How to Get a Copy of a Fiscal Receipt If It’s Lost

If a customer has lost a fiscal receipt, did not receive an email, or asks for another paper copy, find the document for the transaction that has already been processed. Check the receipt’s fiscal number, the cash register’s number, the date, time, and amount; verify its registration status; and give the customer the saved document or a link to it. Do not record a fictitious sale or refund just to provide a copy.

Businesses in Ukraine are subject to Ukrainian rules on the use of cash registers (Ukrainian: реєстратори розрахункових операцій, РРО) and software cash registers (Ukrainian: програмні реєстратори розрахункових операцій, ПРРО). Ukrainian law does not provide for a separate function to issue a legal duplicate of a lost fiscal receipt. However, cash register software or a device may reproduce a saved document. When doing so, preserve the original transaction details and do not register the transaction again.

What you can provide instead of the lost copy

The State Tax Service of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Державна податкова служба України, ДПС) explains that the functions of cash registers and software cash registers, as well as the relevant regulations, do not provide for creating a paper or electronic duplicate of a lost fiscal receipt. Sellers should therefore not promise customers a special “duplicate” that the register supposedly issues in place of the lost original.

In practice, you can help the customer by finding and reproducing the document that was already created. For example, a software cash register may display a saved receipt and print it again if the developer has provided that function. For a hardware cash register, the control tape may be a source for finding the receipt. Clause 11 of the requirements approved by Resolution No. 199 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine provides for printing copies of documents from the electronic control tape storage medium.

Reprinting a saved document does not, by itself, create a new sale. If the cashier registers the same sale again, the fiscal records will contain an extra transaction entry. Likewise, a photo, screenshot, or Portable Document Format (PDF) file does not become the original electronic settlement document simply because of its appearance or name. Verification requires the document’s details and its connection to the registered transaction.

The daily fiscal report receipt, or Z-report, contains totals for the shift. It can help reconcile overall turnover, but it does not replace an individual customer’s receipt with the itemized goods and details of that purchase.

How sellers can find the required receipt

It is a good idea to set out the recommended workflow in a short guide for cashiers. This helps staff respond consistently when paper is lost, electronic delivery fails, or a customer asks about a return.

1. Collect details about the purchase. Ask the customer for the store, date, approximate time, items, amount, and payment method. An order number, loyalty card, correspondence, or bank transaction may also help with the search. Do not ask for the full payment card number.
2. Find the sale in your accounting system. Narrow the period, select the relevant store and register, and compare the items, quantities, discounts, and payment method. The same amount alone does not prove that you have found the right purchase.
3. Open the associated fiscal document. Record the full receipt number and the fiscal number of the cash register or software cash register. An internal invoice or order number may differ from the receipt’s fiscal number.
4. Check the document’s status. For a hardware cash register, check that the transaction is complete, the receipt is saved in the register, and its electronic copy has been sent to the State Tax Service. For a software cash register, find out whether the document has been registered by the fiscal server or was created offline and is still awaiting transmission. Make sure it is a sales receipt, not a refund, service transaction, or test document.
5. Provide the receipt you found. Use the software’s available reprint function, send the saved electronic document, or share a link for verification. Confirm that the customer received the right receipt.

Hypothetical example. A customer remembers paying 840 Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH) for two items. The store has two receipts for that amount. The relevant receipt lists items priced at UAH 520 and UAH 320: 520 + 320 = 840. The cashier also checks the time and payment method, then gives the customer the receipt found. There is no need to process the payment again.

How to check a receipt through the State Tax Service

Open the official “Fiscal Receipt Search” service. You do not need to sign in to an account for a public search. The form has the fields “Receipt number,” “Fiscal number of cash register,” “Date (for traditional cash registers, time),” “Amount,” and the “Search” button.

1. Enter the details from the saved document without abbreviating the number. If the receipt has a quick response code (QR code), open the link encoded in it to avoid manual entry errors.
2. Run the search and compare the seller, place of business, full fiscal document number, register number, date, time, and amount.
3. If useful for a later inquiry to the store, give the customer the verified link along with the document.

The service states that receipts from traditional cash registers are published no later than the next business day. So a receipt that was just issued may not yet appear in the search; its absence does not prove that the transaction was not registered. First check the entry in the register and whether the data was transmitted, then search again after allowing for this timeframe. For offline software cash register receipts, also check whether the document has been sent to the fiscal server.

Do not promise that the customer can download a PDF from the State Tax Service service. According to the tax authority’s official explanation, the service allows users to download a document in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format or the original fiscal receipt file with a qualified electronic signature (Ukrainian: кваліфікований електронний підпис, КЕП), and to verify the signature. The service does not provide PDF downloads.

What to do if the customer did not receive an electronic receipt

Clause 2 of Article 3 of Law No. 265/95-ВР allows a settlement document to be provided in paper and/or electronic form. The permitted methods include displaying a QR code on the cash register’s screen so the document can be read and identified, and sending the electronic document to the phone number or email address provided by the customer.

As a practical first step, ask the customer to check the address, spam folder, and previous messages from the store. At the same time, check the fiscal document’s status in your software. A failed email delivery and a failed receipt registration require different actions: if the receipt has already been created and registered, you do not need to submit another sale for registration.

Agree with the customer on an available way to receive the receipt you found. If the software does not have a confirmed resend function, you can send the saved file or verified link through a regular communication channel, or print the saved receipt. After sending it, ask the customer to open the document so you can catch an incorrect address or inaccessible link right away.

How to retrieve a saved receipt from a hardware cash register

For a hardware cash register, check the manual for your specific model or contact its service center. There is no universal copy retrieval button for every cash register. Give the technician the model, register number, date, approximate time, and document number, if you have identified it.

Subclauses 2.3.5–2.3.6 of the requirements approved by Order No. 1057 of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine provide that cash registers with an electronic control tape can print saved data packages, selected by date or document sequence number, and check their authenticity. The specific steps depend on the device documentation and available service tools.

Ask for the record of the transaction that has already been processed to be reproduced. Do not reopen a closed shift or change the device’s date just to get a copy. If only a summary report is available, continue looking for the individual document in the control tape and the State Tax Service service.

What to do after a printing failure or loss of a server response

If the paper runs out, the printer stops, or the software receives no response, first find out at which stage the transaction stopped. The absence of a paper receipt does not mean the sale was not registered. Pressing the sale command again without checking can create a second transaction.

• The receipt was registered but not printed. Fix the printer problem and reproduce the saved document using the available method.
• No server response was received. Check the log and document status using the software cash register tools, and contact support if needed. Save the error message and transaction details.
• The software cash register is faulty. Under Article 5 of Law No. 265/95-ВР, settlements through it must stop until the fault is fixed. Under Clause 12 of Section II of Procedure No. 317, an entrepreneur may connect a reserve cash register. On the day the fault is discovered, the entrepreneur must send a notice using Form No. 2-ПРРО to the supervisory authority, the software cash register manufacturer, and/or the service center, if there is one. If the notice reports a fault, after it is fixed, the entrepreneur must submit an application using Form No. 1-ПРРО marked “Resumption of operation” to resume work. If the application is not received within a month, the software cash register registration will be canceled.

For the specific case where the server registered an online receipt but no response was received, and the software cash register completed the same transaction offline under a different fiscal number, Clause 11 of Section V of Procedure No. 317 provides for resolving the duplicate with a “reversal” transaction that states both relevant numbers. Use this procedure after confirming that a duplicate was actually created. A customer simply losing a receipt is not grounds for a reversal.

How to provide a copy of a receipt created offline

A software cash register receipt may be lawfully created without a current connection to the fiscal server if it has been assigned a number from a range obtained from the State Tax Service. The document must be marked as having been created offline. Until it is sent to the server, the full results of a search may not be available. Article 5 of Law No. 265/95-ВР also provides for information about the seller, place of business, and reserved number to be made available through the Electronic Cabinet at the customer’s request.

To provide a copy, open the offline document that was actually created, check its details, and send a saved reproduction. Explain the document’s transmission status to the customer. Do not delete or recreate offline receipts to get another copy.

Under the general rule in Article 5, offline operation is limited to 36 consecutive hours and 168 hours in a calendar month. Clause 13 of Section II of this Law allows these limits to be exceeded during martial law or a state of emergency, or in circumstances of force majeure. This special rule does not remove the requirement to have an assigned range of fiscal numbers or to follow the rules for saving and transmitting documents. If an entrepreneur has chosen to operate without offline mode, they must stop these transactions if the connection is lost or use a properly registered reserve cash register.

When the connection is restored, the software cash register must resume online exchange automatically. Under Clause 6 of Section V of Procedure No. 317, the software generates a Form No. 4-ПРРО notice about the start of offline mode when it enters that mode and stores the notice until the connection is restored. Under Clause 8, the software generates the notice about the end of offline mode and the document package when it exits that mode.

The package must be sent to the fiscal server within one hour after the connection is restored. Under Article 5 of the Law, settlement documents are sent before the corresponding electronic fiscal report and daily fiscal report receipt for the day they were created, and are kept until delivery is confirmed. In practice, check for confirmation from the server, then search for the receipt again.

How to reprint a software cash register receipt in Торгсофт

You need a Торгсофт license, the additional “Programmatic Cash Register” function activated at the relevant workstations, a registered and configured software cash register, and a configured printer for paper receipts. Open “Settings” → “Programmatic Cash Register,” select the required active register, and open the “Programmatic Cash Register Analytics” tab. The help guide describes viewing receipts for active software cash registers. If the required register is inactive and its receipts are unavailable, contact the administrator or support and check the document through the State Tax Service service.

Set the “Receipt period,” “Accounting center,” and “Document type” filters. For an offline document, also check the “Created” and “Sent” filters. In the “Receipt” table, select the existing document and check its fiscal number, date, time, total amount, and items. The “Print” action allows you to reprint this receipt with a preview, as described in the software cash register analytics guide. In the preview, check that all details are present and the QR code is readable.

If a registered receipt is missing from the local database, contact the administrator: software cash register settings include a “Download receipts from server” action for a range of local numbers. It uses the private key in the settings and, when the relevant documents are available, links the downloaded receipts to them. You can use a non-fiscal printer selected in “Settings” → “Printer selection” to print software cash register receipts, as described in the printing setup instructions.

The warning in the help guide on integration with a hardware fiscal register that fiscal reprinting for the same outgoing invoice is not possible applies to the scenario described there. For a saved software cash register receipt, use the confirmed reprint action in analytics.

To send customers electronic receipts when they make a purchase, configure a template and a delivery service that sends a link through Short Message Service (SMS), which delivers short text messages to a phone, or Viber. For email, configure an email template and mail settings. According to the receipt sending guide, when payment for a sale is processed, the software lets you enter the customer’s contact details and automatically attaches a PDF copy of the receipt to the email.

Торгсофт creates this file; the State Tax Service search service does not provide PDFs. For a sale that has already been processed, send the receipt you found or a link through an available method. A failed message delivery does not mean the sale should be registered again.

How to handle a return if the paper receipt is lost

The rules below under the Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Protection” No. 1023-XII apply to a consumer: an individual who buys goods for personal needs not directly related to business activity or an employee’s duties, as defined in Clause 22 of Article 1.

First establish the reason for the request and check the warranty period. Under Part 1 of Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Protection” No. 1023-XII, if a consumer discovers defects during the warranty period, they may demand a proportionate price reduction, free repair within a reasonable period, or reimbursement of the cost of repair. They may demand termination of the contract and a refund or replacement under this part if, during the warranty period, a substantial defect caused by the manufacturer, seller, or contractor, or falsification of the goods, is established; where necessary, this is confirmed by an expert opinion.

Part 8 separately provides replacement or a refund for an unfit food product. Part 11 requires presentation of a settlement document and, for goods under warranty, a technical passport or equivalent document bearing the sale date.

Under Article 9, a consumer may exchange a non-food item of proper quality at the seller from whom it was purchased if it does not suit them in shape, dimensions, style, color, size, or for another reason cannot be used for its intended purpose. The exchange period is 14 days, excluding the day of purchase, unless the seller has announced a longer period. The item must be unused and retain its saleable appearance, consumer properties, seals, and labels.

The law requires proof of purchase by a settlement document, including an electronic one, or identification of the document through a QR code in the manner it specifies. Before an exchange, check whether the item is on the list in Appendix No. 3 to Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 172 of March 19, 1994, of goods of proper quality that cannot be exchanged or returned.

If an equivalent item is not available at the time of exchange, the consumer may choose another item with a price adjustment, terminate the contract and receive a refund, or wait for an equivalent item. On termination, the seller refunds the price paid on the date of purchase on the day the contract is terminated; if that is impossible, the refund must be made by another date agreed with the consumer, no later than seven days.

Recommended steps for the seller: accept the request, find the purchase in your own records, help the customer obtain the saved receipt, and check the other conditions for the requested remedy. The absence of the paper copy alone should not result in an automatic refusal when the purchase can be confirmed with an electronic document. A bank statement, order, correspondence, or warranty document may help establish the circumstances of the purchase, but not every screenshot automatically replaces a settlement document. If the parties disagree about the evidence or the right to a return, the dispute may need to be resolved in court.

How a customer losing a receipt differs from a store losing its archive

A customer losing their copy does not erase the seller’s register record. If the store loses its database, control tape, or tax documents, it must separately restore the required records. Finding one receipt will not restore the entire archive.

Under Clause 10 of Article 3 of Law No. 265/95-ВР, the control tape from a hardware cash register, except for vending machines, must be kept for three years. A different rule applies to the control tape for a software cash register operating offline: it must be kept until the documents are sent to the server, and Procedure No. 317 specifies that delivery must be confirmed. The three-year retention period for the control tape is not a universal retention period for all store documents.

Article 44 of the Tax Code of Ukraine No. 2755-VI sets separate minimum retention periods for tax documents. In particular, Subclause 44.3.2 provides for 1,825 days for the specified primary and accounting documents of legal entities, including legal entities using the simplified tax system; Subclauses 44.3.3–44.3.4 provide for 1,095 days for other relevant categories. For special categories of tax control, Subclause 44.3.1 provides for 2,555 days.

The start of the retention period depends on the filing of returns or completion of the relevant transaction, and the period may be extended, including because a limitation period is suspended, an audit is underway, or an appeal is being considered. Before clearing a database, the accountant should identify the document category and the actual date the retention period ends.

If documents covered by Clause 44.5 of the Code are lost, the taxpayer must notify the supervisory authority at their place of registration in writing within five days of the loss, damage, or premature destruction, following the procedure for filing tax returns, and attach properly prepared documents confirming the event. If the lost documents relate to customs clearance, relevant authorization, or a permit for special simplifications, the taxpayer must also notify the customs authority that carried out the clearance or issued the authorization or permit.

The documents must be restored within 90 calendar days starting the day after the notice is received by the supervisory authority. To prevent another loss, regularly check your database backups and make sure saved documents can be opened.

As an exception to Article 44, Subclause 69.28 of Clause 69 of Subsection 10 of Section XX of the Tax Code of Ukraine sets special rules for substantiating tax return data for taxpayers and tax agents that conducted activity in territories of active hostilities or temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and cannot produce primary documents. The rule applies where documents were lost, destroyed, or damaged due to hostilities, or are located in territories where hostilities are or were taking place or in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and cannot be removed, their removal would endanger people’s lives or health, or administrative restrictions imposed by public authorities prevent their removal. Loss without this causal connection is not enough.

When these conditions are met, the taxpayer or tax agent submits to the supervisory authority, in free form, a notice that it is impossible to remove the primary documents. The notice states the circumstances of the loss and/or inability to remove them, the tax reporting periods, and a general list of documents, with identifying details where possible; it is signed by the head of the enterprise and chief accountant.

If the loss becomes known after this notice has been submitted, a notice of the loss of primary documents stating the circumstances must also be filed. For this special procedure, do not automatically apply the general five-day notification and 90-calendar-day restoration periods under Clause 44.5. Subclause 69.28 concerns substantiation of tax reporting: it does not restore a lost receipt, create a legal duplicate, or by itself provide a general exemption from penalties for violations of cash register and software cash register rules.

Its guarantees concerning documentary audits should not automatically be extended to on-site factual inspections of cash register and software cash register use.

When a fine risk arises for failing to issue a receipt

A customer losing a properly issued receipt does not, by itself, mean that the seller broke the rules for issuing it. But if the required document was never created or provided during the sale, producing a “copy” later does not remedy the original violation. Part 11 of Article 8 of Law No. 1023-XII requires a paper or electronic settlement document to be issued or created no later than the time the goods or service are transferred.

Under Clause 1 of Article 17 of Law No. 265/95-ВР, if an inspection establishes that a required settlement transaction was not conducted, was conducted for less than the full amount, or the relevant document was not issued, the penalty is 100% of the amount of the sale made in violation for the first violation and 150% for each subsequent violation.

When the territorial exemption from receipt-related penalties applies

Clause 14 of Section II of this Law provides a territorial exemption from liability for violations committed from October 1, 2023, when selling goods or providing services in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, through the date the occupation ends, inclusive; in active combat zones, through the date hostilities end, inclusive; and in possible combat zones, through the date the possibility of hostilities ends, inclusive. The exemption does not cover violations of settlement procedures involving the sale of excisable goods.

The relevant dates are determined using the official list of territories established under the procedure set by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. To apply the exception, check the location of the actual sale and its status on the date of the violation under Clause 14 of Section II.

Legal grounds for handling lost receipts

• Law of Ukraine “On the Use of Cash Registers in Trade, Public Catering, and Services,” dated July 6, 1995, No. 265/95-ВР: Article 2; Clauses 1, 2, 7, 10, 15, and 16 of Article 3; Article 5; Clause 1 of Article 17; Clauses 13 and 14 of Section II.
• Procedure for the Registration, Maintenance of the Register, and Use of Software Cash Registers, approved by Order No. 317 of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated June 23, 2020: Clause 12 of Section II; Clauses 1, 6, and 7 of Section IV; Clauses 1–8 and 11–13 of Section V.
• Regulation on the Form and Content of Settlement Documents/Electronic Settlement Documents, approved by Order No. 13 of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated January 21, 2016: Clauses 3 and 6 of Section I; Clauses 1 and 2 of Section II.
• Resolution No. 199 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 18, 2002, on requirements for implementing the fiscal functions of cash registers and ensuring the fiscal functions of software cash registers in different fields of use: Clauses 6, 11, and 17 of the requirements for cash registers; Clauses 4, 5, 8, and 15 of the requirements for software cash registers.
• Requirements for Creating an Electronic Control Tape in Cash Registers and Software Cash Registers and for Data Transmission Modems, approved by Order No. 1057 of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated October 8, 2012: Subclauses 2.3.5–2.3.6 and Clause 2.4 of Section II.
• Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Protection,” dated May 12, 1991, No. 1023-XII: Clause 22 of Article 1; Parts 1, 8, and 11 of Article 8; Parts 1–3 of Article 9.
• Tax Code of Ukraine, dated December 2, 2010, No. 2755-VI: Clauses 44.1 and 44.3–44.5 of Article 44; Subclause 69.28 of Clause 69 of Subsection 10 of Section XX.
• Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 172 of March 19, 1994, “On the Implementation of Certain Provisions of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Consumer Protection’”: Appendix No. 3, the list of goods of proper quality that cannot be exchanged or returned.