IFF stands for “Invoice Furnishing Facility.” It is a facility introduced by the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) to allow taxpayers to report their business-to-business (B2B) invoices to the GST system in near real-time.

Here are the key points about IFF:

1.Purpose: The IFF facility is primarily aimed at facilitating seamless input tax credit (ITC) flow to buyers. It enables taxpayers to report their B2B invoices quickly so that the recipients can avail themselves of the ITC in the same tax period.

2.Timeframe: IFF is available for reporting invoices for the first two months of a quarter, i.e., for the months of the first and second month of a quarter. For example, if a quarter starts from January, IFF will be applicable for January and February.

3. Frequency: Taxpayers can use the IFF facility for reporting invoices on a monthly basis for the first two months of the quarter.

4.Reporting Format: Invoices reported through IFF need to follow the format prescribed by the GSTN. The facility allows taxpayers to report invoice-level details such as invoice number, date, recipient details, taxable value, and GSTIN.

5.Integration with GSTR-1: The invoices reported through IFF are not required to be reported again in GSTR-1 for the respective tax period. However, if any invoices remain unreported in IFF, they need to be reported in the regular GSTR-1 for the quarter.

6.Facilitation of Business Processes: IFF aims to facilitate businesses, especially those with large volumes of B2B transactions, to ensure smooth compliance with GST regulations and timely availment of input tax credit by the recipients.

Overall, IFF is an important facility introduced under GST to streamline the reporting of B2B invoices and enhance the efficiency of the GST compliance process for taxpayers and tax authorities.