Taxpayers with an aggregate annual turnover exceeding ₹100 crore have been subject to MFA since August 2023.
An advisory on the GST portal has said that multi-factor authentication (MFA) for using the updated versions of the E-Way Bill and E-Invoice Systems for all assesses will be mandatory for all taxpayers from April 1 next year. Also, there will be new provisions for restricting the generation of E-Way Bills.
“Starting January 1, 2025, MFA will become mandatory for taxpayers with AATO (Aggregate Annual Turnover) exceeding ₹20 crore, from February 1, 2025 for those with AATO exceeding ₹5 crore, and from April 1, 2025 for all other taxpayers and users,” the advisory said. MFA is mandatory for taxpayers with an AATO exceeding ₹100 crore since August 20 last year and optional for those with an AATO exceeding ₹20 crore since September 11, 2023.
These changes have been made as the National Information Centre (NIC) will roll out updated versions of the E-Way Bill and E-Invoice Systems effective January 1, 2025. “These updates are aimed at enhancing the security of the portals, in line with best practices and government guidelines,” the advisory said.
An E-Way Bill is a document required to be carried by a person in charge of the conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding ₹50,000. It is generated from the GST Common Portal for the E-Way Bill system by registered persons or transporters who cause the movement of goods of consignment before the commencement of such movement.
As per Rule 48(4) of CGST Rules, the notified class of registered persons have to prepare an invoice by uploading specified particulars of the invoice (in FORM GST INV-01) on the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) and obtain an Invoice Reference Number (IRN). After following the above ‘e-invoicing’ process, the invoice copy containing inter alia the IRN (with QR Code) issued by the notified supplier to the buyer is commonly referred to as ‘e-invoice’ in GST.
It is important to note that ‘e-invoice’ in ‘e-invoicing’ doesn’t mean the generation of an invoice by a government portal. The invoice not registered on the portal will not be valid. In such a situation, input tax credit (ITC) on the same cannot be availed by the recipient and will attract applicable penalties. Since August 1, 2023, E-Invoice is mandatory for assesses with AATO of ₹5 crore.
Meanwhile, the advisory said that e-way Bill generation will be restricted to documents dated within 180 days from the generation date. For instance, documents dated earlier than July 5, 2024, will not be eligible for E-Way Bill generation starting January 1, 2025. Furthermore, the extension of E-Way Bills will be limited to 360 days from their original generation date. For example, an E-Way Bill generated on January 1 next year can only be extended up to December 25, 2025.
“Taxpayers are requested to familiarize themselves with these updates and incorporate the necessary adjustments into their compliance processes,” the advisory said.
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