--- title: "Sell gift cards as vouchers with the right ยท Agent Wranglers" url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/tax/gift-card-vouchers id: PAY-75 level: Required applies: payments region: EU, US risk: law updated: 2026-10-27 build: a2a6bdfed830 tokens: 839 licence: "CC BY 4.0" licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- # Sell gift cards as vouchers with the right VAT and expiry For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Tax](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/tax.md). By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-27. - ID: PAY-75 - Level: Required - Chapter: [Tax](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/tax.md) - Rule: Mark each gift card as a single-purpose or multi-purpose voucher and charge VAT at the moment the law sets for that type. Give US consumer gift cards at least five years before the funds expire. - Check: A query finds no gift card product without a voucher type. A test sells a single-purpose voucher, and the tax ledger books VAT on the sale date. A test redeems a multi-purpose voucher, and VAT is booked then. A test finds no US gift card that expires sooner than five years. - Risk: A law broken - Applies when: The project takes payments. - Region: European Union (EU), United States (US). The duty comes from the law there. The rule applies only when the project serves people there, and its Applies when also holds. - How: The EU Voucher Directive (EU) 2016/1065 added Articles 30a and 30b to the VAT Directive. A single-purpose voucher is one whose place of supply and VAT are known at sale. An example is a card for one shop in one country. Its VAT is due when you sell it. A multi-purpose voucher, such as a card for goods at several VAT rates, is taxed only when it is redeemed. In the US, Regulation E section 1005.20 gives store gift cards at least five years before expiry. The card must show the date. Reloadable credits not sold as a gift card fall outside it, as [Spend credits in a fixed order and show when they expire](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/usage-billing/credits-and-prepaid-balances/credit-expiry-order.md) describes. Send the voucher type to the tax service from [Calculate tax with a tax service](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/tax/tax-service.md). ## Sources - [Council Directive (EU) 2016/1065 on vouchers](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/1065/oj) - [Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.20](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1005/subpart-A/section-1005.20) ## Related rules - USG-8 [Spend credits in a fixed order and show when they expire](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/usage-billing/credits-and-prepaid-balances/credit-expiry-order.md) in Usage-based billing - PAY-46 [Calculate tax with a tax service](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/tax/tax-service.md) in Payments and billing - USG-27 [Decide when prepaid credits carry VAT](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/usage-billing/credits-and-prepaid-balances/credit-vat-point.md) in Usage-based billing **For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `Agent Wranglers payments and billing playbook`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link. - Previous: [Show prices the way each market expects](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/tax/tax-inclusive-prices.md) - [Tax](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/tax.md)