Summarised from the tax authority's FAQ. For the authoritative text always check the latest guidelines at intamedia.ir.
1. Who is subject to the Store Terminals Law and the Moadian (taxpayers) system?
Business owners (guild and non-guild) and legal entities covered by chapters 4 and 5 of part 3 of the Direct Taxes Act.
2. What does the liability date mean?
For active taxpayers it is the date of the tax authority's call-up; for those who started official activity after the call-up it is their start date. From that date, issuing and sending e-invoices is mandatory.
3. What types of e-invoice exist?
Three. Type 1: full seller and buyer details, goods/services and payment method. Type 2: seller details, goods/services and settlement method, with optional buyer details. Type 3: the payment receipt of a bank card reader or payment gateway accepted by the authority as a store terminal.
4. What is the difference between type 1 and type 2?
Buyer details. In business-to-business sales (B2B) type 1 is required; for sales to final consumers buyer details are not needed and type 2 is enough.
5. How many templates does a type 1 invoice have?
Six so far: sales, foreign-currency sales, gold/jewelry/platinum, contracting, utility bills and airline tickets. Templates can change, so always follow the latest e-invoice issuing guideline on intamedia.ir.
6. How can e-invoices be submitted?
Four ways: directly by the taxpayer; by a trusted company with the taxpayer's key; by a trusted company with the company's key; or through government systems.
7. How does direct submission by the taxpayer work?
The taxpayer issues the invoice and sends it to the Moadian system personally, and is responsible for sending.
8. What is submission by a trusted company with the taxpayer's key?
The taxpayer signs and issues the invoice with their own private key and the trusted company only transmits it. Issuing is the taxpayer's responsibility; transmission is the company's.
9. What is submission by a trusted company with the company's key?
The trusted company receives the invoice data and issues and sends it using its own key and infrastructure, and is responsible for both steps.
10. How does submission through government systems work?
The taxpayer must enable this option in their tax folder (karpoushe). Issuing and sending then remain the taxpayer's responsibility.
11. What is a trusted tax service provider?
A licensed legal entity that cooperates with the tax authority: it trains and advises taxpayers and installs and supports the equipment and services needed, including e-invoice issuing.
12. What types of trusted companies are there?
Type 1: issuing, collecting, storing and sending invoices to the authority and monitoring taxpayers. Type 2: training taxpayers and verifying they know their rights and duties. Type 3: tax consulting and accounting, such as help with returns and ledgers.
13. What is the unique tax number?
A 22-character identifier that the store terminal assigns to every e-invoice. Its structure is defined in the document on the unique tax memory ID and unique tax number format.
14. What does the unique tax number consist of?
Four fixed-length parts: the unique tax memory ID (6 characters), the date the invoice was recorded in the tax memory (5 hex characters), the internal invoice serial (10 hex characters) and a check digit computed with the Verhoeff algorithm.
15. What is the unique tax memory ID?
A 6-character identifier assigned to each tax memory. It is the first part of the unique tax number and is issued in the membership section of the tax folder on the taxpayer's request.
16. What are the steps to get a unique tax memory ID?
Sign in to the tax folder and open Membership, choose the request for a unique tax memory ID, set the invoice sending method, set the public key (if required) and the related branches, optionally assign payment tools and tax memory/terminal details, then review and confirm.
17. How does the tax memory ID differ from the unique tax number?
The tax memory ID is the first 6 characters of the unique tax number and tells the authority which taxpayer issued the invoice and at what location.
18. How is a tax memory obtained?
The taxpayer needs a store terminal (software or hardware tax memory) that meets the technical specification document on intamedia.ir, and gets its unique ID from the Membership section of the tax folder.
19. What steps are needed to issue and send e-invoices?
Register in the tax system (register.tax.gov.ir, or my.tax.gov.ir for unregistered individuals), get the unique ID from the tax folder (tp.tax.gov.ir or my.tax.gov.ir), use a store terminal that meets the authority's standards, issue the invoice, and send it to the Moadian system.
20. Can invoices be sent in bulk?
Yes, in batches of up to 100 invoices.
21. Is the buyer's economic code mandatory?
Yes if the buyer is a business or legal entity; not if the buyer is a final consumer. The invoice type must match the buyer type.
22. Can an invoice be edited after sending?
No. If needed, issue a correction, cancellation or sales-return invoice (see the e-invoice issuing guideline).
23. Can a sales-return or correction invoice be cancelled?
Yes. The new invoice follows the same rules as the original one, so it can be corrected, cancelled or returned.
24. What reference number is used if an invoice is returned several times?
In a sales return, the unique tax number of the original invoice is recorded as the reference. If that return is itself returned, the return's number becomes the new reference. Each reference number can be used only once.
25. Can the buyer approve or reject an invoice?
Yes, if the buyer is not a final consumer and is a Moadian member, they can approve or reject it in their tax folder within 30 days. With no reaction, the system approves it automatically.
26. Can invoices be approved in bulk?
Yes. In the tax folder you can select several invoices and approve or reject them together.
27. Can a cancelled invoice be corrected?
No, cancelled invoices cannot be corrected.
28. What is the goods/service ID and where do I get it?
A 13-digit code assigned to each good or service; it is mandatory on every invoice line. Producers, importers and service providers must obtain it from the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade; assigned IDs are available at stuffid.tax.gov.ir.
29. How do registered taxpayers sign in to the tax folder?
Through tp.tax.gov.ir or my.tax.gov.ir with username, password and identity verification.
30. What if the store terminal fails and invoices cannot be issued?
By the end of the next working day, report it through the tax folder (or the authority's announced channel) to the authority or the trusted company, and until it is fixed, record and send invoices as per the guideline under article 12 of the law.
31. Do non-Iranian buyers get an economic code?
Yes. A foreign buyer who wishes to can give their economic code to the seller to be recorded on the invoice.
32. What is the sales limit for new businesses or those with no tax history?
At most three times the annual exemption under article 101 of the Direct Taxes Act.
33. How are prepayments for goods recorded?
In a type 1 invoice, prepayment amounts are recorded as cash.
34. What payment types exist on an e-invoice?
Settlement method (cash, cash-credit, credit) and payment method (cash, bank cheque, Satna, Paya, etc.), depending on the invoice type.
35. Which e-invoice does the authority treat as valid?
One that has a unique tax number, was issued under the authority's rules and was successfully sent to the Moadian system.
36. How is a refund request filed in the Moadian system?
The taxpayer files the refund request from the tax folder section of the Moadian system.
37. How long is a token valid?
4 hours from the time it is received.
38. How is the public key uploaded to the tax folder?
Get a public-key certificate from an accredited intermediate authority (organizational seal for legal entities, digital signature for individuals), extract the public key from it with a tool such as OpenSSL, and upload the text file containing the key to the tax folder.
39. How is an e-invoice encrypted?
The terminal generates a symmetric key and IV, encrypts the invoice with them, and encrypts the symmetric key with the tax authority's public key. Use the latest technical guideline for connecting to the Moadian system.
40. How do I get the authority's public key?
Calling the GetServerInformation method returns the authority's public key and its ID to the sender (details in the technical connection guideline).