India Einvoice

Schema

GST INV-01 JSON (not UBL)GSTN

IRN

64-character SHA-256 hash (generated by IRP)GSTN

Valid GST rates

0, 0.1, 0.25, 1, 1.5, 3, 5, 6, 7.5, 12, 14, 18, 28IRP validation

Invoice without IRN – Penalty

Rs 10,000 per invoice OR 100% of tax, whichever higherCGST Act s 122(1)(i)

Buyer ITC denied

No ITC on invoice without valid IRNCGST Rules r 48(5)

Quick Reference

| Field | Value | |---|---| | Country | India (Republic of India) | | Currency | INR (Indian Rupee) | | E-Invoicing System | Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) under GST | | Governing Body | Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) / Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) | | Key Legislation | CGST Act 2017, Rule 48(4)/(5) of CGST Rules 2017, Notification 10/2023-CT | | Schema Standard | GST INV-01 JSON (proprietary schema, not UBL) | | Current Threshold | Aggregate Annual Turnover (AATO) > Rs 5 crore in any FY since 2017-18 | | Implementation Start | 1 October 2020 (phased rollout by turnover) | | Current Status | Fully operational; mandatory for AATO > Rs 5 crore since 1 August 2023 | | Approved IRPs (2026) | NIC (primary), Cygnet, Clear, IRIS, BDO, EY | | Filing Portal | einvoice1.gst.gov.in (production); einv-apisandbox.nic.in (sandbox) |

Turnover Phase-In Timeline

| Turnover Threshold | Mandatory From | |---|---| | > Rs 500 crore | 1 October 2020 | | > Rs 100 crore | 1 January 2021 | | > Rs 50 crore | 1 April 2021 | | > Rs 20 crore | 1 April 2022 | | > Rs 10 crore | 1 October 2022 | | > Rs 5 crore | 1 August 2023 |

Compliance obligation

Any GST-registered taxpayer whose aggregate annual turnover (AATO) exceeded Rs 5 crore in any financial year from FY 2017-18 onwards

Permanent obligation

Once the threshold is crossed in any past year, the obligation is permanent even if current-year turnover drops below Rs 5 crore

Coverage

Covers: B2B supply invoices, B2B credit notes, B2B debit notes, exports, supplies to SEZ units

Document Types Covered

| Document | IRP Document Type Code | |---|---| | Tax Invoice | INV | | Credit Note | CRN | | Debit Note | DBN |

Time Limit for Reporting

| Taxpayer AATO | Reporting Deadline | |---|---| | > Rs 100 crore | Within 7 days of invoice date | | > Rs 10 crore | Within 30 days of invoice date (from 1 April 2025) | | Up to Rs 10 crore | No specific time limit (expected to extend) |

Post-deadline rejection

After the deadline expires, the IRP permanently rejects IRN generation for that document.

Schema Specification

| Aspect | Detail | |---|---| | Format | JSON (not XML) | | Schema Name | GST INV-01 | | Current API Version | v1.04 | | Character Encoding | UTF-8 | | Date Format | DD/MM/YYYY | | Decimal Precision | 2 decimal places for amounts |

IRN generation

The IRN is a 64-character SHA-256 hash computed by the IRP from four fields: 1. Supplier GSTIN 2. Financial Year (derived from invoice date) 3. Document Type Code 4. Document Number. The taxpayer does NOT generate the IRN — the IRP returns it after successful validation.

Transaction Details (TranDtls)

| Field Path | Description | Values | |---|---|---| | TranDtls.TaxSch | Tax scheme | Always "GST" | | TranDtls.SupTyp | Supply type | B2B, SEZWP, SEZWOP, EXPWP, EXPWOP, DEXP | | TranDtls.RegRev | Reverse charge | Y / N | | TranDtls.IgstOnIntra | IGST on intra-state | Y / N |

Document Details (DocDtls)

| Field Path | Description | Constraints | |---|---|---| | DocDtls.Typ | Document type | INV, CRN, DBN | | DocDtls.No | Document number | Max 16 chars, alphanumeric + / - | | DocDtls.Dt | Document date | DD/MM/YYYY, cannot be future date |

Seller Details (SellerDtls)

| Field Path | Description | |---|---| | SellerDtls.Gstin | 15-char GSTIN | | SellerDtls.LglNm | Legal name (as per PAN) | | SellerDtls.Addr1 | Address line 1 | | SellerDtls.Loc | City/Location | | SellerDtls.Pin | 6-digit PIN code | | SellerDtls.Stcd | State code (01-37) |

Buyer Details (BuyerDtls)

| Field Path | Description | |---|---| | BuyerDtls.Gstin | Buyer GSTIN (or URP for unregistered) | | BuyerDtls.LglNm | Legal name | | BuyerDtls.Pos | Place of supply (state code) | | BuyerDtls.Addr1 | Address line 1 | | BuyerDtls.Loc | Location | | BuyerDtls.Pin | PIN code | | BuyerDtls.Stcd | State code |

Item Details (ItemList[])

| Field Path | Description | |---|---| | SlNo | Serial number (1-based) | | PrdDesc | Product description | | IsServc | Is service (Y/N) | | HsnCd | HSN/SAC code (min 4 digits; 8 digits if AATO > Rs 5 Cr) | | Qty | Quantity | | Unit | Unit of measurement (UQC code) | | UnitPrice | Unit price | | TotAmt | Total amount (Qty × UnitPrice) | | AssAmt | Assessable amount (after discount) | | GstRt | GST rate (IGST or CGST+SGST combined rate) | | IgstAmt / CgstAmt / SgstAmt | Tax amounts | | TotItemVal | Total item value including tax |

Value Details (ValDtls)

| Field Path | Description | |---|---| | ValDtls.AssVal | Total assessable value | | ValDtls.IgstVal | Total IGST | | ValDtls.CgstVal | Total CGST | | ValDtls.SgstVal | Total SGST/UTGST | | ValDtls.TotInvVal | Total invoice value (INR) |

API Integration (Recommended)

| Parameter | Value | |---|---| | Production Base URL | https://einvapi.gst.gov.in | | Sandbox Base URL | https://einv-apisandbox.nic.in | | Auth Endpoint | /eivital/v1.04/auth | | Invoice Generation | POST /eivital/v1.04/Invoice | | Cancel IRN | POST /eivital/v1.04/Invoice/Cancel | | Get Invoice by IRN | GET /eivital/v1.04/Invoice/irn/{irn} |

Authentication

| Header | Description | |---|---| | client-id | Issued by IRP on registration | | client-secret | Issued by IRP on registration | | user_name | Taxpayer's IRP portal username | | Gstin | Taxpayer's GSTIN | | AuthToken | Session token (valid 6 hours / 360 minutes) |

Token refresh

Auth token must be refreshed after 6 hours. Use `ForceRefreshAccessToken: true` within last 10 minutes of token life.

Pre-checks list

1. GSTIN validity — both seller and buyer must be active GSTINs 2. Duplicate check — combination of seller GSTIN + doc type + doc number + FY must be unique 3. Date validation — invoice date cannot be future; cannot exceed time limit 4. HSN validation — must exist in master; 8-digit for goods if AATO > Rs 5 crore 5. Mathematical validation — line item totals must sum to document totals (tolerance: Rs 1) 6. State code / PIN code consistency 7. Tax rate validation — GST rate must be a valid rate (0, 0.1, 0.25, 1, 1.5, 3, 5, 6, 7.5, 12, 14, 18, 28)

Common Rejection Reasons

| Error Code | Description | Fix | |---|---|---| | 2150 | Duplicate IRN | Invoice already reported — check if IRN exists | | 2163 | Document date exceeds time limit | Cannot fix; issue fresh invoice with new number | | 2174 | GSTIN not enabled for e-invoicing | Verify IRP registration | | 2283 | HSN code invalid | Update to valid 4/6/8 digit HSN | | 2269 | Item value mismatch | Recalculate: TotAmt = Qty × UnitPrice | | 2287 | Total invoice value mismatch | Verify ValDtls.TotInvVal = sum of all components |

Intra-state supply

Split into CGST + SGST (each = half of applicable GST rate)

Inter-state supply

Full IGST (= full applicable GST rate)

Place of supply determination

Place of supply (BuyerDtls.Pos) determines intra vs inter-state

Rounding rules

All amounts rounded to 2 decimal places. Rounding tolerance at document level: Rs 1 (IRP accepts ±1 difference between sum of line items and document total). Round each line item independently, then sum.

Multi-rate invoice handling

Each line item carries its own GstRt. ValDtls aggregates all IGST/CGST/SGST across items. No restriction on mixing rates within a single invoice.

Discount handling

Discount applied at item level: AssAmt = TotAmt - Discount. Tax calculated on AssAmt (assessable amount), not gross amount.

Archiving Requirements

| Requirement | Detail | |---|---| | Retention Period | Minimum 6 years from due date of annual return (GSTR-9) for the relevant FY; 8 years recommended | | Format | Original JSON submitted + signed JSON returned by IRP (with IRN and QR) | | Digital Signature | IRP signs the returned payload with its private key; retain the signed response | | QR Code | Must appear on printed/PDF invoice; contains IRN, invoice date, supplier GSTIN, buyer GSTIN, invoice value, number of line items, HSN codes, unique hash | | Storage Medium | No specific medium mandated; must be producible on demand during audit | | GSTR-1 Linkage | IRP auto-pushes e-invoice data to GSTR-1; retain confirmation of auto-population |

Penalties for Non-Compliance

| Offence | Penalty | Legal Basis | |---|---|---| | Issuing invoice without valid IRN when required | Rs 10,000 per invoice OR 100% of tax involved, whichever is higher | Section 122(1)(i) CGST Act | | Issuing incorrect or false invoice | Up to Rs 25,000 per invoice | Section 122(3) CGST Act | | Fake invoicing (invoice without actual supply) | 100% of tax evaded or ITC availed (min Rs 10,000) | Section 122(1)(ii) CGST Act | | General penalty (no specific clause) | Up to Rs 25,000 | Section 125 CGST Act | | Buyer consequence — ITC denial | Buyer cannot claim Input Tax Credit on invoice without valid IRN | Rule 48(5) CGST Rules | | Repeated default | GSTIN suspension possible | Section 29(2) CGST Act |

GSTR-1 auto-population

IRP pushes validated e-invoice data to GSTR-1 the next day. Supplier does NOT need to manually enter these invoices in GSTR-1. If discrepancies exist between e-invoice and manually entered GSTR-1 data, the e-invoice data prevails.

E-way bill integration

If supply value > Rs 50,000 and goods are being transported, e-way bill can be generated in the same API call. Set EwbDtls fields (TransId, TransName, Distance, TransDocNo, TransDocDt, VehNo, VehType). Single API call generates both IRN and EWB number.

GSTR-2B / ITC matching

Buyer's GSTR-2B auto-populated from supplier's e-invoices. Facilitates ITC matching and reconciliation. Discrepancies flagged automatically in GSTR-2B.

Annual return (GSTR-9)

E-invoice data feeds into annual return reconciliation. Auditors can cross-verify GSTR-9 figures against IRP-reported data.