoices may give rise to confusion, in particular in relation to cross-border transactions, on account of the large number of official languages in the European Union. In this article, the author gives an overview of the compulsory clauses and describes the confusion they may create.