e-Invoicing FAQs

FAQs on E Invoice

Q1. Can a foreign service provider integrate with Invoice Registration Portal (IRP)? If yes, how to integrate it with IRP?

Ans. Yes, the foreign service provider can integrate with IRP but they have to be within the shores of India. The integration process will be soon released on the gst.gov.in website.

Ans. Yes, a person can bulk upload the e-invoices of JSON Payloads through Application Provider Interface (API). You may push the invoices sequentially but the IRP will accept the invoices one at a time.

Ans. The Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) will provide a signed IRN to the seller along with QR code and the digital signature of IRP.

Ans. No the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) will return only the signed JSON and no signed PDF.

Ans. Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) will first validate the authenticity of GSTIN (of seller and buyer) and duplication of the invoice. In case if the GSTIN in the invoice does not exist or duplicate invoice is found, the submitted invoices will be rejected and returned back showing the relevant error codes.

Ans. You are not required to upload the DSC into IRP and the option to sign the e-invoice will at the IRP.

Ans. As such there are no technical requirements to e-sign the e-invoice. The seller can easily sign the JSON format of the invoice by placing the sign in the optional placeholder for the signature.

Ans. Yes, the supplier can share the e-invoice to the buyer. The seller can share the e-invoice in any format. However, to reflect the details of e-invoice in the buyer’s relevant book, the e-invoice should be shared in the JSON format as it can be easily read by the ERPs of the buyer.

Ans. Yes, the format of e-invoice contains two parts one is mandatory and the other one is optional. The supplier can use the optional one and can send the same to the buyer as per the business need.

Ans. Any invoice that does not contain any tax component is generally known as the Bill of Supply or Challan. And these types of invoices are exempted to obtain Invoice Reference Number (IRN).

Ans. The inconsistencies between the content requirement of e-invoices and GST law will be addressed in future notifications. The related law provisions will be amended accordingly.

Ans. The requirement for signing the invoices is based on the buyer and seller relationship as well as business needs. The need to sign the invoices shall continue to flow as per the existing business requirement and buyer-seller relationship. Moreover, JSON payload to IRP digital signing has already been discussed in the aforementioned FAQ.

Ans. Here is the list of current regulations regarding the PDF invoice legibility: i. IRP will not return the PDF. ii. The seller can generate the PDF using Quick Response (QR) code given by the IRP. iii. Quick Response (QR) code will contain all the relevant details about the invoice.

Ans. Yes, it is necessary to print the QR Code returned by the IRP at the time of printing the invoice.

Ans. No, NIC will not launch any new e-Way Bill APIs as of now and the functions of the e-Way Bill APIs will remain the same.

Ans. Large taxpayers need to mandatory register every transaction into IRP and whereas small taxpayers need not register any transaction. In this case, the large taxpayer can download the e-Invoice in PDF Form from the IRP and then can give the same to the small taxpayers. Through this process, the small taxpayers can avail of the Input Tax Credit easily.

Ans. As the IRP reports the e-Invoice to the GST System the taxpayer can amend the e-Invoice on the GST system.

Ans. To cancel the already uploaded e-Invoice the taxpayer can either do it by uploading the Invoice Reference Number (IRN) to the system or by providing the following details: i. GST Number (GSTIN) ii. Document type iii. Document number iv. Document date It shall be noted that once the e-invoice is canceled the same IRN cannot be used to generate another e-Invoice.

Ans. Yes, IRP will process the e-Invoice data (payload) in the GST system. After receiving the data, the GST System will auto-populate the data in GST ANX-1 and GST ANX-2 Form of the seller and buyer respectively.

Ans. Yes, IRN is a very important part of e-invoice and shall be mentioned on each invoice.

Ans. Yes, you can generate PART-A of e-Way Bill through e-Invoices. However, soon the NIC has the plans to add the Transporter ID column in the existing schema of e-Invoices.

Ans. Yes, The e-commerce operators can generate invoices for the sellers who use their platform provided that the sellers have authorized to do so.

Ans. Yes, an invoice can have more than one QR Code. However, he/she needs to properly clarify which QR Code serves what purpose on the invoice.

Ans. IRP will have access to all the data related to GST Identification Number (GSTIN). Using this data IRP will verify all the wrong, canceled and deleted GTINs.

Ans. Under the new e-Invoicing system IRN plays a very important role as it maintains the uniqueness of the invoice generated during a financial year by all the business. Moreover, the taxpayer need not mention the IRN on the printed invoices as the IRN will present in the QR Code provided by the IRP.