Japan Peppol E-Invoicing (JP PINT)

Overview

Japan's e-invoicing infrastructure is built on the Peppol Japan PINT (Peppol International model for Japan) specification, adapted from the global Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 standard with Japan-specific extensions. The National Tax Agency (NTA) operates as the Peppol Authority for Japan and governs both network access and the qualified invoice issuer registration scheme (適格請求書発行事業者, the "Qualified Invoice Issuer" system introduced under the Invoice System reform).

Clearvo provides a developer-first API that abstracts the Peppol network, JP PINT XML generation, and routing — no separate tax engine or middleware is required.

Mandate and Timeline

Japan's qualified invoice system took effect on 1 October 2023, making it mandatory for consumption-tax-registered suppliers to issue structured invoices that meet NTA requirements when trading with government and public-sector buyers (B2G). Private-sector (B2B) adoption is strongly incentivised through input-tax-credit rules: buyers can only claim consumption tax credits on purchases backed by a qualified invoice from a registered issuer.

Key milestones:

• October 2023 — Qualified Invoice System live; B2G Peppol mandatory for central government procurement.
• 2024–2026 — Expanding coverage to prefectural and municipal government entities.
• Post-2026 — B2B electronic mandate under active legislative review.

Suppliers must register with the NTA to obtain a 13-digit qualified invoice issuer number (登録番号), which serves as the primary tax identifier on all invoices.

Format and Network

JP PINT mandates the 13-digit registration number as the supplier's EndpointID and tax identifier, registered under scheme 0221. All monetary amounts in JPY must be integer values — fractional yen are not permitted in the invoice format.

Required Fields

The following fields are mandatory for a valid JP PINT document:

• Supplier registration number — 13-digit NTA-issued qualified invoice issuer number, used as both cbc:EndpointID (scheme 0221) and cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID.
• Issue date and due date — ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD).
• Currency code — must be JPY.
• Buyer reference — purchase order or contract number for B2G routing.
• Line-level tax categorisation — each line must carry a taxCode (S for standard 10%, or AA for reduced 8%) and the corresponding vatRate.
• Buyer endpoint — EndpointID under scheme 0221; for government buyers this is their Peppol participant ID as registered with the NTA.
• Tax point / consumption tax amount — total consumption tax must be stated at document level, broken out by tax rate where mixed rates apply.

Integration Example

Send a Japan invoice via the Clearvo API:

curl -X POST https://api.clearvo.io/v1/invoices \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLEARVO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "country": "JP",
    "documentType": "invoice",
    "invoiceNumber": "JP-INV-2026-001",
    "issueDate": "2026-06-16",
    "dueDate": "2026-07-16",
    "currency": "JPY",
    "buyerReference": "PO-2026-001",
    "supplier": {
      "name": "Clearvo Technologies Ltd",
      "taxId": "1234567890123",
      "taxIdCountry": "JP",
      "endpointId": "0221:1234567890123",
      "endpointSchemeId": "0221"
    },
    "buyer": {
      "name": "Japan Buyer AS",
      "taxId": "BUYERJP001",
      "taxIdCountry": "JP",
      "endpointId": "0221:BUYERJP001",
      "endpointSchemeId": "0221"
    },
    "lines": [
      { "description": "Software consulting services", "quantity": 5, "unitPrice": 1000, "taxCode": "S", "vatRate": 10 },
      { "description": "Platform subscription annual", "quantity": 1, "unitPrice": 3600, "taxCode": "S", "vatRate": 10 }
    ]
  }'

Clearvo resolves the buyer's Peppol participant record via the NTA-managed SMP, constructs a conformant JP PINT UBL document, and delivers it over the Peppol AS4 transport layer.

Key Rules

• Integer amounts only. JPY has no sub-unit in Peppol; all unitPrice, line extension, and tax amounts must be whole numbers.
• 13-digit issuer number. The NTA registration number must appear as both the supplier endpoint ID (scheme 0221) and the tax identifier. Invoices without a valid registered number cannot be used for input-tax-credit claims.
• Mixed-rate invoices. Where lines carry both 10% and 8% consumption tax, totals must be itemised per rate at document level — a single blended tax total is non-compliant.
• Buyer SMP lookup. Government buyers are registered in the NTA-operated SMP. Always resolve the participant before first send; do not hardcode endpoint URLs.
• No bundled tax engine required. Clearvo accepts taxCode and vatRate per line and handles XML generation and routing. Rate determination and invoice approval remain with the issuing business.

Related country guides

• Singapore — Peppol PINT SG, InvoiceNow B2G mandate
• Australia — A-NZ PINT Peppol, voluntary B2B
• New Zealand — A-NZ PINT Peppol, PINT AU/NZ profile