GST e-invoice system completes three months, used by more than 37,000 taxpayers

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) e-invoice system has enabled over 37,000 taxpayers to generate more than 1,680 lakh Invoice Reference Numbers (IRNs), since its inception three months ago. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (IT) on Saturday said the NIC developed e-Invoice system has facilitated the smooth transition of the taxpayers to the new platform.

The government had made it mandatory for businesses with a turnover of over Rs 500 crore to generate the electronic invoice or e-invoice for B2B transactions, from October 1, 2020.

Since its inception, the e-invoice system generated 495 lakhs reference numbers in October, which increased to 589 lakhs in November 2020, followed by generation of 603 lakh invoices in December 2002.

"Notably, the e-way bill generation from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) developed e-way bill system is also highest during September to December 2020 compared to corresponding months of previous years," an official statement in this regard said.

READ | Dec 2020 GST Collection All-time Highest; Rs 1.15 Lakh Cr Revenue 12% More Than Dec 2019

READ | Traders Urge Finance Minister, GST Council To Modify New GST Notification

It is said that the response to this e-invoice system is good and the generation of IRNs is hassle-free during this period barring a few common errors in the system such as repeated requests and simultaneous requests on same document number and requests with validation or calculation errors etc. However, taking proactive measures, the NIC Help Desk has got in touch with the taxpayers either through e-mails or phone calls to suggest corrective measures to the taxpayers to rectify the errors and bring its toll down.

NIC has also started sending the daily update to the generators of IRN about the number and value of the IRN generated by him/her.

"The government has reduced the aggregate turnover cut off to Rs 100 crores per annum for a generation of IRN by the taxpayers from January 1, 2021. NIC has already enabled the API and offline tool-based sites for these taxpayers. NIC is also geared up with adequate infrastructure to handle the generation of e-invoices from these taxpayers from January 1, 2021," the statement added.

(with inputs from ANI)

(Image: PTI)

READ | Govt's Push For GST Compliance Is Boon For Tax Consultants: Startup

READ | Union Finance Ministry, CBIC Bust Myths Over Proposed Changes To Curb Fake GST Invoices