The government is planning to expand the scope of e-invoicing. For this, the minimum annual turnover limit can be increased to Rs 5 crore during this financial year. Under the Goods and services Tax (GST) system, e-invoicing is currently mandatory for those with an annual turnover of Rs 20 crore or more.
A government official with knowledge of the scheme said this could be done in the next phase to prevent revenue evasion and ease compliance. In this phase, the government will first make e-invoicing mandatory for units with an annual turnover of Rs 10 crore or more and later it will be implemented for units with an annual turnover of Rs 5 crore or more.

The move is aimed at maintaining wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital records of a large number of transactions, increasing transparency in sales information, reducing mismatches and errors, automating data entry work and improving compliance. “We are creating the e-invoicing framework for higher number of transactions as we want to reduce the annual turnover limit for e-invoicing from Rs 20 crore to Rs 10 crore and then to Rs 5 crore,” an official said. The GST Network (GSTN), which facilitates e-invoicing, will be ready for the next phase in three-four months. He said that sufficient time will be given to the taxpayers to comply with the new norms.
The e-invoicing system was introduced in october 2020 and was made mandatory for units with an annual turnover of Rs 500 crore and above. Later, this limit was reduced to Rs 100 crore and then to Rs 50 crore for mutual business transactions. Currently, e-invoicing is mandatory for units with an annual turnover of Rs 20 crore.

GSTN is understood to have initiated the process of empanelment of at least six registration portals to provide e-invoicing facility to more number of transactions. At present there is only one challan registration portal for all businesses.
Another official said, “With the increase in the number of portals, the entrepreneurs will get proper IT infrastructure and related mechanism to ensure hassle-free challan registration service. Also, taxpayers will have the option to choose the services of various portals. There will be no additional burden on the GST system.” GST Network has tied up with four companies – Signet InfoPath, Iris business services, Defmacro software (ClearTax) and Ernst & Young LLP – for the invoice registration portal.

“The GST Council was informed last week about the process to increase the number of portals and it has given approval for the same,” an official said. The total turnover in the range of Rs 20 crore to Rs 50 crore per annum, according to official figures. There are 2.19 lakh eligible GST Identification Numbers (GSTINs) of which only 1.53 lakh issue challans. Similarly, 86,943 units with an annual turnover of Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore have GSTINs and 48,217 of them issue invoices.

Vipin Sapra, Partner, EY, said, “Reducing the turnover limit for e-invoicing will help in curbing revenue theft through bogus bills. At present, there is a possibility of mismatch of data with paper invoices and human error, which can be removed in the new system. .