What Is an E-Invoice?
The name misleads almost everybody who meets it.
An e-invoice is an ordinary invoice reported to a government portal and handed back with a registration number, so the tax department holds the same copy you do. It is not a PDF, not an emailed bill, and not a different format of invoice.
You still raise it in your own billing software. Rule 48(4) adds a step: the Invoice Registration Portal validates the invoice and returns an Invoice Reference Number with a signed QR code.
Who Has to Generate One
Turnover decides it, and the figure has been falling since 2020.
The threshold today is aggregate annual turnover above Rs.5 crore, set by Notification 10/2023 with effect from 1 August 2023. Cross it in any financial year since 2017-18 and you are in permanently, even if turnover later drops.
What it does not cover matters just as much:
- B2C supplies sit outside e-invoicing altogether
- Banks, financial institutions, NBFCs, insurers, goods transport agencies, passenger transport and film exhibition are exempt, as are SEZ units themselves, even though supplies made to an SEZ are covered
- A move to Rs.2 crore has been discussed but not notified, whatever you may have read
That last point is worth holding onto. Plenty of write-ups report the lower figure as live; the official e-invoice portal and the notification trail still say Rs.5 crore.
If you are covered, skipping registration is not a paperwork slip. Rule 48(5) says an invoice issued by a notified person in any manner other than through the portal is not treated as an invoice at all.
E-Invoice vs Tax Invoice
One is a document. The other is a status that document earns.
| Aspect | Tax invoice | E-invoice |
|---|---|---|
| What | The document | A registered one |
| Rules | Rule 46 | Rule 46 plus 48(4) |
| Covers | Every taxable sale | B2B, export, SEZ |
| Proof | Your copy | Signed QR |
An e-invoice is still a tax invoice and must carry every Rule 46 field, including a correct GSTIN for the buyer. Registration sits on top; it does not replace anything.
E-Invoice Example
A castings unit in Udyambag Industrial Estate, Belagavi supplies an auto component maker in September 2026.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Turnover | Rs.9.4 crore, so covered |
| Invoice | B2B, Rs.3,74,600 plus GST |
| Sent to | The IRP, from its billing software |
| Returned | IRN and a signed QR code |
| Flows to | GSTR-1 and the buyer’s GSTR-2B |
| Not covered | Its canteen’s staff bills, being B2C |
Note: this is an invented example for illustration only. The unit, the buyer and the figures are made up to show which supplies get registered and which do not.
The Two Deadlines That Catch People Out
They are different deadlines with different turnover limits, which is where the confusion starts.
Cancelling comes first. An IRN can be cancelled within 24 hours of generation, never partially, and the invoice number cannot be used again afterwards. An active e-way bill has to be cancelled before the IRN will go.
Reporting is the second. Since 1 April 2025, businesses with turnover of Rs.10 crore and above cannot report an invoice to the portal more than 30 days after its date.
Below Rs.10 crore that limit does not currently apply. The Rs.5 to Rs.10 crore band often reads that as a free pass rather than as a queue, since the applicability threshold alone has been cut six times since October 2020, from Rs.500 crore down to where it stands today.
Get the IRN Without a Second System
The point of e-invoicing is that nothing should be typed twice. Petpooja Invoice covers e-invoice generation and e-way bill generation from the same screen that raises the bill, produces invoices that adhere to the latest GST laws, and tracks GST liability in real time.
The mistake we see most often is treating registration as a month-end job. Our comparison of Petpooja Invoice and manual billing shows where the retyping hides, and a GST return filing checklist is worth running before you file.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. It is the same invoice, reported to the portal and returned with an IRN and a signed QR code. Nothing about the layout has to change.
Not for B2C. E-invoicing covers B2B supplies, exports and supplies to SEZ units, so an ordinary walk-in bill stays outside it regardless of your turnover.
You stay covered. Once aggregate turnover crosses the limit in any year from 2017-18 onward, the obligation does not lapse when the figure drops.
Within 24 hours you can cancel the IRN and raise a fresh invoice under a new number. After that the correction is a credit note, not a cancellation.
