Clarification on IRN and Invoice Number Duplication Across Financial Years

General
1

In financial and accounting systems, it is standard practice to perform a year-end closing procedure. As part of this process, invoice numbering is typically reset at the beginning of each new financial year. However, the same EGS (Electronic Generation System) continues to be used across multiple years.

This raises a concern: an invoice issued in the financial year 2024 may have the same invoice number as another invoice issued in 2025, due to the reset in numbering.

My questions are:

  1. Is the IRN (Invoice Reference Number) visible to the buyer?

  2. If yes, does having identical invoice numbers across different financial years violate ZATCA compliance rules?

Appreciate any clarification from the community or ZATCA representatives on this matter.

2

@mnuaimi please consider below responses:

  1. Is the IRN (Invoice Reference Number) visible to the buyer?
    Yes, IRN must be displayed on the human readable form of invoices.

  2. If yes, does having identical invoice numbers across different financial years violate ZATCA compliance rules?
    You can assign a prefix or suffix with the year to make IRNs unique across different years.

2 Likes
3

Dear Ankit,
Thank you for your continued support.

I would appreciate your clarification on the following points regarding the Invoice Reference Number (IRN):

  1. IRN Format in XML vs Display: Is it acceptable for the IRN to include a prefix in the XML copy only, while maintaining a simpler display value?
    Example: Source System IRN: 1001 , Displayed IRN: 1001, IRN in XML: 20250000001001
  2. IRN as a GUID or Random String: Can the IRN be a random GUID or string (e.g. UUID format), assuming it remains unique? Or is sequential numbering a mandatory requirement for ZATCA compliance?
  3. Uniqueness Scope of the IRN: Is IRN uniqueness enforced at:
  • The UID level?
  • The CRN (Commercial Registration Number) level?
  • The PCSID level?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

4

@DS2022, please consider below responses:

  1. IRN Format in XML vs Display: Is it acceptable for the IRN to include a prefix in the XML copy only, while maintaining a simpler display value?
    Example: Source System IRN: 1001 , Displayed IRN: 1001, IRN in XML: 20250000001001

Response: No, IRN in XML and Human readable form must be exactly same. Same applies to all other fields covered in data dictionary (mandatory / conditional / optional) to be same in XML and human readable form.

  1. IRN as a GUID or Random String: Can the IRN be a random GUID or string (e.g. UUID format), assuming it remains unique? Or is sequential numbering a mandatory requirement for ZATCA compliance?
    Response: IRN cannot be random. It must be sequential.

  2. Uniqueness Scope of the IRN: Is IRN uniqueness enforced at:

  • The UID level?
  • The CRN (Commercial Registration Number) level?
  • The PCSID (Solution Provider ID) level?

Response: Ideally IRN should be unique across all invoices of taxpayer, you may use suffix or prefix to differentiate.