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In a recent interview with PTI, Finance Secretary Mr.Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that e-invoice would be mandatory from April 1st, 2021 for all the B2B transactions by businesses with a turnover of over Rs. 5 crores.

In this post, we will look into some frequently asked questions on the newly introduced concept of E-invoicing under GST.

Q1. Is e-invoicing mandatory?

A. E-invoicing is mandatory from 1st October 2020 for all businesses with aggregate turnover over Rs.500 crore limit in any of the previous FY from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Q2. To whom does it apply to?

A. From 1st January 2021, it is applicable to businesses with over Rs.100 crore turnover limit in any of the FY between 2017-18 to 2019-20.

However, it’s not applicable to the following as notified in the CBIC Notification No.13/2020:

  • An insurer/ a banking company /a financial institution, including an NBFC
  • Goods Transport Agency (GTA)
  • A registered person supplying passenger transportation services
  • The person supplying services by cinematographic films exhibition in multiplex services.
  • SEZ unit (excluded via CBIC Notification No. 61/2020 – Central Tax)

Q3. How does e-Invoicing work?

A. The businesses will generate invoices on their respective ERPs as before, but now invoices will have a standard schema. Thus, the invoices will be standardized and have high machine-readability.

The taxpayer will generate the invoice, and then upload it to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP). Then, IRP will generate a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) for the invoice. The e-Invoice will also have a digital signature and QR code. It is then returned to who generated the e-Invoice and sends the signed e-Invoice to the seller to his registered email.

Q4. What documents do you need to generate e-Invoicing in IRP?

A. The documents you need for e-Invoicing generation are:

  • Supplier’s Invoices
  • Supplier’s Credit Notes
  • Supplier’s Debit Notes
  • Any other document as required by law

Q5. What are the prerequisites to generate an e-invoice?

A. The prerequisites to generate e-invoices are:

  • The person generating should be registered on the GST portal and e-invoice or e-way bill portal.
  • There should be a valid document to report (invoice, debit note, or a credit note).
  • If e-invoices are bulk generated, then there should be a valid JSON file as per the e-invoice schema or have integrated his ERP system with APIs.

Q6. What is an e-Invoice format?

A. The e-Invoice only has a single format for different industries and businesses. Specific businesses can use non-mandatory fields as per their requirement.

You can download an official E-invoice schema Here.

For more details check out our blog – Bulk Generation of E-Invoices on IRP

Q7. What are the modes to get e-Invoices registered?

A. There are multiple modes on the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) and they are:

  • Web based
  • API based
  • Offline tool based
  • GSP based

Q8. How do I create an IRN?

A. The various methods to create an IRN are:

  • Offline tool – Upload the invoices in a standard format and IRN is generated.
  • Using API
    • Through GSPs integration: system-to-system integration through registered GSPs.
    • Direct integration: System-to-System integration directly from the taxpayer’s system.
    • Through enabled sister concerned GSTIN: System-to-System integration through taxpayer’s sister company with the same PAN. (For multiple GSTINs, enable API for any GSTIN and other GSTINs use this facility)
    • E-Way Bill enabled Taxpayers: System-to-System integration for E-Way Bill enabled Tax Payers
  • Web Based – Enter in IRP Portal 
  • Through Mobile App

For the offline bulk generation of IRN, download the offline tool at https://einvoice1.gst.gov.in/. Enter the invoice details and validate the entry. Generate the JSON file and upload it into the portal.

However, for other methods he must register his APIs by logging into the e-invoice portal and use the API credentials to connect and generate IRN and e-way bill.

Q9. What is the time limit to upload e-invoices on the IRP?

No, there is no time limit. An invoice is considered valid only after its registration on the IRP. Once uploaded, it is registered on a real-time basis.

Q10. What are the information in an e-Invoice?

A. An e-Invoice will contain the following parts information:

  • Schema: This has a technical field name and the description of each field. It also specifies if it is mandatory or not and have sample values and explanatory notes.
  • Masters: It specifies the set of inputs for certain fields defined by GSTN.
  • Template: It is based on GST rules and enables the reader to correlate the terms used in other sheets. The mandatory fields are in green and optional fields are in yellow.

Q11. How to verify your e-invoice?

A. To verify an e-invoice, just upload the signed JSON file into the system. Then, select ‘Verify Signed Invoice’ under ‘Search’ option.

You can also download the QR Code Verify app and verify the QR code on the invoice.

Q12. Can an e-Invoice be cancelled partially/fully?

A. An e-Invoice cannot be partially cancelled. However, you can cancel it fully. Once cancelled, report it to the IRP within 24 hrs. After 24 hrs you can not cancel an e-Invoice on the IRP. You can only do it manually on the GST portal before you file the returns.

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With that, we have come to the end of this post. Share your queries with us in the comment section below.