QR Code on Invoice: ZATCA, FBR, UPI and SEPA QR Explained

Quick answer: A QR code on an invoice does one of two jobs. A tax QR code (ZATCA in Saudi Arabia, FBR in Pakistan, IRP-signed codes in India) lets anyone verify the invoice and is mandatory under those regimes. A payment QR code (EPC/SEPA in Europe, UPI in India) pre-fills a bank transfer and is optional. Each follows its own data format.

That distinction matters, because a QR made with a generic invoice QR code generator is fine for payments but usually useless for tax compliance. This guide explains what each major QR format contains, who has to use it, and how to add one correctly. Our free invoice generator creates clean PDF invoices but does not add QR codes at the time of writing, so we are clear below about which codes you can create yourself and which must come from a certified system.

Why put a QR code on an invoice?

• Verification: tax authorities use QR codes so buyers and inspectors can check that an invoice was reported or cleared and has not been altered.
• Faster payment: a payment QR fills in the payee name, account, amount and reference, so the payer does not mistype them.
• Fewer reconciliation problems: a correct reference travels with the payment, so you can match it to the invoice.

Tax QR code vs payment QR code

QR type	Where	Mandatory?	Who creates the content
ZATCA e-invoice QR	Saudi Arabia	Yes, on tax invoices under the e-invoicing rules	Your compliant e-invoicing solution (Phase 2 adds cryptographic data)
FBR invoice QR	Pakistan	Yes, for businesses integrated with FBR (POS retailers, digital invoicing)	FBR's system via your integrated software
India e-invoice signed QR	India	Yes, on B2B e-invoices for businesses in scope	The Invoice Registration Portal (IRP)
EPC QR (SEPA credit transfer)	Euro payments in the EEA	No	You or your software
UPI QR	India (INR)	No	You, your bank or your payment provider
Swiss QR-bill	Switzerland	Standard payment slip format since the old slips were withdrawn in 2022	You or your software

Other regimes also use QR codes on invoices, including Portugal (alongside the ATCUD code) and Malaysia's MyInvois validated e-invoices. Confirm the current rules with the local tax authority if you invoice in those countries.

ZATCA QR code: what the TLV fields contain

Saudi Arabia's ZATCA requires QR codes as part of its e-invoicing (Fatoora) rules. The QR content is not plain text: it is a series of TLV (tag, length, value) records, encoded in Base64. Each record is one byte for the tag number, one byte for the length of the value, then the value itself.

Phase 1 fields (tags 1 to 5)

Tag	Field
1	Seller's name
2	Seller's VAT registration number
3	Invoice date and time (timestamp)
4	Invoice total including VAT
5	VAT total

Phase 2 additions (tags 6 to 9)

Once a business is integrated with ZATCA's Fatoora platform in Phase 2, the QR also carries cryptographic data: the hash of the XML invoice, the ECDSA signature (cryptographic stamp), the public key and, for simplified invoices, ZATCA's signature over the stamp's certificate. Descriptions of tags 7 to 9 vary slightly between software vendors, so treat ZATCA's own XML implementation standard as the authority. In Phase 2, standard (B2B) tax invoices are cleared by ZATCA and simplified (B2C) invoices are reported within 24 hours. Our ZATCA e-invoicing guide covers the phases, and our ZATCA Phase 2 Wave 25 checklist covers the current integration deadline.

Worked example: Phase 1 values

A seller issues a simplified invoice for SAR 2,000 before VAT. VAT at 15% is SAR 2,000 x 0.15 = SAR 300, so the total is SAR 2,300. Tag 4 holds 2300.00 and tag 5 holds 300.00. If the seller name is "Al Noor Trading" (15 characters), tag 1 is written as the byte 01, the length byte 0F (15 in hexadecimal), then the 15 bytes of the name. All five records are joined and Base64-encoded before being turned into a QR image. Arabic names take more bytes than characters in UTF-8, so software must count bytes, not letters.

FBR QR code on invoices in Pakistan

Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue uses QR codes in two integration systems:

• POS integration for Tier-1 retailers. Invoices from integrated retailers carry an FBR invoice number and a QR code. According to FBR, a customer can verify the invoice in the Tax Asaan app (FBR POS menu, then Verify Invoice, entering the number or scanning the QR) or by SMS to 9966.
• Digital invoicing for sales tax registered persons. Under S.R.O. 69(I)/2025, registered persons are required to integrate their invoicing systems with FBR. Reports describe each invoice receiving an FBR invoice reference number and a QR code for verification.

In both cases the number and QR come from FBR's system through your integrated software, so you cannot create a valid FBR QR code with a generic generator. The Finance Act 2026 is reported to extend QR-based verification to some small retailers; see our Finance Act 2026 Pakistan sales tax guide and FBR e-invoicing guide, and confirm details with FBR.

India e-invoice QR code (IRP signed QR)

When an Indian business in scope of GST e-invoicing uploads an invoice to the Invoice Registration Portal, the IRP returns an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a digitally signed QR code. The QR typically contains the supplier and buyer GSTINs, the invoice number and date, invoice value, number of line items, HSN code of the main item and the IRN, and it can be verified offline using the GSTN public key. You print the IRP's QR on the invoice copy; you do not build it yourself. Very large businesses also have dynamic QR obligations on B2C invoices. See our guide to the GST e-invoice limit for who is in scope.

EPC QR code (SEPA QR) for euro invoices

The EPC QR code, sometimes called a GiroCode or SEPA QR, is defined by the European Payments Council's guideline EPC069-12. Scanning it in a supporting banking app pre-fills a SEPA credit transfer. The payload is plain text with one field per line:

Line	Field	Notes
1	Service tag	Always BCD
2	Version	001 or 002
3	Character set	1 = UTF-8, 2 = ISO 8859-1 and others
4	Identification	Always SCT (SEPA credit transfer)
5	BIC	Required in version 001, optional in 002 within the EEA
6	Beneficiary name	Up to 70 characters
7	IBAN	The account to be paid
8	Amount	EUR plus amount, for example EUR1190.00 (optional)
9	Purpose code	Optional, four characters
10	Structured creditor reference	Optional; use this or line 11, not both
11	Unstructured remittance text	Optional, up to 140 characters, such as the invoice number
12	Information to the payer	Optional

The guideline also fixes the QR error correction level at M. For an invoice of EUR 1,000 net plus 19% German VAT (EUR 1,000 x 0.19 = EUR 190), line 8 reads EUR1190.00 and line 11 might read INV-2026-0042. Always repeat the IBAN and reference in text beside the code; our guide to bank details on an invoice covers the formats. The full specification is published by the European Payments Council.

UPI QR code on an invoice

In India, a UPI QR code encodes a UPI payment link that starts with upi://pay followed by parameters. The common ones are:

• pa: payee UPI ID (VPA), for example yourbusiness@bank
• pn: payee name
• am: amount, such as 11800.00
• cu: currency, INR
• tn: transaction note, such as the invoice number
• tr: transaction reference, required for dynamic merchant QR codes

A static UPI QR (just your UPI ID) can sit on every invoice; a dynamic QR includes the amount and reference for one invoice. For an invoice of ₹10,000 plus 18% GST (₹1,800), the amount would be 11800.00. Merchant QR rules and limits are set by NPCI and your bank, so check with your provider. In Pakistan, the comparable instant-payment QR is Raast; see our Raast for business guide.

How to add a QR code to your invoice

1. Decide which job the QR does. Tax verification or payment. If it is tax, the content must come from your compliant system.
2. For tax QR codes, use e-invoicing or POS software that is integrated with the authority (ZATCA, FBR or the IRP). The software prints the code for you.
3. For payment QR codes, generate the code from your banking app, payment provider or a library that follows the EPC or UPI format. Test-scan it with at least two apps before sending.
4. Place it near the total with the payment details also written as text.
5. Use one QR per invoice when it includes an amount, so the reference and amount always match that invoice.

Common mistakes with invoice QR codes

• Using a plain text or URL QR where a regulated TLV or signed QR is required.
• Reusing a QR that carries last month's amount or reference.
• Printing the code too small or on a busy background.
• Omitting the IBAN, UPI ID or reference in text, leaving non-scanning payers stuck.
• Encoding a payment QR with someone else's account after copying a template. Fraudsters also swap QR codes, so tell clients how to verify your details; see our guide to invoice scams.

Checklist: QR code on invoice

• Is a tax QR legally required where you are registered? If yes, is it produced by a compliant system?
• Does a payment QR follow the EPC or UPI format exactly?
• Do the amount and reference match the invoice?
• Have you test-scanned it on screen and on paper?
• Are payment details also shown as text?

Important: This is general information, not tax or legal advice. QR code rules change, especially as e-invoicing mandates expand. Confirm current requirements with the relevant authority, such as ZATCA in Saudi Arabia or FBR in Pakistan.

Next step

If no tax QR is required where you operate, create your invoice in the free invoice generator, add your payment details and reference clearly, and attach a bank or UPI QR if you use one. If you are in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or India and in scope of e-invoicing, start with the relevant guide above and choose integrated software. For a payment link alternative to a QR, see how to add a payment link to an invoice.