Do I Need to Generate An E-Waybill for Job Work?

Staying abreast of ever-evolving trade tax reforms promises its own share of challenges for enterprises entrusted with compliance integrity.

And the latest in this series warrants proper generation of e-way bills even when goods get transported for that long standing industry practice called job work.

This article aims at decoding key considerations governing documentation protocols around goods movement concerning this unique outsourcing activity to enable diligent adherence.

E-Waybill Requirement for Job Work

Job work involves subcontracting certain manufacturing processes to external specialists by enterprises across industries to avail of cost, quality, or capability advantages.

Now, based on how job work definitions get covered under the ambit of deemed supply and place of supply interpretations within GST, corresponding documentation protocols apply for goods transportation.

Key aspects include:

1. Inter-state nature: 

A key facet determining e-way bill applicability is the inter-state or intra-state nature of goods movement. Now, when inputs move across state borders for job work, such transactions get classified as an inter-state supply movement. For example, machinery spare parts go from a supplier in Punjab to a third-party packaging contractor in Gujarat. Hence, documentation necessity warrants

2. Time of supply:

Another key criteria for e-way bills is covering movement-based principles around deemed supply determination. When goods leave the principal’s premises for job work, as per Section 12(3) of the IGST Act, at that point the activity is covered under the ambit of deemed supply provisions necessitating corresponding documentation compliance.

3. Value threshold: 

Usual e-way bill provisions classify any goods movement above the threshold value of Rs. 50,000 as warranting documentation. This applies uniformly, which means even where inputs for, say, packaging or labeling activity cross states with the principal’s procurement worth over Rs. 50,000, rules mandate corresponding e-way bill generation.

Now let’s assess specific documentation processes.

Also Read: E-waybill for Job Work: Understanding the Special Considerations

Job Work and E-Waybill Compliance

Key procedural requirements around e-way bills for job work include:

Principal to issue a delivery challan covering trade, goods, and consignee details

• The corresponding e-way bill needs generation-based details captured on the delivery challan.
• transporter to carry copies of documentation during transit

Rules governing these include:

1. CGST Rule 55:

The unique nature of job-related goods transfers necessitates customized dispatch protocols. Rule 55 stipulates that necessary documentation formalities arise when the principal issues goods for processing to external parties. The key aspect here includes the preparation of serially numbered delivery challans in triplicate: the original copy for the receiver, the duplicate for the transporter, and the triplicate as the principal’s own record.

2. CGST Rule 138:

This section further enforces documentation discipline for goods movement tracking by expressly mandating e-way bill furnishing before the commencement of transport as per stipulated value thresholds. Hence, taken together, Rules 55 and 138 enforce the issuance of suitably formatted delivery challans and corresponding e-way bills when goods leave the principal’s premises for job work.

Also Read: E-Way Bill For Job Work: Understanding The Compliance Requirements

Generating an e-waybill for job work transactions

Earlier, we understood documentation stipulations. Now let’s assess the step-by-step generation process:

Principal’s Role

• Issues delivery challan covering aspects like item/trade details, place of supply, etc. in triplicate
• Accesses portal before goods transfer to furnish challan-based particulars
• generates a valid e-way bill and conveys a reference number to the transporter.

Transporter’s Role

• Ensures carrying copies of the delivery challan and e-way bill printout during transit.
• On delivery, hand over the original copy of the challan to the job worker, acknowledging receipt.

Thus, the principal holds the onus of pre-transport documentation, enabling goods tracking, while the transporter focuses on diligent delivery.

Now that we have clarity on creation protocols, let’s assess scenarios where responsibility may vary.

If you want to know how to cancel an e-way bill, then click on this blog link by Captainbiz.

Also Read: Types Of Transactions Requiring E-Waybill: Inter-State And Intra-State Movements

E-waybill Necessity in Job Work Processes

Unique trade arrangements, atypical movement types, or differentiated dealer hierarchies—such diversities warrant customized e-way bill generation compliances across businesses.

Let’s analyze key scenarios and aligned stipulations:

1. Goods procured from the vendor directly

A common business practice could be where the principal directly instructs input suppliers to dispatch partial components, consumables, etc. to outsource job workers’ premises for the completion of remaining manufacturing processes like packaging and labeling before final dispatch.

Now, to maintain linkage between the dispatching registered person (supplier) and the receiving unregistered person (job worker), the supplier additionally generates what is termed a ‘Bill-to-Ship to’ invoice. Here he captures his own GSTIN with the job worker’s premises address.

Based on the ‘Bill to Ship to’ invoice, the supplier also generates the outward e-way bill, besides the principal generating a separate e-way bill issued in the name of the job worker, specifying ‘Under the job work challan from the vendor (supplier GSTIN)’. 

2. Goods Sent via Intermediary Job Workers

Certain industries involve sequential, interlinked processes where partially completed goods move amid multiple outsourced units across state borders for respective expertise availability. For example, apparel trim parts from a Delhi-based manufacturer go to a button fixing unit in Noida, then an embroidery unit in Jaipur, and so on.

If such intermediate job workers are registered entities, then they need to cause successive e-way bill generation each time goods move from their premises to their next work location. 

However, at times when such job workers functioning as interim transit hubs may not have GST registration, documentation onus lies with the principal to undertake e-way bill creation by declaring the premises of such unregistered job workers as ‘additional place of business’ for necessary compliance. 

3. Goods Dispatched from Job Worker to Customer

A scenario could arise where, after completing outsourced processes, finished goods move straight from the job worker’s to the principal’s domestic customer distribution hubs across different states, enabling time savings.

If a job worker qualifies as a registered person, responsibility lies with them like any typical outward supply to generate GST invoices and e-way bills corresponding to the movement of processed finished goods from their premises to the customer’s location. If unregistered, the obligation rests with the principal to generate the onward supply e-way bill for the processed item shipment. 

Thus, based on trade terms, supply models, and registration statuses, documentation may vary across parties, requiring prudent assessment.

Job Work Documentation: E-Waybill Need

Before analyzing documentation interlinks, let’s acknowledge why tax administrators focus on monitoring job work and goods movement. Aspects like:

1. Revenue Visibility: 

A key motive behind emphasizing documentation around job-related goods movement is to obtain clear revenue visibility for authorities. Now, when goods get transported across states, IGST leviability arises. So ensuring corresponding taxes are indeed deposited requires monitoring tools.

E-way bills integrate well here, capturing aspects like trade identity, goods value, and quantity, aiding reconciliation if requisite IGST payments happen commensurate with outward movement, supplying instances for processed materials post-job work completion evident during GST return assessments, and enabling credit tracking.

2. Tax Compliance: 

One major concern around permitting relaxation of procedures is potential misuse by way of clandestine local diversions to evade applicable GST. For example, high-value machinery parts were taken under the pretext of job work but later secretly diverted to local markets without taxes. 

The e-way bill integration stipulation reduces this risk by warranting the necessary evidence trail even for goods movement cases like temporary job work transfers, encouraging tax compliance. so that it deters fake transportation claims taken just to supply goods in a tax-evaded manner locally.

3. Procedural Discipline: 

Trade monitoring requires systemic documentation protocols to be followed by stakeholders, irrespective of transaction type or industry nature, enabling uniformity and standardization and aiding governance. 

For instance, stipulating essential e-way bill compliance prerequisites before goods dispatch provides a structured method for allowing tracking integration for authorities uniformly across all outward movement cases, including temporary transfers like job work. This infuses procedural discipline vital for effective administration rather than a case-by-case oversight possibility.

Now, analyzing the integration of the e-way bill with other job work papers:

Therefore, the e-way bill remains vital not in isolation but derives and disseminates key data points enabling regulation of deemed goods supply for processing or outsourced activity.

Requirements for E-Waybill in Job Work Activities

Despite the differentiated nature of operations, norms around documentation compliance help instill uniform discipline, facilitating transparency for authorities.

Let’s consider key facets that determine requirements:

1. Value-Based Applicability

The usual Rs. 50,000 value threshold applies uniformly for any goods movement, including where inputs get sent for job processing across different states. Here, aspects like the principal’s procurement, operating costs, and job worker’s processing charges get cumulatively factored into the analysis.

For instance, machinery spares worth Rs. 40,000 procured by a Delhi-based manufacturer sent to a packaging contractor in Haryana with additional processing charges totaling to Rs. 55,000 breached the threshold for warranting e-way bill generation compliance. 

2. Time of Movement

The provisions mandate the generation of an e-way bill based on the time of supply interpretations covering the movement of goods for delivery or further processing activities to external parties. So in the case of job work, when the principal issues finished or semi-finished goods from his premises to the job worker’s location across states, that supply instance warrants corresponding documentation.

3. Place of Supply

By definition, any goods movement across state borders is classified as inter-state supply, mandating e-way bill generation subject to value thresholds. So irrespective of whether a routine outward B2B transaction or a job work delivery, the inter-state nature triggers documentation protocols without any separate exemptions. However, for a movement within the same state, certain exemptions may apply based on risk classification and the nature of the goods.

4. Registration Status

In ideal scenarios, the responsibility should lie with registered job workers undertaking processing. However, small outsourced entities may operate without GST registration, necessitating logistical mechanisms for compliance.

Here options exist, like partnering with transporters in possession of e-way bill IDs or relying on the principal’s documentation accompanies a declaration of the unregistered entity’s premises as an additional place of supply for the generation of compliant e-way bills. 

5. Exempt Job Types

While principles around e-way bill relevance for job work seem uniformly applicable, in select cases, reasonable exemptions have been provisioned. For example, exempting intermediate goods movement paddock to paddock in agriculture farming for processes like drying or dehusking movement between farm to farm may get exemption from the need to issue an e-way bill for each transfer instance.

Thus, based on intrinsic supply characteristics or outsourcing trade terms, corresponding documentation compliance warrants diligent adherence.

Conclusion

As we decoded, for genuine inter-state job-related movement of goods, ensuring diligent e-way bill protocol compliance by respective stakeholders seems vital. By proactively understanding documentation needs, ambiguities are reduced.

With an increasing focus on integrated compliance across taxation and regulatory agencies through instruments like e-way bills, keeping pace with the changing landscape is key.

Hence, it helps adjust lenses beyond just commercial fulfillment to imbibe compliance discipline as a necessary trade governance ethos for long-term sustenance.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can the transporter directly share e-way bill details with the job worker if the principal delays sharing documentation references after generating the EWB?

Yes, to ensure goods movement continuity, transporters can directly share e-way bill prints with job workers if the principal is unable to provide documentation details post-generation since delays can hamper supply logistics, prompting detention queries en route to the destination.

• Is the e-way bill applicable if third-party exports and imports get sent for labeling and packing job work before re-export?

Yes, the inter-state movement of imported goods meant for export would warrant corresponding e-way bill generation by the principal even for third-party exports. A mandate arises based on existing goods crossing state borders.

• How will a taxpayer come to know whether a subcontractor has issued an e-way bill if a supplier ships imported input sent for outsourced ancillary processing as a TRA?

If terms involve direct dispatch by an overseas supplier to a subcontractor, the importer needs to furnish the necessary declarations and incorporate suitable verification and confirmation clauses with suppliers requiring the sharing of inbound shipment dispatch particulars to ensure tracking documentation compliance.

Ahana Das Freelancer

Ahana is an accomplished writer who has covered her graduation in English Honours. Having written in various subjects, she takes particular interest in writing content on personal finance, investing, budgeting and financial planning and her articles on finance and current affairs are seldom published in global newspapers.

See Full Bio