Changes in the E-way Bills after E-Invoicing Update

The most recent update in E-invoicing has introduced changes in e-way bills. As per the latest updates which came into effect on 1^st October 2022, E-Invoicing is now applicable to all businesses which have a turnover greater than ₹10 crores. This turnover can be in any year from FY 2017-18 onwards. So, if a business has generated a turnover in excess of 10 crores in any financial year from FY 17-18 onwards, then E-Invoicing applies to that business, even if their turnover is less than ₹10 crores in the current or the last financial year.

Let us take a look at the scope and impact of the new changes in e-way bills after the latest update.

How Are E-way Bills and E-invoices Related?

There are two parts in an E-Way bill, as below:

• Part A, which mentions the invoice details, including the GSTINs of the sender and recipient, the invoice number, the delivery address, HSN codes, etc.
• Part B, which includes the transporter’s ID, vehicle number, and other information.

Under the current method, taxpayers manually update the invoice data and transporter details before generating both parts of the e-way bill via the e-way bill portal.

According to changes in e-way bills after new update , they will be auto-populated from the e-invoicing portal itself. Both portals will use the same login credentials as well. However, to fully auto-populate the e-way bill, you will need to mention even the optional details like mode of transport and transporter ID in the e-invoice. The intention behind these updates is to make it easier to generate e-way bills.

The changes in e-way bills after latest update will lead to the following advantages:

1. Generating e-way bill using the IRN: A user needs to mention the IRN on the e-invoice portal to generate an e-way bill.
2. E-way bill bulk generation: This facility is offered by the Government to facilitate larger businesses that have a high volume of transactions every day.
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. Once this is done, the user will see the option to print the e-way bill.

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, an additional facility will generate e-way bills from IRN. A user can follow the steps listed below:

1. Upload the invoice to the portal for invoice registration. (https://einvoice1.gst.gov.in/)
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.

How do Changes in E-way Bills Affect Cancellation?

There are currently no provisions to cancel e-way bills by cancelling e-invoices. If there are errors in the information entered in the e-invoice, they will be reflected in the e-way bill as well since it is auto-populated. The NIC has recently provided clarification that the e-way bills must be cancelled before the IRN. E-Way bills are not generated for cancelled IRNs.

Impact of the Changes in E-way Bills 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 changes in e-way bills after latest update:

1. Easy compliance for taxpayers
2. Ensuring accuracy through process automation.
3. Reduced tax evasion will benefit the government as well.

Conclusion

The integration of the e-invoicing and e-way bill systems is set to bring significant changes in e-way bills. The automation of the process will lead to easy compliance for taxpayers, improved accuracy, and reduced tax evasion, benefiting both businesses and the government. The introduction of e-invoicing and the gradual expansion of its application to more taxpayers, including the latest update requiring businesses with a revenue of more than Rs. 10 crores to use electronic invoicing, demonstrates the government’s commitment to digitalization and modernizing the tax system.