E-invoicing and GSTR-1: why your e-invoices appear without being entered

If your business issues e-invoices, a large part of your GSTR-1 is already filled before you start. Knowing why saves you from entering the same invoices twice.

Who issues them

• E-invoicing is mandatory once aggregate turnover has gone above ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18.
• At ₹10 crore and above, an invoice has to be reported to the e-invoice portal within 30 days of its date (from 1 April 2025). A late invoice can't be reported, and the buyer can lose credit on it.

What happens to the data

Each B2B invoice, credit note and debit note you report gets an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a QR code. The portal passes those details to GSTR-1, so the e-invoiced B2B supplies are already there.

What to do in your files

1. Leave e-invoiced B2B documents out of the manual JSON you generate.
2. Do include the sales that are not e-invoiced, such as B2C.
3. Compare the auto-filled GSTR-1 with your sales register before you file.
4. If an invoice is missing from the portal, check that it was reported within the 30 days.

TurboGST excludes invoices that carry an IRN from the GSTR-1 file it builds and lists them as excluded, so they aren't uploaded twice.