# Do I Have to Issue e-Invoices? The ₹5 Crore GST Threshold for FY 2026-27

**Category:** GST | **Published:** 2026-06-17 | **Last reviewed:** 2026-06-17 | **Author:** Mrs. Swapna Patel

E-invoicing is mandatory for any business whose aggregate turnover crossed ₹5 crore in any financial year since 2017-18, under CBIC Notification 10/2023-Central Tax (effective 1 August 2023). It applies to B2B supplies, exports, supplies to SEZ, and reverse-charge supplies, not to B2C sales. You keep raising invoices in your own system; you must register each covered invoice with the Invoice Registration Portal first, which returns an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a signed QR code to print on the document. ₹5 crore remains the floor for FY 2026-27.

> **Myth:** E-invoicing means you stop making your own bills and start typing each invoice into the GST portal.
>
> **Fact:** You still raise the invoice in your own billing software. E-invoicing only means each one is registered with a government portal (the IRP) first, which returns an IRN and a signed QR code to print on it.

## Do I have to issue e-invoices?

> **Short answer:** Yes, if your aggregate turnover crossed ₹5 crore in any financial year since 2017-18. [CBIC Notification 10/2023-Central Tax](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/) sets the threshold at ₹5 crore with effect from 1 August 2023, and ₹5 crore is still the floor for FY 2026-27.

- The threshold is tested on aggregate turnover, the PAN-level total of all your GST registrations, not on any single GSTIN or branch.
- Once you cross ₹5 crore in even one financial year from 2017-18 onward, e-invoicing stays mandatory, even if a later year falls back below ₹5 crore.
- Why it matters: an invoice that should carry an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) but does not is not a valid tax invoice under [Rule 48(5) of the CGST Rules](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/pdf/CGST-Rules-Sept-2023.pdf). Your buyer then loses input tax credit, the GST they paid you that they were entitled to set off, and you face a penalty for an incorrect invoice.
- The ₹5 crore figure is year-variable: the GST Council has discussed cutting it to ₹2 crore, but as of FY 2026-27 no lower threshold has been notified. Check the [CBIC notifications page](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/) before assuming you are below the line.

## What counts towards the ₹5 crore aggregate turnover?

> **Short answer:** Aggregate turnover is the all-India, PAN-level total of taxable supplies, exempt supplies, exports, and inter-state supplies, computed for any financial year since 2017-18.

- It is computed across every GSTIN registered under the same PAN, so a business with units in three states adds all three together.
- It includes exempt and zero-rated supplies, not only the taxable ones, which pulls some businesses over the line sooner than they expect.
- It excludes the GST itself (CGST, SGST, IGST, and cess) and the value of inward supplies taxed under reverse charge, where you pay the tax instead of your supplier.
- The test reaches back: a year as far back as 2017-18 counts. The current FY turnover alone does not decide it.

## Which of my supplies need an IRN, and which do not?

| Supply type | E-invoice (IRN) needed? | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| B2B (sale to a GST-registered buyer) | Yes | The buyer claims input tax credit; the IRN locks the invoice into the system. |
| Export of goods or services | Yes | Treated like a B2B supply for e-invoicing. |
| Supply to an SEZ (Special Economic Zone) unit | Yes | A supply into an SEZ is covered, even though SEZ units as sellers are exempt. |
| Reverse-charge supply | Yes | Covered where the supplier is over the ₹5 crore threshold. |
| B2C (sale to an unregistered consumer) | No | No input tax credit at the buyer end, so no IRN is required. |
| Credit notes and debit notes on covered supplies | Yes | These follow the underlying B2B invoice. |

*IRN means Invoice Reference Number, the unique number the government portal returns for each registered invoice. B2B = business to a registered business; B2C = business to consumer. Source: [Rule 48(4), CGST Rules](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/pdf/CGST-Rules-Sept-2023.pdf).*

*[Visual: Decision flow for GST e-invoicing: first test turnover above ₹5 crore in any year since 2017-18, then test whether the supply is B2B or export (IRN required) or B2C (no IRN required). — The two tests, turnover then supply type, that decide whether a given invoice needs an IRN. See the full [e-invoicing IRN decision exhibit](/atlas/e-invoicing-irn-5-crore-threshold).]*

## Who is exempt even above ₹5 crore?

> **Short answer:** Some classes of registered person are exempt from e-invoicing regardless of turnover, under [Notification 13/2020 and 61/2020](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/). If you fall in one of these, you issue an ordinary Rule 46 tax invoice with no IRN.

- Banks, insurers, financial institutions, and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
- Goods Transport Agencies (a GTA, a road-transport operator that issues a consignment note) for their transport services.
- Suppliers of passenger transport services.
- Admission to the screening of films in a multiplex cinema.
- SEZ units, as suppliers. Note the split: an SEZ unit selling out is exempt, but a supply made into an SEZ is covered.

## What changes in my billing once I cross the threshold?

> **Short answer:** You register each covered invoice with the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) before issuing it; the IRP returns an IRN and a signed QR code that must be printed on the invoice given to the buyer.

One common mix-up: an e-invoice is not an e-way bill. The IRN proves the invoice was reported to the government; the e-way bill is a separate transport document for moving goods above a value threshold. Crossing into e-invoicing does not remove the e-way bill requirement. For the field-by-field anatomy of the tax invoice itself, see [what fields a GST tax invoice must carry under Section 31 and Rule 46](/answers/gst-tax-invoice-fields-section-31-rule-46), and for the informal-slip trap, [pakka bill vs kaccha bill](/answers/pakka-bill-vs-kaccha-bill-gst-tax-invoice).

- Step 1, raise the invoice as usual: you keep using your own billing software. E-invoicing does not mean typing invoices into the GST portal by hand.
- Step 2, send it to the IRP: your software uploads the invoice data to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), the government system that validates and registers each invoice.
- Step 3, receive the IRN and signed QR: the IRP returns an Invoice Reference Number (IRN), a unique 64-character code, and a digitally signed QR code. Both must be printed on the invoice you hand the buyer.
- Step 4, GSTR-1 fills itself: a registered e-invoice auto-populates your GSTR-1 (the monthly outward-supply return), so the B2B invoice details flow into the return without re-keying.

**[Generate a Rule 46-complete GST tax invoice in 60 seconds](https://hrareceipt.in/pakka-bill)**

## Primary sources

- [CBIC Notification 10/2023-Central Tax (₹5 crore e-invoicing threshold)](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/) — Lowered the e-invoicing turnover threshold to ₹5 crore with effect from 1 August 2023.
- [Rule 48(4) and 48(5), Central Goods and Services Tax Rules 2017 — CBIC](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/pdf/CGST-Rules-Sept-2023.pdf) — E-invoicing mandate; an IRN-required invoice without an IRN is not a valid tax invoice.
- [Notification 13/2020-Central Tax and 61/2020-Central Tax — CBIC](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/) — Classes of registered persons exempt from e-invoicing, including SEZ units.
- [GST e-Invoice System — National Informatics Centre](https://einvoice1.gst.gov.in/) — IRN generation, the Invoice Registration Portal, and IRN lookup for B2B supplies.

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*Source: [Do I Have to Issue e-Invoices? The ₹5 Crore GST Threshold for FY 2026-27](https://hrareceipt.in/answers/e-invoicing-gst-5-crore-threshold-fy2026-27) — HRAReceipt.in*
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