Can we refuse to pay for goods as agreed without first issuing an invoice
2022-11-11
Recently, the People's Court of Qidong County, Hunan Province concluded a contract dispute in which the defendant refused to perform the payment obligation on the ground that the plaintiff's failure to issue an invoice in advance constituted an early breach of contract. After hearing the case, the court held that the failure to issue an invoice was an incidental obligation of the contract, and it was not necessary to perform the conditions of the right of defense first, so the court decided that the defendant should pay the project funds and the interest during the delay in performance. The plaintiff Yiyang Advertising Co., Ltd. claimed that it signed a contract with the defendant Qidong Real Estate Co., Ltd. for lighting installation and material production and installation of a project, agreeing that the defendant would purchase decoration items from the plaintiff and the plaintiff would install them, and agreed on the specific equipment, quantity, price, etc. needed. Later, the plaintiff completed the installation of the goods on the bill of materials from December 8, 2019 to March 8, 2020 as required, and the defendant's staff signed on the acceptance confirmation form on June 10, 2020 to confirm that the goods and installation had passed the acceptance. However, the defendant has not paid the relevant amount as agreed in the contract as of the date of prosecution of this case. The plaintiff appealed to the defendant to pay 147,000 yuan of project funds and 79,732.8 yuan of liquidated damages. The defendant Qidong some real estate limited company argued that the plaintiff failed to provide VAT tax receipts as agreed in the contract, which constituted an early breach of contract, and the defendant had the right to refuse to pay. The court found out after hearing that in December 2019, an advertising company in Yiyang (Party B) and a real estate company in Qidong (Party A) signed a contract, stipulating that Party A entrusted Party B with the lighting installation and material production and installation of the project, and clearly agreed on the contract term, total contract price, materials and quality requirements, rules, quantity, unit price, etc. of lighting materials and outdoor packaging materials. The contract also stipulates that Party A shall pay 95% of the total settlement price in a lump sum within 30 days after Party B submits complete payment materials and reviews them for confirmation, and the remaining 5% shall be used as the quality guarantee deposit, which shall be paid to Party B without interest after the expiration of the warranty period, and the quality warranty shall be free for three months; Before each payment, Party B shall timely provide corresponding invoices of equal amount for Party A's inspection. If the invoices issued by Party B do not meet the requirements of this contract, Party A has the right to refuse to pay and postpone the payment time, without assuming the liability for breach of contract... After the contract was signed, the plaintiff fulfilled the obligation of production and installation, and from March 4, 2020, it has repeatedly contacted the defendant's staff through WeChat to request acceptance and payment process. The plaintiff applied for the defendant's payment on June 10, 2020, but the defendant still did not pay until the date of prosecution. After the trial, the court held that the contract signed by the plaintiff Yiyang Advertising Co., Ltd. and the defendant Qidong Real Estate Co., Ltd. was the true intention of the parties, the content was legal, and it was a valid contract. All parties to the contract shall perform their obligations as agreed. The defendant's failure to pay for the goods as agreed in the contract is a breach of contract. The plaintiff requires the defendant to pay 147000 yuan for the goods and liquidated damages, which is based on the law. The defendant argued that the plaintiff company did not provide the VAT invoice as agreed in the contract, and the defendant had the right to refuse to pay. The court held that although it was agreed in the contract that the plaintiff should issue a corresponding invoice before the defendant made payment, the issuance of an invoice was only an incidental obligation of the contract, and the plaintiff's failure to issue an invoice could not be the reason why the defendant did not pay for the goods. The court did not accept the defendant's plea. Therefore, it was decided that the defendant Qidong a real estate limited company gave
Edit：Hou Wenzhe Responsible editor：WeiZe
Source：chinacourt.org
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