Changes in the E-Way Bill after E-Invoicing Update

For all registered taxpayers with a revenue of more than Rs. 500 crores in the fiscal year 2019–20, the e-invoice system under GST was required as of the first day of October 2020. From January 1st 2021, it was expanded to include companies with a turnover of more than Rs. 100 crore.

As of April 2021, it was available to taxpayers with a revenue of Rs. 50 crores and Rs. 100 crores. After that, the government made e-invoicing applicable to companies with a turnover of more than Rs. 20 crores. According to the latest update, organisations having a revenue of more than Rs. 10 crores are required to use electronic invoicing.

How are e-way bills and e-invoices related?

The first section of an e-way bill, Part A, comprises information about the invoice, including the GSTINs of the sender and recipient, the invoice number, the delivery address, the HSN codes, etc. A transporter's ID, vehicle number, and other information are included in Part B. Under the current method, the taxpayer manually updates the invoice data and transporter details before generating both portions via the e-way bill portal.

The deployment of e-invoicing will also impact the e-way bill system. Instead of registering again, current users of the e-way bill portal can log in to the e-invoice portal using the same credentials. In contrast to the current approach, when e-invoicing is implemented, e-way bills will be automatically filled out from the e-invoicing portal.

Suppose some optional details (transporter ID and mode of transport) in the e-invoice are updated. In that case, Parts A and B of the e-way bill will be automatically filled in after the e-invoice has been properly validated. These modifications aim to make the creation of e-way bills easier.

The e-invoice portal provides the following features:

1. Creating an e-way bill using the IRN: On the e-invoice portal, a user must input the IRN to create an e-way bill.

2. E-way bill bulk generation: The government offers bulk generation services for companies that do numerous daily transactions.

3. Print e-way bill: After choosing the print EWB option from the e-way bill option, a user must enter the e-way bill number. The e-way bill will be provided with a print option after entering the EWB number.

How will e-way bills be produced once the e-invoicing system has been instated?

The method used to create e-way bills will remain unchanged. However, there will be an additional facility to generate e-way bills from IRN. A user can follow the steps listed below:

1. Upload the invoice to the portal for invoice registration.

2. Following a successful validation by the GSTN, the IRP will provide a unique number called an invoice reference number and print a QR code on the invoice.

3. The e-way bill portal, where section 12 of the e-invoice schema (e-way bill details) is reported, will get this data. E-way bills from IRN are generated using the APIs.

4. After logging in, a user should enter the IRN of the invoice for which an e-way bill is required and log out.

5. If the necessary information is changed in the e-invoice, Parts A and B will automatically fill in.

6. Select "Submit." The e-way bill will be generated with no mistakes, and you can download it as a JSON or PDF file.

Effects of an e-invoice amendment or cancellation on an e-way bill

Any provisions do not currently cover the cancellation of e-way bills through e-invoices. The same mistakes in erroneous invoices will also occur in incorrect e-way bills. The NIC recently clarified that the e-way invoices must be terminated before the IRN. IRN cancellation prevents the creation of an e-way bill.

Impact of e-way bill integration with e-invoicing on businesses

Integrating the e-invoicing and e-way bill systems aims to streamline and automate the process. The government has additionally connected e-way bills to the submission of GST returns. For taxpayers with two or more consecutive outstanding GST returns, the creation of e-way bills would be blocked. The following advantages for firms will result from these integrations:

1. Easy compliance for taxpayers

2. Ensuring accuracy through process automation.

3. Reduced tax evasion will benefit the government as well.