Sales invoices · Settings
Copyright royalties on sales invoices
Enable copyright royalties, set the share per invoice line and check the invoice when your organisation handles withholding tax itself.
Updated on October 8, 2026
Copyright royalties let you indicate which part of a sales invoice line is copyright remuneration. This guide covers the option where your own organisation declares and pays the withholding tax. The customer pays the full invoice amount without withholding tax. You need access to the active administration and an active Billnado licence.
What this option does
You set the copyright royalty share separately for each applicable invoice line. Billnado shows the split between the service and the copyright remuneration on the generated document. The percentage divides the existing amount excluding VAT; it does not add remuneration or reduce the invoice amount due.
Your organisation handles the declaration and payment of withholding tax. Enabling this option or saving an invoice does not submit that declaration or make that payment. The Copyright royalty percentage is the share of the remuneration, not the withholding tax rate.
Enabling copyright royalties
Open Settings → Company settings for the administration in which you want to issue invoices. The Company settings page contains the Copyright royalties card.
| Field or setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Enable copyright royalties | Makes the copyright royalty fields available on sales invoice lines in this administration. The setting applies to all users of the administration. It does not automatically mark existing or new lines as copyright royalties. |
Select Enable copyright royalties and choose Save. Reset restores the last saved setting. The card describes the arrangement where your organisation declares and pays the withholding tax itself; you do not need to select a separate type.
Creating a sales invoice with copyright royalties
Open Income → Invoices and choose Create Sales Invoice. The regular invoice wizard contains the Client, Document and Lines steps.
Step 1: Client
Select the customer who will receive the invoice. Check the copied customer and address details. Under this arrangement, the customer pays the full invoice amount; you do not enter a withholding tax deduction here.
Step 2: Document
Enter the invoice date, due date and document details. Select the trade name and sales journal. The VAT rate in the document settings determines the proposed VAT treatment for new lines. You can then select the rate for each line.
Step 3: Lines
Enter the article, quantity and price. Open the relevant line and select the appropriate VAT rate. The copyright royalty fields appear with the regular line details; you do not need to open Show extra fields.
| Field or setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| VAT rate | Copyright royalties are available with 21% VAT, 6% VAT and VAT exemption. Other VAT types, including reverse charge, intra-community supply and the separate renovation rate, do not offer this option. |
| Copyright royalties | Indicates that part of this line is copyright remuneration. It is disabled on a new line. Enabling it sets the percentage to 30%. |
| Copyright royalty percentage | Determines the share of the full line amount excluding VAT after discount. Billnado accepts a percentage greater than 0% and no more than 30% for remuneration combined with a service. You can enter up to four decimal places. The remaining share is the service. |
Adjust the proposed percentage if a smaller share applies. Repeat this for each relevant line; other lines remain regular invoice lines. When a line is collapsed, the Copyright royalties indicator shows the selected percentage.
Disabling Copyright royalties on a line clears its percentage. Enabling it again starts at 30%. Switching to an unsupported VAT type also clears the copyright royalty selection on that line. Returning to a supported VAT type does not automatically enable it again.
Self-billing PDF
If you select Self-billing invoice under Document, an additional step after Lines lets you upload the customer's PDF. Billnado retains that supplied document. In this case, check that the PDF itself correctly states the agreed copyright remuneration and handling of withholding tax.
Saving the invoice
Choose Create Sales Invoice to save the invoice and the selected shares as a pro forma. The detail page then opens. For a regular invoice, Billnado generates the document files; the PDF may become available shortly afterwards.
Calculating the share
The percentage applies to the line amount excluding VAT after discount. The copyright remuneration is rounded to euro cents; the remaining amount is the service.
For example, a line of €1,000.00 excluding VAT with a €100.00 discount has a line amount of €900.00. At 30% copyright royalties, the split is:
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Copyright remuneration | €270.00, or 30% of €900.00. |
| Service | €630.00, or the remaining part of €900.00. |
| Total excluding VAT | €900.00; the split does not change this amount. |
The selected VAT treatment of the line remains applicable. At 21% VAT, the VAT in this example is €189.00 and the amount including VAT is €1,089.00. The customer pays €1,089.00 without withholding tax.
Checking the PDF and electronic invoice
Open View PDF on the invoice detail page. For a line with copyright royalties, the regular generated PDF shows the service and copyright remuneration with their percentages and amounts excluding VAT. For a Belgian administration, Billnado also adds a statement that the invoicing organisation handles the declaration and payment of withholding tax and that the customer pays the full amount.
The generated national and European UBL files also include the split as an explanation for the line. For a Belgian administration, the explanation about withholding tax also appears at document level. Copyright remuneration is part of the existing line; it is not added as an extra amount due.
Check the split and the statement before finalising or sending the invoice. Under Documents, you can download the available PDF and UBL files. Saving the invoice does not send it to the customer.
Existing invoices and disabling the option
On the sales invoice detail page, you can open a line to view or change the copyright royalty selection and percentage. Save stores the change and regenerates the files for a regular invoice. Reset restores the last saved line details.
Using Copy on an invoice retains the copyright royalty selection and percentage in the copy. Converting an invoice through To credit note transfers the copyright remuneration to the credit note. The generated Belgian credit note states that this remuneration is also corrected and that your organisation handles the corresponding correction of withholding tax. The conversion does not itself perform that tax correction.
Disabling Enable copyright royalties in company settings hides the input fields on invoice lines. It does not remove previously saved shares from existing invoices; their indicator remains visible. Enable the feature again to change those shares. New invoices created while copyright royalties are disabled contain no copyright royalty share.
If the copyright royalty fields are missing
Check that Enable copyright royalties has been saved for the active administration. Then open the invoice line and check its own VAT rate: only 21% VAT, 6% VAT and VAT exemption offer the selection. A supported default rate at document level is not enough if the line itself has a different VAT type.