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What is e-Invoicing and e-Invoicing Schema?

E-invoicing’ or ‘electronic invoicing’ is a system in which B2B invoices are authenticated electronically on Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) for further use on the common GST portal. It was made applicable to businesses with turnover exceeding Rs.500 crore from 1st October 2020. It will soon be extended to businesses with turnover exceeding Rs.100 crore from 1st January 2021.
E-invoice schema is the standard for issuing e-invoices, which list the mandatory and optional fields and the description and explanatory notes for each field.

What is the e-Invoice Registration Portal (IRP)?

The e-invoices generated need to be reported to an Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), which will then validate the invoice and return it back along with an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and QR Code, after digitally signing it.

What is an Invoice Reference Number (IRN)?

An Invoice Reference Number (IRN) is a unique code issued for every e-invoice (in technical terms hash based on 3 parameters). It is combination of the supplier GSTIN, invoice number and financial year

What type of documents are covered under e-Invoice?

• B2B invoices issued by the supplier (including RCM transactions)
• Credit notes issued by the supplier pertaining to B2B invoices
• Debit notes issued by the supplier pertaining to B2B invoices
• Any other document as required by the law from time to time

Is it mandatory to generate IRN within 24 hours?

Yes, there is a time limit for uploading e-invoices, and the same is notified by the Government. Without registration of e-invoices on the IRP, the same will not be valid. Once uploaded to the IRP, the e-invoices will be registered immediately, on a real-time basis.

Can IRN be generated in bulk?

Yes, IRNs can be generated in bulk on the IRP. Invoices must be uploaded on the IRP one at a time. The IRP will be able to handle a large sequence of invoices for registration and validate them. Essentially, bulk upload of invoices will be required by large taxpayers who generate a large number of invoices. Their ERP or accounting system will have to be designed in such a way that it makes requests one by one. For the user, it will not make any difference.

What is the end-to-end workflow of an e-invoice like?

• Step 1: Generation of the invoice on the taxpayer’s respective ERP system
• Step 2: Generation of IRN (can be done on the respective ERP or through the IRP)
• Step 3: Upload the JSON file of the e-invoice (along with hash/IRN, if generated) to the IRP for validation
• Step 4: The IRP will generate/validate the hash/IRN and will add a digital signature and QR code, and return the JSON to the taxpayer
• Step 5: The IRP will share this invoice data with the e-way bill system and the GSTN

What indicates that IRP has approved the e-Invoice?

The IRP will return the signed JSON along with the QR code. The QR code will contain the GSTIN of the supplier, the buyer, the invoice number and date, HSN codes of major commodities, IRN, etc. (Note: QR code will not have the status of an invoice.)

Can the IRP reject the submitted e-Invoice?

The IRP will validate the e-invoice and will reject it if the GSTIN is wrong, or a duplicate invoice number is found. It will return the invoice with the relevant error codes without registering the same.

What are the validations conducted by the IRP?

The IRP will validate for GSTIN correctness and whether the invoice already exists in the system.

Does the IRP provide an archiving facility?

No, the details will be stored in IRP for 24 hours, and then the same can be available in GSTN in GSTR-1.

Will the IRP return the signed invoice PDF/mail it to the respective supplier and buyer?

No, the IRP will only return the signed JSON to the respective supplier and no sharing of PDF copies or mailing of JSONs / PDFs will be done by the IRP to the respective supplier and the buyer. The PDF copy of the invoice can be generated by the supplier using the QR code that is returned by the IRP.

Is the supplier allowed to distribute the e-invoice to the buyer?

Yes, the supplier is also allowed to distribute the JSON as well as the PDF to the buyer. Further, the supplier is also free to share/distribute a business invoice to the buyer (having multiple fields as per the business’ needs). However, it needs to ensure that the business invoice contains all the mandatory fields as prescribed in the e-invoice schema.

Is printing of an e-invoice PDF mandatory?

No, with machine readability, the need for printing will be eliminated. Moreover, the QR code will enable easy validation of the contents of an e-invoice

Is the QR required to be printed on the invoice?

Even if the invoice is printed by the company, it still needs to contain the QR code returned by the IRP, as this QR code will also contain the IRN.

Will non-tax invoices / documents be subjected to IRN?

No, bills of supply and delivery challans will not be required to have an IRN.

Is an IRN required for ISD and export transactions?

ISD invoices and ISD credit notes will be issued by an Input Service Distributor (ISD) and no IRNs will be required on the same. On the other hand, exporters have to issue tax invoices and would be required to generate IRNs.

Are importers required to generate IRNs?

E-invoicing / IRN generation is only applicable to creators of an invoice/document and hence, bill of entry will not be required to have an IRN.

What is the process of amendment / cancellation of an e-Invoice?

E-invoices reported to the IRP can be amended through the GSTN and no amendment is permitted through the IRP. Once cancelled, the same number cannot be used for any other invoice. In case of cancellation of an e-invoice, it can be done by uploading the IRN or the following:

• GSTIN
• Document type
• Document number
• Document date

Will e-Invoice be mapped to GSTR-1 by IRP?

Yes, the IRP will push the data to the GST portal and the data will be populated in GSTR-1* of the seller.
*Subject to CBIC notification

Will Transporter ID be a part of the e-invoice schema?

Yes, the Transporter ID parameter will be created in e-invoice and Part A of EWB will be auto populated from the e-invoice itself.

Can e-commerce companies generate e-invoices for sellers on their platform?

The matter has been taken up with the Government to generate e-invoices on behalf of the sellers provided the sellers explicitly authorize them to do so

Will TCS mechanism change after the implementation of e-invoicing?

No, the e-Invoice will be issued by the supplier and not the e-commerce operator and therefore TCS is not a part of the e-commerce operator e-Invoice.

Is the physical copy of an e-Invoice needed for movement of goods?

Relevant changes will be notified by the Government

Is it possible to have more than one QR code on the e-Invoice?

Yes, but seller needs to properly annotate them to clarify which QR code represents which e-Invoice

Large business (> 500 crores) has both B2B and B2C transactions. Will they also be required to print QR codes on the e-Invoices?

Yes, for the B2B e-Invoices the IRP will generate QR code. For the B2C e-Invoices, the taxpayer has to internally generate the QR code.

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