The short answer
A credit note in EFRIS is how you cancel, reduce or correct a sale after URA has already fiscalised it with a Fiscal Document Number (FDN). You do not edit or delete the original e-invoice or e-receipt. You raise a credit note against that FDN, either cancelling it completely or adjusting its price or quantity. Since August 2024, URA's own published rule is that the VAT return recognises the credit note in the same month as the original invoice, not the month URA approves the credit note. In practice: if URA approves the credit note before you submit that month's return, your sales figure is pre-filled net of it; if it is approved after you have already filed, you must amend that return yourself, and a buyer who fails to amend their input VAT can be issued an administrative assessment by URA to reverse it.
A debit note is different: it is for goods that come back to you after the sale, not for fixing your own mistake. If you need the wider registration and issuing picture first, start with the EFRIS guide for Uganda or, if you have not registered yet, how to register for EFRIS. Every rule below carries its source and date, and where URA has not published the exact wording, this page says so plainly and points you to URA to confirm.
Issuing a credit note: when URA allows one
URA does not publish a specific checklist of situations that qualify for a credit note. In practice, a credit note is the correct tool whenever a sale has already gone out through EFRIS with an FDN and something about it needs to change. This is our reading of ordinary practice, not a list published by URA; if you are unsure whether your situation qualifies, ask URA or a tax adviser before you file.
- The sale is cancelled outright, for example the customer paid but the goods were never delivered
- The price or quantity on the invoice was entered wrong
- A discount was agreed with the customer after the invoice was issued
- The wrong VAT treatment was applied to the sale
- A duplicate invoice was raised for the same sale by mistake
You raise the credit note from whichever mode you issue receipts from: the URA web portal, the desktop application, your POS or ERP, or an EFD, referencing the original FDN. You cannot simply delete an issued e-invoice or e-receipt; URA's fiscal record stays, and the credit note is the correction layered on top of it. If you have not yet decided how to issue receipts at all, check whether you need EFRIS yet before you choose a mode.
Cancelling or correcting an EFRIS invoice
"Cancelling" an EFRIS invoice and "correcting" one are the same mechanism with different settings. A full cancellation is a credit note that zeroes out the whole original document; a correction is a credit note that adjusts price or quantity instead. Both reference the original FDN, and both go through EFRIS itself, not a manual note kept outside the system.
URA recognises the credit note in the same month as the original invoice, so if the correction is approved before you file that month's return, it is simply reflected in the pre-filled figures. If the original sale is from a month you have already filed and paid for, URA's own rule says you must amend that earlier return yourself once the credit note is approved; do not wait for the next return to absorb it. If your buyer has already claimed input VAT or an income tax deduction against the original invoice, tell them once you cancel or correct it, since URA can issue them an administrative assessment if they do not amend their own return.
Debit notes: when goods come back
A debit note covers the opposite direction from a credit note: goods you already sold, and already issued an e-invoice or e-receipt for, come back to you. That covers a customer return, a rejected delivery, or goods sent back for a swap. Like a credit note, a debit note is raised inside EFRIS against the original FDN, not written up separately.
Keep the two apart in how your team talks about them: a credit note is you correcting your own invoice; a debit note is stock physically coming back. Mixing them up in EFRIS will not stop the document processing, but it will leave your stock and VAT records wrong, which is exactly the kind of error that is expensive to unwind at year end. If your books and your EFRIS numbers already disagree more broadly, tidy up your business record keeping before you try to reconcile individual notes.
Stock adjustments and returns
EFRIS is commonly described as keeping a running stock record for goods: you enter opening stock and stock received, and each e-invoice or e-receipt you issue reduces it. This is standard practice reported by EFRIS integrators rather than a rule confirmed on a URA handbook page in the sources checked for this guide, so confirm the exact stock workflow for your business with URA or your EFRIS provider if you run a large or complex inventory.
A stock adjustment is the tool for movements that are not sales: damage, shrinkage, samples given away, internal use, or a stock count that does not match the system. If you try to sell a product EFRIS shows as out of stock, the sale will not go through until the stock is corrected, which is one of the more common reasons a till stops issuing receipts mid-shift. A POS built for EFRIS, such as a POS system with EFRIS built in, normally keeps stock, sales and e-receipts in one place so this does not become a separate manual step.
Common EFRIS validation and login errors
URA does not publish a full list of error messages and their exact wording, so treat the table below as the common categories businesses run into, not an official URA error catalogue. If the message on your screen does not match any of these, note the exact wording and contact URA.
| Problem | What it means | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| You need to cancel a sale that already has an FDN | EFRIS does not let you edit or delete an issued e-invoice or e-receipt | Raise a credit note against the FDN to cancel it, or adjust its price and quantity |
| The correction falls in a different month from the sale | You are worried it will shift the sale into next month's VAT return | URA recognises the credit note in the same month as the original invoice; if that return is already filed, amend it once the credit note is approved rather than waiting for next month |
| Goods you sold are coming back to you | This is a return, which needs the other adjustment type, not a price correction | Raise a debit note against the original FDN instead of a credit note |
| The invoice fails on the buyer's details | The buyer's TIN, NIN or BRN does not match URA's record, or was left blank on a business sale | Confirm the ID with the buyer, re-enter it exactly as registered, then resubmit |
| Can't log in to the EFRIS portal | Usually a wrong TIN and password pairing, or a one-time password (OTP) that has expired | Request a fresh OTP, valid for 24 hours, check the phone and email registered against your TIN, and call URA's toll-free line 0800 117 000 if it still fails |
| A sale won't go through even though you are logged in | Often the product was never configured with a tax code, or its stock was never entered | Register or configure the product, record its stock received, then retry the sale |
| The internet or URA's system is down | You still need to trade | Use an offline-capable mode (desktop app, EFD or system-to-system); the web portal alone has no offline mode |
Two patterns run through most of these: the fault is usually a mismatch between what you typed and what URA holds on record, a TIN, an OTP, a product code, or a step that was skipped earlier, such as stock never entered or a product never configured. Fixing the earlier step is almost always faster than retrying the same submission.
What to do when the internet or URA is down
Offline-capable EFRIS modes, the desktop application, an EFD, and system-to-system integration, keep working and queue your e-invoices and e-receipts until you reconnect. Businesses using only the URA web portal have no offline mode; that is one reason URA points smaller businesses without a billing system toward the desktop application if they expect patchy internet.
If your device or system has been offline for several days, reconnect and let it upload as soon as you can rather than waiting. The offline window is commonly reported as around five days, though URA has not published this figure on the pages checked for this guide, so do not treat it as a hard deadline without asking URA. If EFRIS itself is down rather than your own connection, keep a manual record of the sale (customer, item, amount, time) so you can issue the e-receipt once the system is back, and if you cannot resolve it, call URA's toll-free line 0800 117 000, email services@ura.go.ug, or message URA on WhatsApp 0772 140 000.
If URA has already flagged an error or a penalty
If URA has already flagged a missing e-invoice, a validation error that will not clear, or a penalty notice, deal with the paperwork first. Note the FDN or reference number, the date, and the exact message, log in to your TIN account to see what URA has recorded, and call URA's toll-free line 0800 117 000 or message the EFRIS WhatsApp 0772 140 000 if the notice itself is unclear. Penalties and interest keep accruing while a dispute sits unresolved, so the deadline that matters is whatever date is printed on the assessment, not this page.
This is not tax advice. Meeting EFRIS rules is the business's own legal obligation, and only URA or a qualified tax adviser can confirm how a specific rule applies to your case. Growth Informer Software Services is registered with URA as a tax agent and can help set up EFRIS and VAT correctly, file returns, or respond to a penalty or an objection once you have seen the notice or the books; we quote after we see what URA has sent you, not before. For the wider picture, see VAT and EFRIS disputes in Uganda or EFRIS integration for your own systems.
Frequently asked questions
What is an EFRIS credit note?
It is the document you raise inside EFRIS, against the original FDN, to cancel a sale or correct its price or quantity after URA has already fiscalised it. You cannot edit or delete the original e-invoice or e-receipt; the credit note is the correction layered on top of it. Since August 2024, URA recognises the credit note in the same month as the original sale, and if that month's return is already filed, you must amend it once the credit note is approved.
How do I cancel an EFRIS invoice?
Raise a credit note against the invoice's FDN and set it to cancel the document in full, rather than adjusting price or quantity. Do this from whichever mode you issue receipts from, the URA portal, desktop app, POS, ERP or EFD. If the buyer already claimed input VAT or a deduction against it, tell them once you cancel it.
What causes an EFRIS validation error?
In our experience the common causes are a buyer's TIN, NIN or BRN that does not match URA's record, a product that was never registered or given a tax code, or stock that was never entered against the item being sold. URA does not publish a full error catalogue, so check the exact message and, if it is unclear, ask URA.
Why can't I log in to EFRIS?
Usually a wrong TIN and password pairing, or a one-time password (OTP) that has expired; the portal's OTP is valid for 24 hours. Request a fresh OTP and check the phone number and email registered against your TIN. If it still fails, call URA's toll-free line 0800 117 000 or message the EFRIS WhatsApp on 0772 140 000.
What is an EFRIS debit note?
It is the document for goods that come back to you after a sale you already issued an e-invoice or e-receipt for, such as a customer return or a rejected delivery. It is the opposite of a credit note, which is for correcting your own invoice, and like a credit note it is raised inside EFRIS against the original FDN.
How do I do a stock adjustment in EFRIS?
Stock adjustments in EFRIS are for movements that are not sales, damage, shrinkage, samples or a count that does not match the system, entered separately from opening stock and stock received. The detailed screen-by-screen steps were not confirmed on a URA page for this guide, so check the exact workflow with URA or your EFRIS provider, especially for a large inventory.