About compliance in Malaysia

Malaysia's e-invoicing ecosystem is built around a three-corner clearance model, where Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) must validate every invoice before it's legally valid.

IRBM's official specifications describe the technical requirements for invoice submission and clearanc

Note: Malaysia e-invoicing is available for testing in UAT environments only. Production access requires uploading production credentials after UAT testing is complete.

The three-corner clearance model

Malaysia's e-invoicing ecosystem involves three distinct actors:

Supplier: The issuing party that submits invoices through Sovos for clearance before delivery to the buyer.
IRBM: The government authority that validates and clears each invoice through the MyInvois platform. An invoice is not legally valid until it receives clearance from IRBM and carries a valid UUID.
Buyer: The receiving party that receives the cleared invoice from the supplier after clearance.

How it works

The supplier submits an invoice to Sovos.
Sovos transforms the invoice into the Malaysian UBL 2.1 format required by IRBM, signs it using the taxpayer's digital certificate, and submits it for clearance.
IRBM validates the invoice against its business rules and returns a clearance decision. If cleared, Sovos returns the UUID, Long ID, and QR code validation link to the supplier.
The supplier delivers the cleared invoice, including the QR code, to the buyer. Delivery to the buyer is a separate step that happens after clearance, not before.

Important: Clearance is separate from delivery. An invoice is legally valid once it carries a UUID from IRBM. You are responsible for delivering the cleared invoice to your buyer through your own channels after receiving clearance.

Digital certificate

IRBM requires each invoice to carry a digital signature to identify the signing party. This signature must come from a certificate issued by a Malaysian Certification Authority (CA) or generated through the MyInvois portal. IRBM validates the certificate at the time of clearance, so make sure you renew it before expiration.

Key terminology

IRBM: Malaysia's tax authority, responsible for validating and clearing all e-invoices through the MyInvois platform. Official portal: https://www.hasil.gov.my/en/e-invoice/.
MyInvois: The IRBM-operated clearance platform that processes, validates, and archives all Malaysian e-invoices.
Tax Identification Number (TIN): Malaysia's primary taxpayer identifier, issued by IRBM. Required on every invoice for both the supplier and the buyer.
Business Registration Number (BRN): The business identifier issued by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), required on every invoice alongside the TIN.
Malaysia Standard Industrial Classification (MSIC) code: A five-digit code assigned by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) that identifies the supplier's business activity. Required on every invoice.
Long ID: A longer reference identifier returned alongside the UUID after clearance, used for invoice lookup on the MyInvois portal.

Key concepts

Clearance: Pre-approval of each invoice by IRBM before the invoice is legally valid. No invoice can be used for tax purposes without a UUID.
Digital signature: Cryptographic proof of invoice authenticity that is required before submission. Sovos applies the signature using the certificate you upload.
UUID: The UUID confirms that IRBM has approved an invoice. IRBM generates and returns a unique identifier for each cleared invoice, along with a Long ID and a QR code validation link. The QR code must appear on all printed and electronic copies of the invoice delivered to the buyer.
QR code: Returned after clearance, the QR code contains a validation link to verify the invoice on the MyInvois portal. Must appear on all printed and electronic copies of the invoice delivered to the buyer.
Delivery (post-clearance): The supplier must send the cleared invoice to the buyer after Sovos returns the UUID.
72-hour cancellation and rejection window: Within 72 hours of clearance, buyers can reject and suppliers can cancel an invoice through the MyInvois system. After the window closes, suppliers can correct a cleared invoice by issuing a credit note, debit note, or refund note. It is not possible to reject consolidated invoices through MyInvois.

Mandate timeline

Malaysia's e-invoicing mandate rolled out in phases based on annual turnover.

August 2024: Required for taxpayers with annual turnover exceeding MYR 100,000,000.
January 2025: Extended to taxpayers with annual turnover between MYR 25,000,000 and MYR 100,000,000.
July 2025: Extended to all remaining taxpayers.

Note:

For the latest updates, see https://www.hasil.gov.my/en/e-invoice/.

Technical standards

Malaysia's e-invoicing mandate uses the following technical formats and standards:

Malaysian UBL 2.1 invoice format.
XAdES digital signature standard.
QR code validation link generated by IRBM after clearance and embedded in the invoice PDF.

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