How to Prepare for LHDN E-Invoicing in 2026: A Practical Guide for Malaysian SMEs

TL;DR — LHDN’s MyInvois rollout ran in four phases, from August 2024 to January 2026. Since 1 September 2026, businesses with annual turnover below RM3 million are exempt (LHDN statement, 30 Aug 2026). Above RM3 million, you must issue e-invoices. This guide covers who is in scope, what an e-invoice contains, how to submit one, and the mistakes that cause rejections.

If you’re above the threshold and haven’t started, start now. Failing to issue an e-invoice is an offence under section 120(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act 1967. The fine is RM200 to RM20,000, or up to 6 months’ imprisonment, or both, for each non-compliance (LHDN General FAQs, Q27).

What is LHDN MyInvois e-invoicing?

MyInvois is the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia’s (LHDN) system for validating structured electronic invoices. An e-invoice isn’t a PDF emailed to a customer. It’s a machine-readable XML or JSON document (LHDN General FAQs, Q2). You submit it to LHDN, LHDN checks it, and LHDN assigns it a Unique Identifier Number (UIN). LHDN says validation is near real-time, generally under 2 seconds (LHDN General FAQs, Q28).

LHDN’s aims:

• Tax visibility: transactions are recorded with LHDN as they happen.
• Less fraud: supplier and buyer TINs are checked against LHDN’s records.
• A single digital trail: invoices, credit notes, debit notes and refund notes all sit in one system.

How do I file e-invoices in IntBooks?

IntBooks is in closed beta. E-invoicing works from the invoices you already create:

1. Record the customer’s TIN and registration or ID number on the customer record.
2. Create the invoice with its line items and tax details.
3. Open Invoices → E-Invoice, choose Submit E-Invoice, pick the document, review the pre-submission check, and submit. IntBooks builds the e-invoice, signs it, submits it to MyInvois on your behalf as an intermediary, and checks for LHDN’s result.
4. The UIN, status and validation link (shown as a QR code) are stored with the submission.

See MyInvois integration for set-up details.

What’s the deadline for my business?

If your annual turnover is RM3 million or more, you’re already in scope. Every phase has now started:

Phase	Annual turnover	Mandatory from	Source
1	Above RM100 million	1 Aug 2024	Bernama, 19 Dec 2024
2	Above RM25 million, up to RM100 million	1 Jan 2025	Bernama, 19 Dec 2024
3	Above RM5 million, up to RM25 million	1 Jul 2025	Bernama, 5 Jun 2025
4	Up to RM5 million (above the exemption threshold)	1 Jan 2026	Bernama, 5 Jun 2025; Bernama, 6 Dec 2025

Who is exempt? Businesses with annual turnover below RM3 million, from 1 September 2026 (LHDN, 30 Aug 2026). The threshold was RM500,000 from June 2025 and RM1 million from 1 January 2026. So in practice, Phase 4 now covers businesses between RM3 million and RM5 million.

For Phase 4, the penalty-free relaxation period has been extended by a year, to 31 December 2027, so penalties apply from 1 January 2028. The government announced the extension on 5 January 2026 (FMT; MAIA). LHDN confirmed that it would not impose penalties during the transition period provided businesses follow the prescribed rules (Malay Mail, 6 Jan 2026). The implementation date itself did not move: Phase 4 businesses are still expected to issue e-invoices from 1 January 2026, and relief from penalties applies only if you follow the prescribed rules. Don’t treat it as permission to wait. Check the current e-Invoice Guideline for the terms that apply to you.

Under RM3 million? See our exemption checklist.

What goes on an e-invoice?

LHDN’s e-Invoice Guideline lists the required data fields. They fall into these groups:

• Supplier: name, TIN, registration number (e.g. SSM), SST registration number if any, MSIC code, business activity description, address, contact
• Buyer: name, TIN, registration or identity number, SST registration number if any, address, contact
• Document: e-invoice type, version, your invoice number, issue date and time, currency and exchange rate (if not MYR)
• Lines: classification code, description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price, discounts, tax type, tax rate and amount, subtotal
• Totals: total excluding tax, total tax, total payable
• References: for credit, debit and refund notes, the UIN of the original e-invoice

A document missing a required field fails validation. Check the full field list in LHDN’s e-Invoice Guideline before you build your own templates.

How do I submit?

LHDN offers two transmission channels, the MyInvois Portal and the API. You can use both, as long as you don’t submit the same e-invoice twice (LHDN General FAQs, Q3 and Q80).

Option 1: Accounting software (API)

If your accounting software supports MyInvois, you create invoices as usual. The software builds, signs and submits the e-invoice, then stores the UIN. IntBooks works this way.

Option 2: A service provider, including Peppol

LHDN lets taxpayers use any transmission method, including Peppol service providers, as long as it meets LHDN’s API requirements. LHDN doesn’t currently register or certify technology providers (LHDN General FAQs, Q83–85). Pricing varies by provider, so compare quotes.

Option 3: MyInvois Portal

LHDN’s free MyInvois Portal lets you create e-invoices one at a time, or in batches through a spreadsheet upload. It suits businesses with low volumes. At higher volumes, re-typing invoices becomes the bottleneck.

Common mistakes when starting out

1. Not checking the buyer’s TIN before invoicing. LHDN checks the supplier’s and buyer’s TINs on every submission. A wrong TIN means a rejected document. Collect and check TINs when you set up the customer.

2. Using the wrong MSIC code. The MSIC code is a 5-digit code for your business activity (MyInvois SDK: MSIC codes). Use the one that matches your registered activity.

3. Issuing a credit note without the original reference. A credit, debit or refund note must quote the UIN of the original e-invoice (LHDN General FAQs, Q36–39).

4. Backdating the issue date. MyInvois rejects a document whose issue date and time is more than 72 hours before you submit it (“Issuance date time value of the document is too old”) (MyInvois SDK FAQ). Submit when you invoice, not in a batch weeks later.

5. Skipping the sandbox. LHDN runs a pre-production environment at preprod.myinvois.hasil.gov.my (MyInvois SDK FAQ). Run test e-invoices for your common scenarios through it before going live.

What about credit notes, debit notes and refunds?

They follow the same flow as invoices, with their own e-invoice type codes (MyInvois SDK: e-Invoice types):

• Invoice → 01
• Credit note → 02 (reduces the amount of an original e-invoice)
• Debit note → 03 (adds a charge to an original e-invoice)
• Refund note → 04 (records money returned to the buyer)
• Self-billed invoice → 11, with self-billed credit, debit and refund notes 12, 13 and 14

To fix a mistake within 72 hours of validation, you can cancel the e-invoice and issue a new one. After 72 hours, issue a credit, debit or refund note instead (LHDN General FAQs, Q33–37).

What if my e-invoice is rejected?

A rejected document isn’t a valid e-invoice. Fix the problem and submit it again. LHDN’s validation runs in stages, and each stage has its own error codes (MyInvois SDK: validation rules). Common causes:

• Invalid TIN: e.g. ERR406, “Buyer TIN is invalid” (taxpayer validator)
• Invalid code: e.g. CV302, a code that doesn’t exist in the code list (code validator)
• Referenced document not found: e.g. DR304 on a credit or debit note (referenced documents validator)
• Signature problems: e.g. DS322, where the document changed after it was signed (signature validator)
• Duplicates: e.g. DV302, a duplicate of a recently submitted document (duplicate validator)
• Issue date too old: the 72-hour rule above

LHDN adds and changes codes over time. Always read the message and property path it returns.

What changes for B2C transactions?

Most consumers don’t ask for an e-invoice. For those sales, you can issue a consolidated e-invoice that covers the month’s transactions. It must be issued within 7 calendar days after month-end (LHDN General FAQs, Q24). Consolidated e-invoices use LHDN’s general public TIN, EI00000000010.

Some activities can’t be consolidated. Those are listed in section 3.7 of LHDN’s e-Invoice Specific Guideline. LHDN has also changed the rules for large single transactions more than once. Its June 2025 statement said that from 1 January 2026, sales above RM10,000 would need their own e-invoice (Bernama, 5 Jun 2025). Its January 2026 statement then allowed consolidation for all transactions during the 2026 transition period (Malay Mail, 6 Jan 2026). Check the current Specific Guideline before you consolidate large sales.

If a consumer does ask for an e-invoice, issue them an individual one.

How does this interact with SST-02?

They’re separate obligations, run by separate agencies:

• E-invoicing is LHDN’s, under the Income Tax Act. Whether you’re in scope depends on your turnover, not on your SST registration.
• SST-02 is the Royal Malaysian Customs Department’s (RMCD) return for SST-registered businesses. You file it on MySST, not through MyInvois.

Your e-invoices and your SST-02 figures should come from the same sales records, so reconcile them. See our SST-02 filing guide.

Ready to start?

If your turnover is RM3 million or more:

1. Confirm your TIN on MyTax.
2. Log in to the MyInvois Portal through MyTax and check your company profile.
3. Choose your channel: the Portal, your accounting software, or a service provider.
4. For API use, register your ERP or software in the MyInvois Portal to get a client ID and secret. Get a digital certificate from a certification authority licensed in Malaysia (MyInvois SDK FAQ).
5. Test in the sandbox with your most common scenarios, then switch to production.

To see how IntBooks handles this in one workflow, request closed-beta access. We’re inviting Malaysian SMEs ahead of the public launch.