You logged in to the e-services of the Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD), found the National Invoicing option (الفوترة الوطني) in the services bar and clicked it. Then nothing happened, or you never reached the system page. If JoFotara not opening is what you see after that click, the first thing to check is the condition that ISTD’s joining procedures guide repeats twice at this stage, which is allowing pop-ups (Popup) in your browser.
This article explains where this stage sits in the steps for joining the National Invoicing System (JoFotara). It sets out what the guide says about pop-ups and about the verification code (CAPTCHA) screen, what you allow and what you enter, and how to confirm that the system has actually opened. It then covers the cases that look like this problem but are not, and when to contact ISTD. We keep to what ISTD’s guides say, and we state plainly what they leave out.
Where this stage sits in the joining steps
ISTD’s procedures guide for joining the Jordanian National Electronic Invoicing System (2026 edition) divides joining into six general steps. The first is going to ISTD’s website. The second is logging in to the e-services. The third is moving to the National Invoicing System, and the fourth is creating an account in the system. The fifth and sixth are the two alternative paths after the account is created, which are issuing invoices on the portal or device linking.
The problem this article covers sits between the second and third steps. In the second step you log in with your e-services username and password, then choose National Invoicing (الفوترة الوطني) from the services bar at the top of the screen. In the third step a verification code screen appears. You enter the code and press the button that takes you to the system page. If you do not reach that page, joining stops before any account exists in JoFotara.
This means the problem does not yet involve the main user, the sub-user, the income-source sequence or device linking. All of those come on later screens. It is a problem of moving from the e-services site to the system, so its fix lies in the browser and in these two screens.
What the joining guide says about pop-ups
The guide mentions enabling pop-ups in two consecutive places, not in one. The first is the last item of step 2 (p. 5), after you enter your login details and choose National Invoicing (الفوترة الوطني). It reads as follows.
«تأكد من تفعيل النوافذ المنبثقة (Popup) في متصفحك»
In English, the guide tells you to make sure that pop-ups are enabled in your browser. ISTD publishes this guide in Arabic only; the English here is our rendering, and the Arabic text is the authority.
The second place is the last item of step 3 (p. 6), after you enter the verification code and press the button.
«تأكد من تفعيل النوافذ المنبثقة في المتصفح قبل هذه الخطوة»
In English, the guide tells you to make sure that pop-ups are enabled in the browser before this step. ISTD publishes this guide in Arabic only; the English here is our rendering, and the Arabic text is the authority.
The words “before this step” mean that enabling pop-ups comes before you press the button that moves you on, not after it.
Because the condition is repeated in two consecutive steps, it is the first thing to check when the system does not open. Apart from the login details and the verification code themselves, it is the only condition the guide names at this stage.
JoFotara not opening: why it can look that way
Here it matters to separate what the source says from what we infer from it. The guide does not describe this symptom. It does not say what happens on screen if pop-ups are not enabled.
Our inference runs as follows. The guide requires pop-ups at the exact point where you move from the e-services site to the system. So if the browser blocks them, the move can stop at that point. That is why the fix steps below start with it. This is our reading of the text, not a statement by ISTD. The guide gives no other cause for this symptom, and we do not add causes of our own that it does not mention.
These are the limits of the source at this stage, and they are worth knowing before you try any other fix.
- The guide does not explain how to enable pop-ups in any browser, and it does not name or exclude any particular browser.
- The guide documents no error message that appears when pop-ups are blocked, and it does not describe what the screen looks like in that case.
- The guide does not cover a wrong verification code, and it does not say how many attempts are allowed.
Fix steps in the order of the joining guide
These steps follow the order of steps 2 and 3 in the guide, with the pop-up condition placed where the text puts it, which is before you press the button that moves you on.
- Allow pop-ups in your browser before you start. The guide does not explain how, and the method differs from one browser to another. Look in your browser settings for pop-ups (Popup), and allow them for the ISTD e-services site you log in from.
- Log in to the e-services. The guide starts from the website istd.gov.jo and then Log in to e-services (الدخول للخدمات الإلكترونية). You log in with your e-services username and password.
- Choose National Invoicing (الفوترة الوطني) from the services bar at the top of the screen. This is the option circled in red in the guide’s screenshot above.
- Enter the verification code shown on the screen on the Electronic Invoicing System screen (نظام الفوترة الإلكتروني), as explained in the next section.
- Press the button that takes you to the system page. The text of step 3 calls it the National Invoicing System button (نظام الفوترة الوطني). In the screenshot it is the button circled in red below the code field.
If you already pressed the button while pop-ups were blocked, the guide gives no step for resuming from where you stopped. The route that follows its order is to repeat the steps from choosing National Invoicing (الفوترة الوطني) after you allow pop-ups.
The verification code screen: what you see and what you enter
After you choose National Invoicing (الفوترة الوطني), a screen headed Electronic Invoicing System (نظام الفوترة الإلكتروني) appears. The joining guide (p. 6) shows your ISTD file details at the top of it as read-only, in four fields.
- Taxpayer number (رقم المكلف).
- Taxpayer type (نوع المكلف).
- Trade name (الاسم التجاري).
- Taxpayer directorate (مديرية المكلف).
These fields are filled in already, and you write nothing in them. The only thing you enter on this screen is the verification code shown in the image, and then you press the button. The screen is also useful for diagnosing the problem. If you reach it, the National Invoicing option has responded, and any stop happens after it, when you move on to the system.
Look at the four fields before you continue. If your file details look wrong, the guide gives no way to correct them from this screen, because they are read-only. That is a question to put to ISTD before you create your account on details that do not match your file.
How to confirm that the system has opened
The sign that the guide’s sequence sets is the next screen, which is the account creation screen of step 4 (p. 7). If you reach it, you have moved to the system and the problem is over. You can recognize it by its four fields.
The first field is the only one of the four that you do not type yourself. If the password is rejected when you create the account, that is a separate, later problem that has nothing to do with pop-ups. According to the joining guide (p. 8), the password must be at least eight characters long and combine letters, numbers and special symbols, with at least two letters, one of them a capital.
Cases that look like this problem but are not
On the way from the e-services to creating the account there is more than one point where you can get stuck, and ISTD’s guides give each one a different cause. Pinning down the point where you stopped saves you a fix that does not apply to your problem.
Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns
The case that looks most like ours is the second one, but it happens before ours. If you cannot find the option in the bar at all, pop-ups will change nothing, and the fix is the file conversion request in the table. The third case has a different symptom. ISTD’s questions and answers guide describes it as logging in to register taking you back to the invoicing home page, not as the system failing to open. Its cause and its request are in the table above. Both requests in the table are made from the same Internal services menu (الخدمات الداخلية), and the steps are in our article ISTD Internal Service Request: The Steps.
Errors that come after registration, such as an invoice rejected when it is sent, follow a completely different route. We collected them in our article JoFotara Error Codes: Why an Invoice Is Rejected and How to Fix It.
When to contact ISTD
Contact ISTD in three situations. The first is when you allow pop-ups, repeat all the steps, and JoFotara still does not open after you press the button. The second is when the verification code screen shows file details that do not match your business. The third is when you see a message that the guide does not mention at this stage.
ISTD’s guides give two written contact routes. The first is the e-services email address printed on the e-services login screen, according to the joining guide (p. 5), which is etax.inquiry@istd.gov.jo. It is the closer of the two to this problem, because the problem happens on the e-services site itself. The second is the invoicing technical support committee, which ISTD’s technical guide for integrating with the National Invoicing System through the API, version 1.5 (p. 104), refers you to in these words.
«لمزيد من الاستفسارات يمكن التواصل مع لجنة الدعم الفني لشؤون الفوترة في دائرة ضريبة الدخل والمبيعات على الرابط التالي: https://istd.gov.jo»
In English, the guide says that for further questions you can contact ISTD’s technical support committee for invoicing affairs at istd.gov.jo. ISTD publishes this guide in Arabic only; the English here is our rendering, and the Arabic text is the authority.
Before you get in touch, prepare what will keep the exchange short.
- The business’s tax number.
- The exact step where you stopped, meaning before the verification code screen or after you pressed the button that moves you on.
- The name of the browser you use, and confirmation that you allowed pop-ups in it.
- A screenshot of what you see, without your password.
Once the system opens: the account, then the path
When you reach the system page, you complete step 4, which is creating the account with its four fields. The full joining steps with their screenshots, including how to get the registration document, are in our article JoFotara Registration and the Registration Document.
After the account is created, you choose one of two paths. If you have no accounting software, you add a sub-user and issue your invoices on the portal. If you have accounting software, you choose device linking (ربط الأجهزة) from the home screen, and the system generates a Client ID and a Secret Key that you enter in your software. For a wider view of the system and how to connect your business to it, read our article Jordan’s National E-Invoicing System, or see how Qoyod works with JoFotara on our National Invoicing System page.
If you choose the linking path with Qoyod Cloud Accounting Software, the Client ID and the Secret Key from the device linking screen are what it needs from you. The taxpayer needs no digital certificate or signature of their own to send invoices through Qoyod. Qoyod builds the invoice file in UBL 2.1 format with its unique identifier (UUID) and sends it to the National Invoicing System without any manual intervention. To be precise, Qoyod does not log in to the e-services for you and does not create your account in the system, because both are steps on ISTD’s site in your own name. What Qoyod does starts once you are registered and choose the linking path.
E-invoicing and full accounting in one system
Qoyod is integrated with the National Invoicing System (JoFotara). You issue your invoice in Jordanian dinars from Qoyod, it is booked to your ledgers automatically and sent to the system, and once it is accepted it comes back with a QR code from the Income and Sales Tax Department.
Frequently asked questions
Why is JoFotara not opening after I click National Invoicing?
ISTD’s joining guide requires pop-ups to be enabled in the browser in steps 2 and 3, so start by checking that. The guide gives no other cause for this symptom.
When exactly do I enable pop-ups?
You enable them before you press the button that takes you to the system, because the text of step 3 in the guide tells you to make sure pop-ups are enabled before this step. The simplest approach is to enable them before you even log in to the e-services.
What do I enter on the verification code screen?
You enter only the verification code shown on the screen, and then you press the button. The taxpayer number, taxpayer type, trade name and taxpayer directorate are filled in already and are read-only.
How do I know the problem is solved?
You know it when you reach the account creation screen and see the tax number filled in automatically, together with the username, password and re-enter password fields.
Does the guide explain how to enable pop-ups in my browser?
The guide only asks you to make sure they are enabled, and it does not explain how in any browser. Look for the setting in your browser, and if the problem remains, contact ISTD.
Where do I get in touch if the system still does not open?
Write to the e-services email address etax.inquiry@istd.gov.jo, which the joining guide shows printed on the login screen, and include your tax number and a description of the step where you stopped.
References
- Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD), procedures guide for joining the Jordanian National Electronic Invoicing System, 2026 edition (in Arabic).
- Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD), questions and answers guide for the National Invoicing System, 2026 (in Arabic).
- Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD), technical guide for integrating with the National Invoicing System through the API, version 1.5 (in Arabic).
