Coupons – types and differences

When creating and selling coupons, it is important to remember that there are different types of coupons. This article will help you get an overview of them!

When you sell a coupon, a negative amount is initially recorded. Only when the coupon is redeemed by a customer is it recorded as normal (incoming) sales.

Purchase coupon

A purchase coupon is a coupon that is sold to customers. These can be coupons for goods or services, where the service is specifically specified, or coupons with a value.

It is important to distinguish between single-purpose and multi-purpose coupons:

Single-purpose coupons

A single-purpose coupon is a coupon where the place of service (= in which country the coupon can be redeemed) and the sales tax are already determined at the time of issue.

Examples would be a coupon for a performance in a particular theater or for a particular drink in a restaurant: in both cases, the sales tax and the place of redemption are already known when the coupon is issued. In this case, the coupon cannot be redeemed for anything else, as the tax rates for a theater performance or for a drink are fixed.

Therefore, a single-purpose coupon with a fixed sales tax rate must be stored in the cash register system and sold to the customer - the sales tax is already charged when the coupon is sold to the customer.

You can find out how to create a single-purpose coupon here.

Multi-purpose coupons

If it is not a single-purpose coupon, then we usually speak of a multi-purpose coupon.

Examples would be a coupon from a restaurant chain worth 100 euros (value coupon), which can be redeemed in any branch and for any product - i.e. for food as well as drinks or other services. Since food is subject to the reduced tax rate, but drinks are subject to the general tax rate, but the coupon can be redeemed for both product groups, the sales tax is not yet determined at the time the coupon is sold.

Therefore, a multi-purpose coupon with a sales tax rate of 0% must be stored in the cash register system and sold to the customer - the sales tax is then charged when the customer redeems the coupon.

For tax purposes, multi-purpose coupons are neither income nor a transaction subject to sales tax. The coupon is issued as proof of the entrepreneur's liability to the customer.

You can find out how to create a multi-purpose coupons here.

Free coupons

Free coupons are those "coupons" that are mostly used for advertising purposes. In the tax sense, these are not considered coupon at all. They are simply referred to as such in colloquial terms. We solve this problem using the discount function.

This category includes those transactions that promise a discount (for example, "10% discount on purchases of 100€ or more"), or where customers receive something for free (for example, a "free football with every purchase, while stocks last" or "1+1 free").

The issue of free coupons is not taken into account in the income and expenditure account. At the time of redemption of the coupon, either the reduced, taxed amount (in the case of discounts) or no amount (in the case of gifts or 100% discounts) is taken into account. as income recorded in the system.

However, we recommend discussing this with your tax advisor.

Here you can find more information about creating discounts.

In Switzerland, a distinction is made between service coupons and value coupons. You can find out more about this here (German).

If your customer wants to redeem a coupon, you can read how it works here.

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