CGST Rules 48(4) & 48(5) · Form GST INV-01
e-Invoicing under GST in India
An e-invoice is not a new kind of invoice. It is your ordinary B2B tax invoice, registered with a government portal before you issue it, which hands back a reference number and a signed QR code. Without those two things the document is not a valid tax invoice — and your customer's input credit on it is exposed.
Last reviewed 10 November 2026 · Thresholds and exemptions change by notification — verify against the current CBIC notification before acting.
The rule, in short
If your aggregate annual turnover crossed ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18 onwards, every B2B invoice, export, deemed export and SEZ supply must be registered with an Invoice Registration Portal, which returns an IRN and a signed QR code. At ₹10 crore and above, that registration must happen within 30 days of the document date. B2C invoices are never e-invoiced.
Applicability
The threshold, and the trap inside it
Aggregate turnover is computed PAN-wide across every GSTIN you hold, and it includes exempt and export supplies — not only taxable ones. The test looks at any financial year from 2017-18 onwards, so crossing the limit once attaches the obligation permanently. It does not fall away if turnover later drops.
| Aggregate turnover above | Mandatory from |
|---|---|
| ₹500 crore | 01 Oct 2020 |
| ₹100 crore | 01 Jan 2021 |
| ₹50 crore | 01 Apr 2021 |
| ₹20 crore | 01 Apr 2022 |
| ₹10 crore | 01 Oct 2022 |
| ₹5 croreCurrent | 01 Aug 2023 |
Documents that need an IRN
- B2B supplies of goods or services to a registered person
- Exports, with or without payment of tax
- Deemed exports
- Supplies you make TO SEZ units and developers, with or without payment of tax
- Credit notes and debit notes against any of the above
- Supplies attracting reverse charge under Section 9(3)
Documents that do not
- B2C supplies — no IRN is generated, whatever the turnover
- Bills of supply issued by a composition dealer
- Delivery challans and job-work challans
- Imports — a bill of entry is not an e-invoice
- High-sea sales and bonded-warehouse sales
Suppliers exempt from issuing, whatever the turnover
SEZ units, as suppliers, are exempt from issuing e-invoices — but SEZ developers are not, and a normal taxpayer supplying an SEZ still must issue one
Insurance companies, banks, and non-banking financial companies
Goods Transport Agencies supplying road transport services
Passenger transport services
Admission to the exhibition of cinematograph films in multiplex screens
Government departments and local authorities
Form GST INV-01
What an e-invoice actually contains
There is no e-invoice template to download in the way people expect. The notified schema is a JSON structure — around 12 sections and 130-odd fields, of which roughly 30 are mandatory. You send that payload, the portal returns a signed version with the IRN and QR code, and your own print layout renders it. The layout is yours; the data is not.
| Section | What it carries | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Basic details | Document type, document number, document date, and the schema version | Mandatory |
| Supplier details | Legal name, GSTIN, full address, state code and PIN | Mandatory |
| Recipient details | Legal name, GSTIN, place of supply, address and PIN | Mandatory |
| Invoice item details | Description, HSN code, quantity, unit, rate, assessable value, GST rate, and the tax amounts per line | Mandatory |
| Document total | Taxable value, CGST / SGST / IGST, cess, round-off and the total invoice value | Mandatory |
| Dispatch and ship-to | Used where the consignor or consignee differs from the supplier or buyer | Optional |
| e-Way bill details | Transporter ID, vehicle number, mode and distance — generates Part A of the e-way bill in the same call | Optional |
| Payment and reference | Payee details, UPI, bank account, preceding document reference and contract reference | Optional |
What the IRP gives back
A 64-character IRN hashed from your GSTIN, the document type, the document number and the financial year — plus a digitally signed QR code that must be printed on the invoice. The portal simultaneously pushes the data to the GST portal for GSTR-1 and, if you sent transport details, generates Part A of the e-way bill.
Cancel within 24 hours, or not at all
An IRN can be cancelled on the portal within 24 hours, and only in full — there is no partial cancellation. After that the only route is a credit note. Amendments are never made on the IRP; they happen in GSTR-1. Getting the payload right the first time is the whole game.
Section 122, CGST Act
What getting it wrong costs
₹10,000
per invoice
For failing to issue an e-invoice where one was required.
₹25,000
per invoice
For an incorrect or improperly issued e-invoice.
ITC at risk
for your customer
Without a valid IRN the document is not a valid tax invoice, so credit claimed on it is exposed. Commercially this is the one that bites.
Questions people actually search
GST e-invoicing, answered
Who must issue an e-invoice under GST?
Any registered person whose aggregate annual turnover exceeded ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18 onwards must issue e-invoices for B2B supplies, exports, deemed exports and supplies to SEZ. The test looks at every past year, not only the immediately preceding one — once you cross the threshold in any year, the obligation attaches and does not fall away if turnover later drops.
What is the current e-invoicing turnover limit in India?
₹5 crore of aggregate annual turnover, effective 01 August 2023. The rollout ran in phases from ₹500 crore in October 2020 down to the present limit. Aggregate turnover is computed PAN-wide across all GSTINs, and includes exempt and export supplies, not just taxable ones.
Is there a time limit for reporting an invoice to the IRP?
Yes. Taxpayers with an aggregate annual turnover of ₹10 crore or more must report an invoice to the Invoice Registration Portal within 30 days of the document date. Past that window the portal rejects it, and without an IRN the document is not a valid tax invoice — so the supply becomes very difficult to bill cleanly.
Does e-invoicing apply to B2C sales?
No. B2C invoices never carry an IRN, regardless of turnover. A separate requirement applies to large taxpayers: those with turnover above ₹500 crore must display a dynamic QR code on B2C invoices, but that is a different obligation and does not involve the IRP.
What is the GST e-invoice format?
The notified schema is Form GST INV-01, a JSON structure with around 12 sections and over 130 fields, of which roughly 30 are mandatory. It covers basic document details, supplier and recipient details, line items with HSN codes, document totals, and optional dispatch, ship-to, e-way bill and payment blocks. You do not design the layout — the IRP returns a signed JSON with the IRN and QR code, and your own print template renders it.
What is an IRN?
The Invoice Reference Number is a 64-character hash computed by the Invoice Registration Portal from the supplier GSTIN, the document type, the document number and the financial year. It is unique to that document and is what makes the invoice legally valid. The IRP also returns a signed QR code that must be printed on the invoice.
How is an e-invoice different from an e-way bill?
They answer different questions. The e-invoice registers the document itself and returns an IRN; the e-way bill authorises the movement of goods. They are connected — if you send transport details in the e-invoice payload, Part A of the e-way bill is generated in the same call — but an e-invoice does not replace an e-way bill, and goods above the value threshold still need one.
What is the penalty for not issuing an e-invoice?
₹10,000 per invoice for failing to issue one where required, and ₹25,000 per invoice for an incorrect e-invoice, under Section 122 of the CGST Act. The larger commercial risk sits with your customer: without a valid IRN the document is not a valid tax invoice, so their input tax credit on it is exposed.
Can an e-invoice be cancelled or amended?
Cancelled yes, amended no. An IRN can be cancelled on the IRP within 24 hours of generation, and only in full — partial cancellation is not possible. After 24 hours it must be handled through a credit note. Amendments are never made on the IRP; they are made in GSTR-1, which is why getting the payload right the first time matters.
Go deeper
Related tools and reading
Raise it once. Register it automatically.
Dyopact builds the INV-01 payload from the invoice you already raised, reports it inside the 30-day window, stores the IRN and signed QR against the record, and keeps the whole trail for the audit.