E-Invoicing under GST: Who Must Comply and How It Works

General information only. Rates, forms and due dates can change through notifications — confirm on the official GST or Income Tax portal, or with your tax advisor.

E-invoicing does not mean creating invoices on a government portal. You still create invoices in your own software — but for specified documents, you must report them to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), which validates them and returns a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a signed QR code.

Who must generate e-invoices?

E-invoicing is mandatory for registered businesses whose aggregate annual turnover exceeded ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18 onwards. Once you cross the threshold in any year, e-invoicing applies from then on, even if your turnover later falls below it.

Certain categories are exempt regardless of turnover, including:

• SEZ units (SEZ developers are not exempt)
• Insurance companies, banking companies and financial institutions, including NBFCs
• Goods transport agencies (GTA)
• Suppliers of passenger transportation services
• Suppliers of admission to cinema exhibitions in multiplex screens
• Government departments and local authorities

Which documents are covered?

• Tax invoices for B2B supplies
• Credit notes and debit notes issued to registered buyers
• Export invoices and supplies to SEZs
• Supplies to government entities registered under GST (B2G)

B2C invoices are not reported to the IRP. Very large businesses have a separate requirement to print a dynamic QR code on B2C invoices.

How the e-invoice process works

1. Create the invoice in your billing or accounting software as usual.
2. Upload the invoice details to the IRP in the prescribed JSON format.
3. The IRP validates the data and generates the IRN, a unique hash for the invoice.
4. The IRP digitally signs the invoice and returns it with a QR code.
5. Print the QR code on the invoice you send to your customer.
6. The details flow automatically to the GST portal for GSTR-1 and, where applicable, to the e-way bill system.

Time limits you must not miss

From 1 April 2025, taxpayers with an aggregate annual turnover of ₹10 crore or more cannot report an invoice to the IRP more than 30 days after the invoice date. The IRP rejects late uploads, so the invoice cannot be validly issued as an e-invoice.

An e-invoice can be cancelled on the IRP within 24 hours of generating the IRN. After that, corrections must be made through a credit note or debit note, or by amending the details when filing GSTR-1.

What happens if you skip e-invoicing?

For a business that is required to issue e-invoices, an invoice issued without an IRN is not treated as a valid tax invoice. That exposes the supplier to penalties and can stop the buyer from claiming input tax credit — which quickly becomes a commercial problem with your customers.