In October 2023, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) issued anadvisory stating that taxpayers can download e-invoices directly from the GST portal, both as seller and buyer. Until now, businesses could only access the e-invoices that had been shared with them by their suppliers and had to physically verify whether the e-invoice was valid.
In this article, we decode how this new update of allowing direct download of e-invoices impacts businesses in India and how businesses can access this facility.
All About the New e-Invoice Download Functionality
e-Invoicing is a system where invoices generated on an enterprise’s ERP are sent to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), also known as the e-invoice portal, for authentication and IRN generation. Post which, the data is pulled fore-way bill generation and auto-populated into theGSTR-1 and the buyer’s GSTR-2A/2B. Taxpayers did not have an option to download their purchase e-invoices directly from the e-invoice portal.
However, in October 2023, the GSTN launched a new facility to download e-invoices directly from the e-invoice portal. Through this facility, taxpayers can download both sales and purchase e-invoices directly from the centralised e-invoice portal ateinvoice.gst.gov.in. The e-invoices will be made available in PDF, Excel and JSON format for up to six months from the date of IRN generation.
Why Valid e-Invoices are a Must for Businesses Now
The GST law mandates that businesses have a valid tax invoice for Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims. However, an invoice will be valid only if it has an IRN, wherever e-invoicing is applicable to the supplier. However, until now, enterprises were unable to identify whether the supplier had generated an IRN or its validity. They had to manually download a QR code verification app to check the authenticity of the e-invoice.
Now, with the e-invoice download facility, businesses will now be able to ensure the authenticity of their e-invoices as well as accurately report their ITC.
Who Can Access the e-Invoice Download Functionality?
All GST-registered taxpayers, both suppliers and recipients, with an active GSTIN and valid login credentials can download e-invoices.
Ways to Download the e-Invoices
Taxpayers can use any of the following ways to download the e-invoices.
Step-by-step Guide to Download e-Invoices Using the New Functionality
Step 1: Log in to the e-invoice portalhttps://einvoice.gst.gov.in with valid GST login credentials.
Step 2: On the ‘Download e-Invoice’ page, there are two tabs ‘Generated’ (for IRNs generated by the user) and ‘Received’ (for IRNs received by the user). Click on whichever applies to you.
Step 3: Next, select one of three options -‘By IRN’, ‘For Period’, or ‘List of IRNs’ to download e-invoices. If you select ‘By IRN’, then enter the IRN, or enter the financial year, document type and document number. Click on ‘Search’.
Step 4: From the search results, you can download the signed e-invoice in PDF format. Alternatively, you can click on ‘Download e-Invoice (JSON)’ to download the e-invoice in JSON format. Note that the ‘Download as PDF’ button is accessible only for a single active IRN.
Step 5: To download e-invoices for a period in bulk, click on the ‘For Period’ tab. Select the financial year, month and GSTIN, and click on ‘Download e-Invoice (JSON)’.
The e-invoices can be found when you click the ‘Download History’ button.
You can also download e-invoices associated with a particular GSTIN for a given financial year and month by entering the GSTIN in the ‘Recipient GSTIN’ tab.
Step 6: To download e-invoices in Excel format, click on the ‘List of IRNs’ tab. Select the financial year and month and click on ‘Download e-Invoice (JSON)’. You also have the option to download e-invoices for a particular supplier’s GSTIN.
A message is displayed stating that the file will be available for download under the ‘Download History’ button after some time.
How Will the e-Invoice Download Functionality Impact Your Business?
The new e-invoice download functionality will impact all businesses irrespective of size as e-invoicing went live for small businesses w.e.f. 1st August 2023.
Businesses must now look at realigning their
- Accounts payable process for better invoice capturing
- Purchase reconciliation to identify any missing purchase e-invoices between the download data and the books of accounts
- Input tax credit (ITC) reconciliation for accurate ITC claims
Also, even though the government provides the option to download e-invoices, businesses may still need a smart solution to integrate this data with their ERP with minimal disruption, and thereafter effectively leverage the benefits of automation.
