113 Frequently Asked Questions on GST e-invoice and IRN System
A. E-invoice – Basics:
1. What is e-invoicing?
Answer : ‘e-invoicing’ means the invoice shall be prepared after obtaining an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) by uploading specified particulars (in FORM GST INV-01) on the notified Invoice Registration Portals (IRP).
‘e-invoicing’ doesn’t mean generation of invoice by a Government portal.
‘e-invoicing’ facilitates exchange of the invoice document (structured invoice data) between a supplier and a buyer in an integrated electronic format.
2. What is e-invoicing process? How is it different from present system?
Answer : There is no much difference indeed. Registered persons will continue to create their GST invoices on their own Accounting/Billing/ERP Systems. These invoices will now be reported to ‘Invoice Registration Portal (IRP)’. On reporting, IRP returns the e-invoice with a unique ‘Invoice Reference Number (IRN)’ after digitally signing the e-invoice and adding a QR Code. Then, the invoice can be issued to the receiver (along with QR Code).
A GST invoice will be valid only with a valid IRN.
3. For which businesses, e-invoicing is mandatory?
Answer : Presently, it is mandated for registered persons whose aggregate turnover (based on PAN) in a financial year is more than Rs. 500 Crores.
4. From which date, e-invoicing is mandatory for the notified classes of taxpayers?
Answer : As per latest notification, e-invoicing will be mandatory w.e.f. 1st October, 2020, for notified classes of registered persons (those having aggregate annual turnover at PAN level more than Rs. 500 Crores).
5. What are the legal provisions governing e-invoice?
Answer : Below notifications were issued on e-invoice:
| Notification No. (Central Tax) | Key Contents |
| 68/2019 Dt. 13-12-2019 | Central Goods and Services Tax (Eighth Amendment) RulesInserted belownew sub-rulesin Rule 48 of CGST Rules, 2017: (4) The invoice shall be prepared by such class of registered persons as may be notified by the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, by including such particulars contained in FORM GST INV-01 after obtaining an Invoice Reference Number by uploading information contained therein on the Common Goods and Services Tax Electronic Portal in such manner and subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be specified in the notification. Every invoice issued bya person to whom sub-rule (4) applies in any manner other than the manner specified in the said sub-ruleshall not be treated as an invoice. The provisions of sub-rules (1) and (2) shall not apply to an invoice prepared in themanner specified in sub-rule (4). |
| 69/2019 Dt. 13-12-2019 | Notified 10 Common Goods and Services Tax Electronic Portals for the purposeofpreparation of invoice in terms of rule 48 (4) |
| 70/2019 Dt. 13-12-2019 | Notified registered person, whose aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds one hundred crore rupees, as a class of registered person who shall prepare invoice in terms of sub-rule(4) of rule 48 of the said rules in respect of supply of goods or services or both to a registered person; notification to come into force from the 1st day of April, 2020 (This notification superseded by 13 of 2020 Dt. 21-3-2020) |
| 2 of 2020 Dt. 1-1-2020 | Substituted Form GST INV-1 as e-invoice schema (Schema further amended vide Notification 60/2020 Dt. 30-7-2020) |
| 13 of 2020 Dt. 21-3- 2020 (in supersession of 70/2019 Dt. 13-12- 2019) | e-invoicing to start from the 1st October, 2020;Notifies registered persons, other than those referred to in sub-rules (2), (3), (4) and (4A) of rule 54 of the said rules, whose aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds Rs. 100 Cr., as a class of registered person who shall prepare invoiceand other prescribed documents, in terms of sub-rule (4) of rule 48 of CGCT Rules, 2017, in respect of supply of goods or services or both to a registered person. |
| (Further amended by 61/2020 Dt. 30-7-2020) | |
| 60/2020 Dt. 30-7-2020 | Central Goods and Services Tax (Ninth Amendment) Rules, 2020New form substituted for GST INV-01 (i.e. notified revised Schema/format for e-invoice) |
| 61/2020 Dt. 30-7-2020 | Amended notification 13/2020 Dt. 21-3-2020Special Economic Zone units also excluded from e-invoicing mandate Aggregate Turnover of registered persons (required to prepare invoicein terms of Rule 48(4)) enhanced to Rs. 500 Cr. |
6. What are the advantages of e-invoice for businesses?
Answer : e-invoice has many advantages for businesses such as Auto-reporting of invoices into GST return, auto-generation of e-way bill (where required).
e-invoicing will also facilitate standardisation and inter-operability leading to reduction of disputes among transacting parties, improve payment cycles, reduction of processing costs and thereby greatly improving overall business efficiency.
7. What businesses need to do, to be e -invoice ready?
Answer : Businesses will continue to issue invoices as they are doing now. Necessary changes on account of e-invoicing requirement (i.e. to enable reporting of invoices to IRP and obtain IRN), will be made by ERP/Accounting and Billing Software providers in their respective software. They need to get the updated version having this facility.
B.E-invoice – Applicability:
8. What documents are presently covered under e -invoicing?
Answer :
- B2B Invoices
- Invoices issued for Exports
- Credit Notes
- Debit Notes
issued by notified class of registered persons are currently covered under e-invoice. Though different documents are covered, for ease of reference and understanding, the system is referred as ‘e-invoicing’.
9. What transactions are presently covered under e-invoice?
Answer : B2B GST Supplies and Export Invoices, Credit and Debit Notes issued by notified class of taxpayers are currently covered under e-invoice.
10. Is e-invoicing mandatory for B2C (Business to Consumer) supplies also?
Answer : No. e-invoicing is not applicable to B2C invoices. Presently, it is only mandated for B2B Supplies and supplies for the purpose of export by notified class of registered persons.
11. What is the applicability of e-invoice for import transactions?
Answer : e-invoicing is not applicable for import Bills of Entry.
12.Which entities/persons are exempt from the e-invoice mandate?
Answer :
a. Special Economic Zone Units
b. insurer or a banking company or a financial institution, including a non-banking financial company
c. goods transport agency supplying services in relation to transportation of goods by road in a goods carriage
d. Suppliers of passenger transportation service
e. Suppliers of services by way of admission to exhibition of cinematograph films in multiplex screens
C. E-invoice – Reporting to IRP:
13.What do I need to generate an e-invoice?
Answer : A system/utility to report e-invoice details in JSON format to IRP and receive signed e- invoice in JSON format from the Portal.
14.Whether Government will provide any tool to report invoices to IRP?
Answer : Yes. For small entities not having their own ERP/Software solutions, a free offline utility will be provided, through which invoices can be easily prepared, reported to IRP and obtain IRN/signed e-invoice.
15.What are various modes for generation of e-invoice?
Answer : Multiple modes will be available so that taxpayer can use the best mode based on his/her need. Below modes are envisaged:
- API based,
- Mobile app based,
- Offline tool based and
- GST Suvidha Provider (GSP) based
16. Can IRN be generated by supplier directly?
Answer : No. The seller will not be able to create IRN. This will only be returned by the IRP (portal).
17. Will it be possible for bulk uploading of invoices to IRP?
Answer : Yes. Bulk upload will be generally required by large taxpayers. Their ERP or accounting system will be designed in such a way that user can report invoices in bulk. However, reporting to IRP by the tool and generation of IRN will be one after another, which will not be seen by the user. For the user it will appear bulk upload and bulk receipt.
18.Will IRP store/archive e-invoices?
Answer : No. IRP will only be a pass-through portal to validate few particulars of invoice and generate IRN. It will not store or archive e-invoice data.
19. Will I need to enter invoice details on a government website and obtain IRN?
Answer :
- In e-invoice scenario, what is envisaged is ‘machine-to-machine’ exchange of invoice data (mainly between supplier’s system & IRP).
- Though the option of obtaining IRN by entering invoice data via web-based screen will be available, that mode will be used rarely, e.g. by businesses who don’t use any ERPs/Accounting/Billing Software and have very few invoices to report.
- Ultimately this will be replaced by mobile app-based tool for such taxpayers.
D. E-invoice – Schema / Contents:
20. What is e-invoice schema?
Answer : ‘Schema’ simply means a structured template or format. ‘e-invoice’ schema is the standard format for electronic invoice. It is notified as‘Form GST INV-1’.
21. Why is an e-invoice standard/schema required?
Answer :
- Presently, businesses are preparing/generating invoices in their respective ERPs/Accounting/Billing Software. The e-invoice generated by one is not understood by the other, thereby necessitating data entry efforts and consequent errors and reconciliation problems.
- ‘Schema’ acts as uniform standard for ERP/ Billing/Accounting software providers to build utility in their solution/package to prepare e-invoice in notified standard thereby ensuring e-invoice generated by any ERP/Accounting and Billing Software is correctly understood by another ERP/Accounting software. This is also required for ensuring uniformity in reporting to IRP.
- Schema ensures e-invoice is ‘machine-readable’ and ‘inter-operable’, i.e. the invoice/format can be readily ‘picked up’, ‘read’, ‘understood’ and further processed by different systems like Oracle, Tally, SAP etc.
22. What is the basis of e-invoice schema?
Answer : e-invoice Schema is based on PEPPOL/Universal Business Language (UBL) with certain customizations to cater to Indian business practices and legal requirements.
23. Will there be different invoice schema for different sectors/businesses, e.g. Traders, Manufacturers, Service Providers, Professionals etc.?
Answer : No. e-invoice schema is a single standard applicable to all businesses in the country. Many optional fields are available in the schema to cater to the requirements of specific businesses.
24.What is the file format in which invoice has to be reported to IRP?
Answer : Invoice details in prescribed schema have to be reported to IRP in JSON format. ‘JSON’ stands for JavaScript Object Notation. It can be thought of as a common language for systems/machines to communicate between each other and exchange data. As the ERP or Accounting software will generate it, taxpayer need not worry about it.
25.What are the various types of fields in e-invoice schema?
Answer :
- Data for fields marked as ‘Mandatory’ have to be provided compulsorily.
- A mandatory field not having any value can be reported as NIL.
- Fields marked as ‘Optional’ may or may not be filled up. Many of these are relevant for specific businesses (e.g. Batch No., Attributes etc.) and to cater to specific scenarios (e.g. export, e-way bill etc.).
- Some sections in the schema are marked as ‘Optional’. But, if this section is selected, some of the fields may be mandatory. For example, the section ‘e-way Bill Details’ is marked as optional. But, if this section is chosen, the field, ‘Mode of Transportation’ is mandatory.
26.What is ‘cardinality’, as mentioned in schema?
Answer : In e-invoice schema, for each field, ‘Cardinality’ is marked as 0..1 / 1..1 / 1..n / 0..n. This is to denote whether a field is ‘mandatory’ and whether it is ‘repetitive’.
| Notation | Meaning |
| Starts with 0 | Optional field |
| Starts with 1 | Mandatory field |
| Ends with 1 | Data for the field can be entered only once |
| Ends with n | Data for the field can be entered multiple times |
27. Can the supplier place their entity logo on e-invoice? Is this part of schema?
Answer : Elements of invoice which are internal to business, such as company logo etc. are not part of e-invoice schema.
After reporting invoice details to IRP and receipt of IRN, at the time of issuing invoice to receiver (e.g. generating as PDF and printing as paper copy or forwarding via e-mail etc.), any further customisation, i.e. insertion of company logo, additional text etc., can be made by respective ERP/billing/accounting software providers.
E. E-invoice – Generation of IRN:
28. Is Invoice number same as Invoice Reference Number (IRN)?
Answer : No. Invoice no. (e.g. ABC/1/2019-20) is assigned by supplier and is internal to business. Its format can differ from business to business and also governed by relevant GST rules.
IRN, on other hand, is a unique reference number (hash) generated and returned by IRP, on successful registration of e-invoice.
29. How a typical IRN looks like?
Answer : It is a unique 64-character hash, e.g.
35054cc24d97033afc24f49ec4444dbab81f542c555f9d30359dc75794e06bbe
30. Can IRP reject a submitted invoice? On reporting invoice details to IRP, what validations will performed on the portal?
Answer : IRP can reject an invoice.
IRP will check whether the invoice was already reported and existing in the GST System. (This validation is based on the combination of GSTIN-InvoiceNumber- TypeOfDocument-Fin.Year, which is also used for generation of IRN). In case the same invoice (document) has already been reported earlier, it will be rejected by IRP.
Certain other key validations will also be performed on portal. In case of failure, registration of invoice won’t be successful, IRN won’t be generated and invoice will be rejected along with relevant error codes..
31. On reporting invoice details, what will be returned by IRP? Will it return signed JSON or PDF or both?
Answer : IRP will return only the signed JSON. No PDF will be returned. On receipt of signed JSON, it is for the respective ERP or Accounting & Billing software system to generate PDF, if needed.
32. What is the indication for the supplier that IRP has registered the e-invoice?
Answer : Upon successful registration of invoice on IRP, it will return a signed e-invoice JSON to the supplier with IRN and QR Code.
F. E-invoice – Printing of Invoice / IRN / QR Code
33. Can I print an e-invoice?
Answer : Yes. Once the IRP returns the signed JSON, it can be converted into PDF and printed, if required.
34. Do I need to print IRN on the invoice?
Answer : No. It’s optional. IRN is anyway embedded in the QR Code to be printed on invoice.
35. How will the QR Code be received?
Answer : The QR code will be part of signed JSON, returned by the IRP. It will be a string (not image), which the ERP/accounting/billing software shall read and convert into QR Code image for placing on the invoice.
36. Do I need to print QR Code on the invoice?
Answer : Yes. The QR code which comes as part of signed JSON from IRP, shall be extracted and placed on the invoice before generation of PDF/print.
37. If e-invoice is applicable and issued, am I supposed to issue copies of invoice in triplicate/duplicate?
Answer : No. This is specified in relevant notification also.
38. Will it be possible for invoices that are registered on IRP to be downloaded and saved on handheld devices?
Answer : Yes. This will be possible for the buyer and seller who are involved in the business transaction. This facility will be available through GST System and not the IRP.
G. E-invoice – Verification of IRN / QR Code:
39. How to verify an invoice is duly reported to IRP?
Answer : A dedicated mobile app to scan and verify validity of e-invoice QR Code will be provided. Further, a “Search IRN” facility will also be provided on GST Portal.
40. What data is embedded in QR Code?
Answer : The QR code will consist of the following key particulars of e-invoice:
a. GSTIN of Supplier
b. GSTIN of Recipient
c. Invoice number, as given by Supplier
d. Date of generation of invoice
e. Invoice value (taxable value and gross tax)
f. Number of line items
g. HSN Code of main item (line item having highest taxable value)
h. Unique IRN (Invoice Reference Number/hash)
41. What is dynamic QR Code? Does it has any relevance for B2B e-invoicing?
Answer : Notification No. 14/2020-Central Tax dated 21st March, 2020 mandates entities with aggregate turnover > Rs. 500 crores in a FY to include QR code on their B2C invoices. It is also specified that a Dynamic Quick Response (QR) code made available to buyer through digital display (with payment cross-reference) shall be deemed to be having QR code. The purpose of this Notification is to enable and encourage digital payments.
It has no relevance or applicability to the e-invoicing i.r.o B2B Supplies by notified class of taxpayers.
Below table summarises the differences:
| Sr.no. | Notification No. | Notification 14/2020-Central Taxdated 21st March, 2020 | Notifications 13/2020-Central Tax dated 21st March, 2020 & 61/2020 Dt. 30-7-2020 |
| 1. | Type of transaction covered | Supplies made by a registered person to unregistered persons (also called B2C supplies) | Supplies made by a class of registered persons to other registered persons. (also known as B2B supplies) |
| 2. | Who is impacted? | Registered persons (GST taxpayers) having an aggregate turnover above Rs. 500 crore in the preceding financial year | Registered persons (GST taxpayers) having an aggregate turnover above Rs. 500 crore in the preceding financial year. |
| 3. | Notification highlights | Issuance of a QR Code on the invoice by above mentioned registered taxpayers for supplies made to unregistered persons. The QR Code is for the purpose of making payment by the unregistered person/Consumer to such registered person making the B2C supply, using UPI-based payment Apps by scanning the QR Code. | This notification refers to the provision of mandatory issuance of electronic invoice (commonly known as e-invoice) by a specific class of registered taxpayers for supplies made to registered persons. On the submission of the e-invoice on the invoice registration portal (known as IRP), the IRP would return a QR Code which will contain key details of the invoice like the sellers’ and buyers’ GSTIN, taxable value and tax amount, IRN, digital signature and dominant HSN of the invoice. |
| 4. | QR code to be made available | Either on the Point of Sale (PoS) machine of the seller or the Invoice issued by the seller. | QR Code would be generated by the IRP and returned as an acknowledgement for the e-invoice reported on the IRP. |
| 5. | Purpose | To enable payment using UPI by a mobile application by scanning of this QR Code. | To verify that whether an invoice has been reported on the IRP or not and whether digital signature is intact or tampered with. |
42. Is it possible to have more than one QR code on an invoice?
Answer : Yes. Apart from the QR code relating to IRN, the supplier is free to place any other QR Code which is required as per business needs or otherwise mandated by any other statutory requirement. In such cases, the QR Codes need to be annotated properly so that they can be distinguished easily.
H. E-invoice – Sending to Receiver:
43. On generation of IRN, will the IRP send or e-mail the e-invoice to the receiver?
Answer : No. IRP will not do this. Upon receiving signed JSON from the IRP, it is for the supplier to send the e-invoice (along with QR Code etc.) to the receiver.
44. How will the supplier send the e-invoice to the receiver?
Answer : A suggested mechanism may be to exchange the PDF of the JSON received from IRP, (which includes signed QR code) as the best authenticated version of the e-invoice for business transactions.
However, a mechanism to enable system-to-system exchange of e-invoices will be provided in due course.
45. Large taxpayers (for whom e-invoicing is compulsory) will be making supplies to small businesses (for whom e-invoicing is not mandatory). How these small businesses will get the invoice from those big suppliers?
Answer : In the same way as it is being done now. For example, the large taxpayers can convert the signed e-invoice JSON into PDF and share the copy by e-mail or send printed copy by post, courier etc
I. E-invoice – Amendment / Cancellation:
46.Can an IRN/invoice reported to IRP be cancelled?
Answer : Yes. This request can be triggered through ‘Cancel API’ within the prescribed period.
47.Can a cancelled e-invoice number be used again?
Answer : No. Once an IRN/invoice is cancelled, the same invoice number cannot be used again to generate another invoice. In case it is used again then the same will be rejected when it is uploaded on IRP.
48.Can I partially cancel a reported invoice?
Answer : No. It has to be cancelled in toto. No partial cancellation of reported e-invoice allowed. Cancellation of invoices is governed by Accounting Standards and any other applicable rules/regulations.
49. Can I amend details of a reported invoice?
Answer : Yes. They can be amended.
Details of e-invoices successfully registered on IRP will be pushed to the GST System. So, any amendments to the e-invoice have to be carried out on GST portal and not on IRP. Further, the amendments are governed by relevant provisions of GST Law and Rules.
J. E-invoice – Linkage with E-Way Bill / GST Return:
50. With the introduction of e-invoicing, is e-way bill still compulsory?
Answer : Yes. While transporting goods, wherever the e-way bill is needed, the requirement continues to be mandatory.
51.Will the e-invoice details be pushed to GST System? Will they populate the return?
Answer : Yes. The IRP will push the relevant invoice data (payload) to GST System. The GST system will auto-populate them into GSTR-1 of the supplier.
52. Whether the e-way bill get auto-generated?
Answer : In case both Part-A and Part-B of e-way bill are provided in the e-invoice schema, the details will be used to generate e-way bill by E-Way Bill System.
In case Part-B details are not provided as part of e-invoice, the same will have to be provided by the user on E-Way Bill Portal, for generation of e-way bill.
K. E-invoice – Technology / APIs:
53.Where e-invoice API integration specifications be found?
Answer : They can be viewed at https://einv-apisandbox.nic.in/
54. Are there more FAQs on e-invoice from technology/developer’s angle?
Answer : Yes. You can access them at https://einvoice1.gst.gov.in/Others/Faqs
55.Who is an “Application Service Provider”? How can one become an ASP?
Answer : ASPs are software service providers who route GST data of their clients to GST System through GSPs (GST Suvidha Providers).
Any software provider of financial services in the indirect tax domain can push data to GST system through GSPs. As far as IRP is concerned, access will be provided over internet. No separate category of GSP/ASP will be created for access to IRP.
56. As many businesses will be reporting invoices, will there be any delay in generation of IRN by IRP? Can the portal take that much load?
Answer : IRP is only a pass through validation portal. Certain key fields will be validated on IRP. So, IRN will be generated in sub-milli second duration. The server capacity will be robust enough to handle simultaneous uploads. Further, multiple IRPs will be made available to distribute the load of invoice registration.
The IRPs will be other than normal GST portal used for filing return, making payment, filing registration applications etc.
57.Will NIC provide new APIs for e-way bill?
Answer : No. E-way bill system will continue to function as it is. No new APIs for e-way bill are required to be published.
L. e-Invoice – Resources & Feedback
58. I want to know more about e-invoicing. Where can I find the material?
Answer : Please go through ‘e-invoice – Detailed Overview’
59. Are there any awareness videos available on e -invoicing? e-invoice – Detailed Overview
Answer : Yes. Awareness Videos on e-invoice can be accessed at below links:
60. I want to send my feedback & suggestions on e -invoice. How can I do that?
Answer : Your feedback & suggestions on e-invoice are welcome at e-invoice@gstn.org.in
M. Registration
61. What is the common portal for reporting invoices and obtain IRN/QR Code?
Answer: The common portal for generation of e-invoice is https://einvoice1.gst.gov.in
62.Will businesses now be required to generate e-invoices on e-invoice portal?
Answer: Businesses will continue to issue invoices as they are doing now. Necessary changes on account of e-invoicing requirement (i.e. to enable reporting of invoices to IRP and obtain IRN), will be made by ERP/Accounting and Billing Software providers in their respective software. They need to get the updated version having this facility.
63. How do I know the status of enablement of my GSTIN for generation of IRN?
Answer: On fulfillment of prescribed conditions, the obligation to prepare and issue invoice in terms of Rule 48(4) lies with concerned taxpayer.
However, as a facilitation measure, the taxpayers who had crossed the prescribed turnover (as per data available in GST System) were enabled on the portal to report invoices. One can search those GSTINs at: https://einvoice1.gst.gov.in/ Search > e-invoice status of taxpayer
This information will be eventually made available through ‘Search Taxpayer’ and ‘Know Your Supplier’ Sections on GST portal also.
In case any taxpayer, having the requirement to do e-invoicing but not enabled on the e-invoice portal, a facility is provided whereby they can make an online declaration regarding turnover and request for enabling on the portal, for the required GSTIN.
In case any taxpayer, who doesn’t have the requirement to do e-invoicing but still their GSTIN is appearing as ‘enabled’ on e-invoice portal, please write to support.einv.api@gov.in
In case any taxpayer, who doesn’t have the requirement to do e-invoicing but still their GSTIN is appearing as ‘enabled’ on e-invoice portal, please write to support.einv.api@gov.in
64. I have already registered in GST Portal. Whether I need to register again on the E-invoice system Portal?
Answer:. All the registered users under GST who wish to generate IRN need to register on E-invoice system separately using his GSTIN. Once GSTIN is entered, the system sends an OTP to his registered mobile number registered with GST Portal and after authenticating the same, the system enables him to generate his/her username and password for the E-invoice system. After generation of username and password of his/her choice, he/she may proceed to make entries to generate IRN.
65. Whenever I am trying to register, the system is saying you have already registered, how should I proceed?
Answer: This is indicating that you (your GSTIN) have already registered on the E-invoice system or e-way bill system and have created your username and password on the e-way bill or e-invoice system. Please use these credentials to log into the e-invoice system. If you have forgotten username or password, then please use the ‘Forgot Username’ or ‘Forgot Password’ facility provided on the portal to recollect your username or create new password accordingly.
66. Whenever I am trying to register, the system is saying there is no contact (Mobile) number with this GSTIN in GST Common Portal, how should I resolve this issue?
Answer: This is indicating that e-invoice system is unable to get the contact details (mobile number of email address) for your GSTIN from the GST Common Portal (www.gst.gov.in). Please contact GST helpdesk 0120-4888999 or lodge your grievance at https://selfservice.gstsystem.in/
67. Whenever, I’m trying to register with my GSTIN, the system is saying ‘Invalid GSTIN’ or the details for this GSTIN are not available in GST Common Portal. How should I resolve this issue?
Answer: This is indicating that the GSTIN entered by you is wrong or your GSTIN details are not available in the GST Common Portal. Please check the GSTIN entered or go to the GST portal (www.gst.gov.in) and check the details of your GSTIN under ‘Search Taxpayer’ tab.
68. Whenever I am trying to register, the system is showing wrong address or mobile number. How should I resolve this issue?
Answer: This is indicating that you might have updated your business registration details in the GST Common Portal recently. Please ‘Update from Common Portal’, to pull the latest data from the GST Common Portal. If even after this action, wrong data is displaying, kindly update the details in GST common portal through amendment process.
69. Who all can register at e-invoice system and can generate IRN?
Answer: The taxpayers having specified turnover and fulfilling other conditions of the notifications may register at e-invoice system and generate IRN.
In case any taxpayer, having the requirement to do e-invoicing but not enabled on the e-invoice portal, a facility is provided whereby they can make an online declaration regarding turnover and request for enabling on the portal, for the required GSTIN.
70. Will it be possible to allow invoices that are registered on invoice registration system/portal to be downloaded and/or saved?
Answer: Yes. The IRP after registering the invoice, will share a digitally signed e-invoice for record of the supplier. You can download the invoice for further use and action.
N. Login
71. Whenever, I am trying to login the system says ‘Invalid Login…Please check your username and password’. How should I resolve this issue?
Answer: This is indicating that you are trying to login to the E-invoice system with incorrect username and password. Please check the username and password being used to login to the system. If you have forgotten the username or password, then please use the ‘Forgot Username’ or ‘Forgot Password’ facility provided on the portal to recollect your username or create new password accordingly.
72. Whenever, I am trying to login the system says ‘Your account has been frozen’. How should I resolve this issue?
Answer: This is indicating that your account has been frozen because you might have cancelled your registration or your GSTIN has been de-activated in the GST Common Portal. Please visit the GST Common Portal (www.gst.gov.in) to find the status of your GSTIN under ‘Search Taxpayer’ tab. In case you are able to log in on GST portal but not log on E-invoice portal, please lodge your grievance at https://selfservice.gstsystem.in/
73. Whenever, I am trying to login the system says ‘your account has been blocked…Pl try after 5 minutes. How should I resolve this issue?
Answer: This is indicating that you had tried to login to the E-invoice system with incorrect username and password for more than 5 times. Hence, the system has blocked your account for security reasons and it will be unblocked after 5 minutes.
74. What should I do, if I do not remember my username and password?
Answer: If you have forgotten the username or password, then use the ‘Forgot Username’ or ‘Forgot Password’ facility provided on the portal to recollect your username or create new password accordingly. The user needs to enter some details after authenticating the same via an OTP, then, user will be provided with the username and password.
O. Generation of IRN
75. What is Invoice Reference Number (IRN)?
Answer: The Invoice Reference Number (IRN) is a unique number (also known as hash) generated by the e-invoice system using a hash generation algorithm. For every document viz., an invoice or debit or credit note to be submitted on the e-invoice system, a unique 64-character Invoice Reference Number (IRN) shall be generated which is based on the computation of hash of GSTIN of supplier of document (invoice or credit note etc.), Year, Document type and Document number. This shall be unique to each invoice and hence will be the unique identity for each invoice for the entire financial year in the entire GST System for a taxpayer.
76. How do I generate IRN?
Answer:
- There are two modes for generation of IRN
- Using excel offline tool
- Using API integration
77. Can I generate IRN for an Invoice for which IRN is already generated?
Answer: No, only unique invoice from a taxpayer will be accepted by the e-invoice system. E-invoice system will check in Central Registry of GST system to ensure that same invoice from same supplier pertaining to same financial year is not being uploaded again for generating one more IRN.
78. How long will the generated e-invoice be available in the government portal?
Answer: Once the e-invoice system has validated and registered an IRN, it will be made available to the taxpayer for reference on e-invoice system for only 24 hours.
79. What should I do if state is not auto-populated on entering PIN code?
Answer: If state name is not auto-populated, then select the correct state and continue IRN generation.
80. What are pre-requisites to generate the e-invoice?
Answer: The pre-requisite for generation of e-invoice is that the person who generates e-invoice should be a registered person (active) on GST portal and e-invoice system or e-way bill system. The documents viz., tax invoice or Debit Note or credit Note will be reported by the person who is generating the e-invoice. If a user is generating Bulk invoices, then he/she should have a valid JSON file as per the e-invoice schema to upload on the e-invoice system or he/she has to integrated with API interface and generate the IRN.
81. How can anyone verify the authenticity or the correctness of e-invoice?
Answer: Anyone can verify the authenticity or the correctness of e-invoice by uploading the signed JSON file or Signed QR Code into e-invoice system. The option ‘Verify Signed Invoice’ under Search option can be selected and the signed JSON file can be uploaded and verified. Similarly, the QR Code Verify app may be downloaded and used to verify the QR Code printed on the Invoice.
82. What is the meaning of digitally signed e-invoice?
Answer: The digitally signed invoice is one which has been digitally or electronically signed by the IRP after receiving the invoice details from the supplier. That is, the government is authenticating the genuineness of the invoice details submitted/registered by the taxpayer.
83. What are the different Supply types available in e-Invoice schema?
Answer: The different supply types that can be reported are B2B: Business to Business, SEZWP: To SEZ with Payment, SEZWOP: To SEZ without Payment, EXPWP: Export with Payment, EXPWOP: Export without Payment, DEXP: Deemed Export
P. Signed Invoice & QR Code
84. What is the meaning of digitally signed QR code?
Answer: The digitally signed QR code of the invoice is one which has been digitally or electronically signed and prepared the QR Code by the IRP after receiving the invoice uploaded by the supplier. That is, the government is authenticating the genuineness of the invoice, by preparing the important information of the invoice in QR Code form and signing it so that its authenticity can be verified offline by anyone using offline tools. This will be helpful for tax officers checking the invoice on the roadside where Internet may not be available all the time. The web user will get a printable form with all details including QR code. The QR code will consist of the following e-invoice parameters:
- GSTIN of Supplier
- GSTIN of Recipient
- Invoice number as given by Supplier
- Date of generation of invoice
- Invoice value (taxable value and gross tax)
- Number of line items.
- HSN Code of main item (the line item having highest taxable value)
- Unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN)
- Date of generation of IRN
85. What is the purpose of Signed QR Code?
Answer: The IRP will generate a QR code containing the unique IRN (hash) along with some important particulars of invoice including digital signature so that it can be verified by an Offline App.
86. When would the Signed QR code be available?
Answer: IRP system will provide this ‘Signed QR Code’ as part of the response to the request made by the taxpayer for the IRN generation.
87. How one can use the Signed QR Code?
Answer: The Signed QR Code can be verified by anyone using the offline app provided on the IRP portal. Content of the signed QR code can be easily verified by the tax payers or Tax Officials to ascertain whether the invoice is registered with the IRP and is digitally signed by the IRP itself. By validating the content of the QR code data with the digitally signed content (which is part of the QR code itself) one can check the authenticity of the document contents. If the content of the QR code is tampered with, the signature verification fails and the e-Invoice will become invalid.
88. What will be there in Signed QR Code?
Answer: The QR code will consist of the following e-invoice parameters:
- GSTIN of Supplier
- GSTIN of Recipient
- Invoice number as given by Supplier
- Date of generation of invoice
- Invoice value (taxable value and gross tax)
- Number of line items.
- HSN Code of main item (the line item having highest taxable value)
- Unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN)
- Date of generation of IRN
89. Does tax payer have to print the Signed QR Code?
Answer: The Signed QR Code has to be printed by the tax payer on the invoice copy issued to buyer.
However, Printing of QR code on separate paper is not allowed.
Printed QR code shall be clear enough to be readable by a QR Code reader
Size and its placing on invoice is upto the preference of the businesses.
90. What shall be size of the Signed QR code on the invoice?
Answer: Printed QR code shall be clear enough to be readable by a QR Code reader
Size and its placing on invoice is upto the preference of the businesses.
91. How the Signed QR code looks on the invoice?
Answer: When it is printed it will look like as follows:
Q. Cancellation of IRN
92. Can IRN be deleted or cancelled?
Answer: The IRN, once generated cannot be modified or deleted. However, if IRN is generated with wrong information, it can be cancelled. Once cancelled, the same document (with same document number) can’t be reported again for generation of IRN. The cancellation is required to be done within 24 hours from the time of generation.
93. If there is a mistake or wrong entry in the e-invoice, what has to be done?
Answer: If there is a mistake, incorrect or wrong entry in the e-invoice, then it cannot be edited or corrected. Only option is to cancel that invoice/IRN and report a new document (with new number) and generate a fresh IRN.
94. Whether e-invoices generated through GST system can be partially / fully cancelled?
Answer: E-Invoice/IRN can’t be partially cancelled. It has to be fully cancelled.
The e-invoice mechanism enables invoices to be cancelled. This will have to be triggered through the IRP within 24 hours.
Q. User Management
95. What is the need to create sub-users?
Answer: Many of the businesses have multiple places of business or head office and branch at different locations or work remotely from the principal place of business. Generating IRN with a single login may be a challenge for them. To overcome this challenge business can create multiple sub-users. A sub-user can use the same login credentials created originally and perform the actions as per the access that is given to them. For example, a sub-user may be allowed to generate IRN and restricted to accept IRN.
96. Why do I need sub-users?
Answer: Most of the times, the tax payer or authorized person himself cannot operate and generate IRN’s. He will be dependent upon his staff or operator to do that. He would not like to avoid sharing his user credentials to them. In some firms, the business activities will be operational 24/7 and some firms will have multiple branches. Under these circumstances, the main user can create sub-users and assign the roles to them. He can assign generation of IRN or report generation activities based on requirements. This facility helps him to monitor the activities done by sub-users. However, the main user should ensure that whenever employee is transferred or resigned, the sub-user account is frozen / blocked to avoid misuse of credentials.
97. How many sub-users can be created?
Answer: For every principal/additional place of business, user can create maximum of 10 sub-users. That is, if tax payer has only (one) principal business place (and no additional place of business), he can create 10 sub-users. If tax payer has 3 additional places and one principal place of business (i.e. 4 places), then he can create 40 (4 X 10) sub users.
98. When to freeze the sub-users and the steps to follow?
Answer: The e-invoice system gives an option to the taxpayer to freeze the sub-user i.e. Disable the sub-user from using facilities on the e-invoice system.
Step 1: Click ‘Freeze Sub-user’ under the option ‘User Management’ on the left-hand side of the dashboard
Step 2: Select the sub-user you want to Freeze, the below screen opens up. Now click on ‘Freeze’ button appearing at the bottom of the screen. On clicking the ‘Freeze’ button, the sub-user will no longer be able to access any facilities on the e-invoice system.
99. How to generate the IRN from different registered business places?
Answer: The registered person can generate the IRN from his account from any registered business place. However, he/she needs to enter the address accordingly in the e-invoice form. He/she can also create multiple sub-users and assign to these places and generate the IRN accordingly.
100. Why are the reports available only for a particular day?
Answer: The user is allowed to generate report on daily basis. Because of criticality of the system for performance for 24/7 operation, the reports are limited to be generated for a day. The user can change date and generate the report for that date. Hence, the user is advised to generate report daily and save in his system.
R. Other modes of generation of IRN
101. What are the Modes of Generation of e-invoice, the taxpayer can use?
Answer: Multiple modes can be used for reporting invoices to IRP:
- Bulk Upload ,
- API based,
- Mobile app based,
- GSP based.
102. How to generate Bulk e-invoices?
Answer: Steps to generate Bulk e-invoice:
- Step 1: Login on the e-invoice portal using the username password and entering the captcha code.
- Step 2: Select ‘Bulk Upload’ under ‘E-Invoice’ appearing on the left-hand side of the dashboard.
- Step 3: Choose the saved JSON file from your system and click ‘Upload’. After processing the JSON file the system generates list of e-invoice or error message.
103. How can the taxpayer use the Android App to generate the IRN?
Answer: The taxpayer has to register the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number of the mobile phones through which he intends to generate IRN on the e-invoice system. Please see the user manual for Mobile App based IRN generation available on the portal for further details.
104. How to download the mobile app through which I can report invoices?
Answer: The mobile app is not available in Play Store or App Store. The main user has to login and select the ‘for mobile app’ under registration menu at e-invoice system. The system asks to select the user/sub-user and enter the IMEI number of the user. Once it is entered, the concerned user gets the link in his registered mobile to download the app through SMS. Now, the user has to download the app by clicking that link and enable it to get installed on the mobile.
105. What is bulk generation facility and who can use it?
Answer: Through this facility, user can upload multiple invoices and generate multiple IRNs at one go. This facility can be used by the taxpayers, who can prepare bulk requests for IRN in a JSON file from their automated system, and upload it on the e-invoice system and generate IRN in one go. This avoids duplicate data entry into e-invoice system and avoids data entry mistakes also.
106. How to use the bulk generation facility?
Answer: To use the bulk generation facility, one has to prepare the IRN requests through JSON file. This can be done in two ways – registered taxpayer can prepare the JSON file directly from his automated system. If he is unable do so, he can use excel based bulk generation tool available on the e-invoice portal. The invoice and other details need to enter as per the format and JSON file can be generated. This JSON file needs to be uploaded in the e-invoice portal for generation of multiple IRNs. For more details, please refer to the ‘user manual of the bulk generation’ and ‘bulk generation tools’ under “Tools” section at E-invoice portal and follow the instructions.
107. What are the benefits of the bulk generation facility?
Answer: Benefits of the bulk generation facility are as follows:
- Generation of multiple IRN in one go
- It avoids duplicate keying in of the invoices to generate IRN
- It avoids the data entry mistakes while keying in for generation of IRN
108. How can the registered person integrate his/her system with e-invoice system to generate the IRN from his/her system?
Answer: The integration between e-invoice system and registered person’s system can be done through APIs. For availing this facility, the registered person should register the server details of his/her systems (through which he wants to generate the IRN using the APIs of e-invoice system) with e-invoice system. For further details, please go through the user manual.
109. What is API Interface?
Answer: API interface is a site-to-site integration of two systems. Using this, the taxpayer can link his IT system with E-Invoice system to generate IRN directly from his IT solution without keying in the details for e-invoice form in the Portal. This reduces duplicate data entry and eliminates the data entry mistakes.
110. What are the pre-requisite for using API interface?
Answer: API interface is a site-to-site integration of website of taxpayer with the E-invoice system. API interface can be used by large taxpayers, who need to generate bulk INR’s per day. However, the taxpayer should meet the following criteria to use the API interface:
- His invoicing system should be automated with IT solutions.
- He should be ready to change his IT system to integrate with E-invoice system as per API guidelines.
- His system should have SSL based domain name.
- His system should have Static IP Address.
- He should have pre-production system to test the API interface.
111. Where can I get the details of API Integration?
Answer: Please go to the site https://einv-apisandbox.nic.in/ for all the details of API Integr
112. Where can I get the Master codes list of Country, UQC, Currency, State and HSN Codes?
Answer: The master codes are available under Search -> Master Codes.
113. Where can I get the list of GSPs (GST Suvidha Providers)?
Answer: The GSP list is available in Search -> GST Suvidha Provider
