Key takeaways
- Timelines for implementing e-Invoicing in Malaysia
- Benefits from the government’s perspective
- Short-term and long-term impact on businesses
- Readiness for e-Invoicing assessed
Table of contents
- Introduction
- Background
- What is an e-Invoice?
- Timelines for implementation
- Impact on businesses
- Next steps
Introduction
Effective 1 August 2024, e-Invoicing became mandatory in Malaysia for businesses with turnover or revenue of more than RM100 million, marking a pivotal moment for businesses as they adopt this change to the way in which they invoice their financial transactions. Taxpayers with an annual turnover or revenue of more than RM25 million and up to RM100 million had to comply with the e-Invoicing requirement from 1 January 2025.
Previously, businesses with turnover between RM500,000 and RM25 million were grouped together with an implementation date of 1 July 2025. The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) has recently updated the e-Invoice implementation timeline that introduces more categories and extends deadlines for smaller enterprises.
Background
The government has introduced e-invoicing with the aim of:
- improving the tax administration of the country
- supporting the digital growth of the economy
increasing transparency and, therefore, the government’s ability to monitor corporate activity in the country. The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) has introduced 2 e-invoice transmission mechanisms for taxpayers to choose from — the MyInvois Portal and the Application Programming Interface (API).
The MyInvois Portal, hosted by the IRBM, is accessible to taxpayers at no cost and is also available to taxpayers who need to issue an e-invoice if the API connection is unavailable.
The API is a set of programming codes that enables direct data transmission between the taxpayers’ system and the MyInvois system. Taxpayers would need to invest upfront in technology and adjust their existing systems with this option.
What is an e-Invoice?
An e-Invoice is a digital representation of a transaction between a supplier and a buyer, formatted in a structured, machine-readable manner. The e-Invoice must be generated in the form of XML or JSON file format, in accordance with the requirements outlined by the IRBM.
