How To Import Invoices From The E-way Bill Site To GSTR-1

GSTR-1 is a statement showing the details of all outward supplies of goods and services. All normal as well as casual registered taxpayers need to file GSTR-1. Depending on their turnover, some businesses can opt for the Quarterly Return and Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme, where they will have to file GSTR-1 every quarter. Businesses who don’t opt or are ineligible for the QRMP Scheme have to file GSTR-1 every month.

Suppliers who have transported goods would have generated e-way bills to facilitate those transports. The GST Portal provides a highly useful feature to import invoice details from those e-way bills directly to the GST Portal. This is a great help for taxpayers while preparing GSTR-1.

In this article, we will go over this feature in detail and show you how to import the invoice details from the e-way bill portal directly to the GST Portal.

Why was the Feature to Import Invoices Introduced?

Before this feature became available, taxpayers had to upload their invoices twice: once on the e-way bill portal and then once again on the GST Portal to file their GSTR-1. This caused needless duplication of effort for taxpayers each month or each quarter, depending on the frequency of filing GSTR-1. To provide some relief to taxpayers while preparing their GSTR-1 statement, an option to import e-way bill data was included in the GSTR-1 filing dashboard. Not only will this feature help taxpayers, it will also lead to better monitoring by the tax authorities, helping them curb tax evasion.

What Details can be Imported From the E-way bill site?

The following tables can be imported from the E-Way Bill Portal when filing GSTR-1:

• Tables 4A, 4B, 4C, 6B, 6C – B2B Invoices – These are details of sales transactions that occurred between GST registered persons, arranged invoice-wise. We will refer to these collectively as ‘Table A’ moving forward.
• Tables 5A, 5B – B2C (Large) Invoices – We will refer to these collectively as ‘Table B’ moving forward. These are invoice-wise details of the following sales transactions:
  • Sales by a registered person to an unregistered person
  • Sales where invoice value greater than ₹2,50,000
• Table 12 – HSN-wise-summary of Outward Supplies – This is an HSN-wise summary table of invoice details of outward supplies. We will refer to this table as ‘Table C’ moving forward.

There are two ways to download data from the e-way bill website:

1. If there are 50 or fewer invoices, you can directly import them into GSTR-1; but
2. If there are more than 50 invoices, you must first download the data as a ‘.CSV file,’ arrange it in the required excel format for import and then upload it to GSTR-1 online.

How to Download and Import Data from the E-Way Bill Portal

Step 1: Go to the ‘Returns Dashboard’ after logging into the GST Portal.

Step 2: Choose the month and fiscal year for the return period, then click ‘PREPARE ONLINE’ to go to the GSTR-1 tile. Now you can enter the required information.

Step 3: To import invoices from the e-way bill website, select the appropriate tables A,B or C (as mentioned above)

If an invoice already exists in GSTR-1, a warning notice will appear asking if you want to replace the existing document. However, an invoice can be imported numerous times from the e-way bill system to GSTR-1. If you want to continue importing by replacing any current invoices, select “Yes.”

Step 4: Import e-way bill data into the appropriate Tables A, B, or C, and then you can proceed to filing GSTR-1.

• B2B e-way bill invoices can be imported into GSTR-1- Table A.
• B2CL e-way bill invoices should be imported into GSTR-1-Table B.
• Fill in the HSN Summary on the e-way bill website in Table C of GSTR-1.

How to Import B2B E-Way Bill Invoices in Form GSTR-1.

To continue, select ‘IMPORT EWB DATA’’ from Table A, such as ‘4A, 4B, 4C, 6B, 6C – B2B Invoices,’ for example. A page will then be shown based on the number of invoices raised in the EWB system.

As mentioned earlier, if there are fewer than 50 invoices, you can directly import them online. Follow the steps shown below to do so:

1. Select ‘Select All’ or check the boxes next to each invoice that must be imported. To get invoices in a CSV file instead and upload them later, click on ‘Download’.
2. Then select ‘IMPORT.’
3. There will be a pop-up warning that the chosen invoices will replace any existing GSTR-1 data. Click OK to continue.
4. You’ll get a confirmation message. Close the dialogue box.
5. The import history table will appear below this window shortly, and the status will change to ‘Processed.’
6. The following information about imported invoices will be shown on the B2B tile:

Check the invoice’s specifics. If any adjustments are necessary, click the hyperlink next to the pertinent receiver detail and make the required changes. Take the below steps to file GSTR-1.

If there are more than 50 invoices but fewer than 500, you will see the following screen:

You won’t be able to import directly in this scenario. Instead, you will have to download the invoices in ‘.CSV’ format. To do that, click on ‘Download’.

To double-check all of the invoice details, open the ‘b2b.csv’ file. Before submitting the excel file, any discrepancies can be rectified using the Offline Utility. Once all invoices have been downloaded, follow the instructions for uploading an excel file. 

Whenever there are more than 500 invoices: The following webpage appears:

• Select ‘Generate file for download’ to start.
• It will ask you to wait for 20 minutes.
• You will receive a link to download the file from the zipped folder after 20 minutes.
• Extract the spreadsheet file from the zipped folder you downloaded.
• To check for any inconsistencies with B2B EWB invoices, open the excel file. If there are any errors, edit the excel file and follow the instructions for uploading the invoices from the excel sheet to the GSTR-1.

To Import B2CL EWB Invoices in Form GSTR-1.

In tile B, “5A, 5B – B2C (Large) Invoices,” click IMPORT EWB DATA. Follow the same procedures for importing B2B invoices if there are fewer than 50 invoices.

If there are more than 50 invoices but fewer than 500, You’ll see the following page:

To download the file, click on ‘Download’. Double check the data and rectify any discrepancies. We will cover how to upload the excel file to the GST Portal later in this article. Scroll down to the heading ‘What to do after downloading the invoices in excel?’ to see it now.

If there are more than 500 invoices, the same procedure for downloading B2B files (Table A) should be followed.

Populate HSN-wise Summary of Outward Supplies

The “12 – HSN-wise-summary of outward supplies” tile’s IMPORT EWB DATA button is located there. 

If there are fewer than 50 invoices, You’ll see the following page:

To download the hsn.csv file:

1. Check the document twice for errors and correct them in the downloaded spreadsheet file.
2. Observe the instructions for uploading the invoices from the excel sheet to the GSTR-1.

If there are fewer than 500 invoices, You’ll see the following page:

If there are more than 500 invoices, the same procedures for downloading B2B files should be followed.

What to do After Downloading the Invoices in Excel?

The taxpayer must first download the invoices in excel if there are more than 50 invoices. In such circumstances, the direct import to GSTR-1 option is not accessible. There are two alternatives to uploading invoices from an excel file to a GSTR-1.

Option one

Excel workbook import using an offline utility tool

Step 1: Create the following format by importing an Excel file:

Step 2: Click the Import Files button on the returns offline tool.

Step 3:  Select the worksheet by browsing and clicking the Import Excel button.

Step 4: Select Yes to continue.

You’ll get a notification verifying the import’s success.

Step 5:  To view the excel invoices displayed on the screen, click the Back button.

Uploaded data can be deleted or edited using the corresponding buttons on the screen.

Option 2 

Pasting from an Excel workbook

Step 1:  Copy the header portion and the data from the downloaded Excel worksheet after editing it according to the recommended return format.

Step 2:  On the returns offline tool, select Import Files and then click Copy Excel.

You’ll get a confirmation in return. You will see the invoices from the excel file uploaded to the screen after selecting “Yes” to save the data.

Reporting of additional bills that are not covered by the e-way bill portal

There are two ways to upload unaccounted-for invoices:

1. Prepare Online by manually entering data: The process used to upload new invoices to GSTR-1 is the same as the process used to upload missing invoices from an e-way bill.
2. Utilise the three options listed below to prepare offline.

• Import Excel file: Following the same procedures above, prepare the file for missing invoices in the required format.
• Copy from excel file: Following the same procedures above, prepare the file for missing invoices in the required format.
• Import the .csv file: One can produce a JSON-formatted file by formatting invoice data imported from a CSV file.