# GST e-invoicing in 2026: who must issue e-invoices

> As of September 2026, you must issue e-invoices for B2B sales, exports and supplies to SEZs if your aggregate turnover exceeded ₹5 crore in any financial year since 2017-18, unless you are in an exempt class such as SEZ units, banks, insurers or goods transport agencies.

E-invoicing does not mean the government creates your invoice. You still make the invoice in your own billing software. You then report it to an Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), which checks it, gives it a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and returns a digitally signed QR code that you print on the invoice. The details also flow into your GSTR-1 for you.

## The rule as of September 2026

Since 01-08-2023, a GST-registered business must issue e-invoices if its **aggregate turnover exceeded ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18 onwards**. The limit has not changed since then.

Three points owners often miss:

- **It looks back, not forward.** If you crossed ₹5 crore in 2022-23 and are below it now, you still e-invoice.
- **It starts from the next financial year.** If you cross ₹5 crore for the first time during a year, the obligation begins from the first day of the following financial year. Check with your CA if you are close to the limit.
- **It is worked out on your PAN, not your GSTIN.** All your registrations under the same PAN count together.

## How aggregate turnover is counted

Aggregate turnover is the total value of all your supplies across India under one PAN, for the financial year. It includes:

- Taxable supplies, both within your state and to other states.
- Exempt and nil-rated supplies.
- Exports.
- Supplies made from every GSTIN under the same PAN, including branch transfers between states.

It leaves out the GST itself (CGST, SGST, UTGST, IGST and cess), and purchases on which you paid tax under reverse charge. Your GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for the year are the simplest place to add it up.

## What needs an e-invoice

Once you are covered, you need an IRN for:

- Tax invoices, credit notes and debit notes for supplies to registered businesses (B2B).
- Supplies to SEZs, with or without payment of tax.
- Exports, with or without payment of tax.
- Deemed exports.

A B2B invoice that needed an IRN and does not have one is not a valid invoice under GST.

## The 30-day reporting limit

From 01-04-2025, businesses with aggregate turnover of ₹10 crore or more cannot report an invoice, credit note or debit note to the IRP more than 30 days after its date. The portal simply refuses it. For example, an invoice dated 01-09-2026 must be reported by 01-10-2026. If you are below ₹10 crore, this limit does not apply to you today, but generating the IRN when you issue the invoice is still the safest habit.

## Who is exempt

The following do not have to issue e-invoices, whatever their turnover (Notification 13/2020-Central Tax, as amended):

- Special Economic Zone units. SEZ developers are not exempt.
- Insurers, banking companies and financial institutions, including non-banking financial companies.
- Goods transport agencies supplying transport of goods by road.
- Suppliers of passenger transport services.
- Suppliers of admission to the exhibition of films in multiplex screens.
- Government departments and local authorities.

If you are exempt but your turnover is above the limit, the e-Way Bill system may stop you generating e-way bills for B2B invoices without an IRN. The e-invoice portal lets exempt businesses declare their exemption to avoid this.

## What happens if you do not

- **Your customer loses input tax credit.** An invoice without a required IRN is not a valid invoice, so your customer cannot rely on it. Expect calls from their accounts team.
- **Penalty.** Issuing an invalid invoice can attract a penalty under section 122 of the CGST Act of ₹10,000 or the tax involved, whichever is higher.
- **Goods get stuck.** The e-Way Bill system does not let an e-invoicing business generate an e-way bill for a B2B or export invoice without the e-invoice details, so dispatches stop.
- **Your GSTR-1 is harder.** Invoices with an IRN fill into your GSTR-1 on their own. Without it, you enter them by hand and risk differences.

## How to start

1. **Check your status.** Look up your GSTIN on the e-invoice portal (einvoice.gst.gov.in). Businesses that cross the limit are usually enabled on their own; if you are not, you can enable yourself there.
2. **Register on an IRP.** Register once on any of the authorised IRPs with an OTP to your registered mobile and email, and create API access only if your software will connect for you.
3. **Set up your software.** Either connect your billing software to the IRP, or use its bulk upload file and bring the portal's results back into it. Either way, confirm that the IRN, acknowledgement number and QR code print on the invoice.
4. **Clean your masters.** Customer GSTINs, state codes, pin codes and item HSN codes must be correct, or the IRP rejects the invoice.
5. **Test and train.** Issue a few test invoices, then a real one. Show your billing staff how to cancel within 24 hours and when to use a credit note instead.

## In EaseDesk

EaseDesk lists every invoice and credit note that needs an IRN under **E-invoices to register**, and gives you one file per GSTIN for the e-invoice portal's bulk upload. Upload it with your own login, upload the portal's results back into EaseDesk, and the IRN and signed QR code print on each PDF. There is no extra charge. E-way bill files are prepared from the same invoice for the e-way bill portal. If your turnover is ₹10 crore or more, turn on the 30-day rule for your GSTIN: EaseDesk shows each invoice's deadline and stops anyone issuing an e-invoice dated more than 30 days back. Read [how to set up e-invoicing](/help/tax-filing/e-invoicing) or see [GST compliance in EaseDesk](/solutions/gst).

## Questions

### My turnover fell below ₹5 crore this year. Can I stop e-invoicing?

No. The test is whether your aggregate turnover exceeded ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18 onwards. Once you have crossed it in any year, you keep issuing e-invoices even if a later year is lower.

### Do I need an e-invoice for sales to consumers?

No. E-invoicing covers invoices, credit notes and debit notes for supplies to registered businesses, exports, supplies to SEZs and deemed exports. Sales to consumers (B2C) do not need an IRN.

### Is there a charge for generating an IRN?

No. Reporting invoices and getting an IRN on any of the government-authorised Invoice Registration Portals is free. You may pay for the billing software or service you use to connect to them.

### Can I cancel an e-invoice?

Yes, in full and only within 24 hours of generating the IRN. After that, correct the sale with a credit note, which also needs an IRN if the original invoice had one.

### What is the 30-day limit for reporting e-invoices?

If your aggregate turnover is ₹10 crore or more, the Invoice Registration Portal does not accept invoices, credit notes or debit notes more than 30 days after their date. This has applied since 01-04-2025.

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Source: https://www.easedesk.com/blog/gst-e-invoicing-threshold-2026 · Updated 2026-09-28 · EaseDesk