The GST invoice format: what a tax invoice has to carry.

The details Rule 46 asks for

A tax invoice is the document that lets your registered customer claim input tax credit, so its contents are laid down in Rule 46 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017. In practice a complete invoice shows:

• Your business: name, address and GSTIN.
• An invoice number and date. The rules on numbering are below.
• Your customer: name and address, and their GSTIN if they are registered. For an unregistered customer and a taxable value of ₹50,000 or more, the delivery address and their state with its code as well.
• What was supplied: a description, the HSN code for goods or SAC for services, and the quantity with its unit.
• The values: the value of the supply, any discount, and the taxable value after it.
• The tax: the rate and the amount charged as CGST and SGST, or as IGST, and cess where it applies.
• Place of supply, with the name of the state, for a supply from one state to another.
• The delivery address, where it differs from the place of supply.
• Whether tax is payable on reverse charge.
• A signature or digital signature of the supplier or an authorised representative.

In PlusGST your business details and signature come from the business profile, the customer’s from the client record, and the rest from the invoice form. The invoicing page walks through each step, and the invoice templates show where each detail prints.

A worked example: one order, two buyers

Here is one order billed twice: two laptops (HSN 8471) at ₹45,000 each with 18% GST, a ₹2,000 discount on the invoice, and ₹500 of courier charged with GST. The first invoice goes to a buyer in your own state, the second to a buyer in another state.

Three things to notice. The discount comes off before tax, so GST is charged on the taxable value, not on the list price. The tax is ₹15,930 either way: within your state it is split into CGST and SGST in equal halves, and to another state it is charged whole as IGST. And the courier you bill is part of what you supplied, so it is taxed with it, here at 18%. For a single amount, the GST calculator does the same sum.

CGST and SGST, or IGST

Which tax applies depends on where you are and where the place of supply is. When both are in the same state, the tax is CGST and SGST in equal halves. When they are in different states, the whole amount is IGST. The total rate is the same either way; only the split changes.

For goods, the place of supply is normally where the movement of the goods ends, which is usually the delivery address. For most services to a registered business, it is where that business is located. PlusGST decides the split from the GST state codes of your business and your customer, the first two digits of each GSTIN, so it does not depend on how a state’s name was typed.

Invoice numbers

Rule 46 asks for a consecutive serial number of up to 16 characters, unique within a financial year. It may use letters, numbers, hyphens and slashes, and you may run more than one series, for example one per branch or one for exports. A new series usually starts each April with the new financial year.

In PlusGST you set a prefix once. The next number in the series is suggested within the financial year, and a number already used is refused.

HSN and SAC codes

HSN codes classify goods and SAC codes classify services. How many digits you must print depends on your turnover: businesses with an annual turnover up to ₹5 crore use 4 digits on invoices to registered customers, and businesses above that use 6. Your CA or the GST portal’s HSN search can confirm the code for what you sell.

PlusGST prints the code you enter against each line, on every template. It does not look codes up for you.

When to issue the invoice

For goods, the invoice is issued before or at the time the goods are removed for delivery, under Section 31 of the CGST Act. For services, it is issued within 30 days of the supply under Rule 47; banks, insurers and other financial institutions have 45 days. Goods sent on approval and continuous supplies have rules of their own.

Rule 48 sets how many copies you make. For goods there are three, marked Original for Recipient, Duplicate for Transporter and Triplicate for Supplier. For services there are two, Original for Recipient and Duplicate for Supplier.

Tax invoice or bill of supply

Not every sale gets a tax invoice. A business registered under the composition scheme, or one supplying only exempt goods or services, issues a bill of supply instead (Rule 49), which carries no tax. A business that is not registered for GST cannot charge it at all.

Discounts, freight and rounding

A discount agreed at or before the sale and shown on the invoice reduces the taxable value, so GST is charged on the amount after it. Freight or courier you bill is normally part of the supply and taxed with it. Many businesses round the final total to the nearest rupee and show the adjustment as its own line.

These are options on the PlusGST invoice: an invoice-level discount applied before tax, shipping with or without 18% GST, and round-off shown as a line.

When the invoice was wrong

An issued invoice should not be quietly edited. If the value or tax needs to come down, for a return or an overcharge, issue a credit note against it; if it needs to go up, a debit note. Both refer to the original invoice and are reported in your GSTR-1. A credit note has to be declared by 30 November after the end of the financial year, or by the date you file the annual return if that is earlier. The credit and debit notes guide covers both in detail.

Reverse charge on an invoice

For a few supplies, such as an advocate’s services to a business, the customer pays the GST instead of the supplier. The invoice still shows the tax, and says that it is payable on reverse charge. The reverse charge guide explains who pays and how it is reported.

Exports

An export invoice is raised in the buyer’s currency and, in PlusGST, carries no GST; the exchange rate is recorded so the rupee value reaches your reports. How your exports are treated, under a bond or letter of undertaking or with payment of IGST, is something to settle with your CA.

A note on this guide

This is general information to help you read your own invoices, not tax advice. Rules and thresholds change, and some businesses have extra requirements, such as e-invoicing above a turnover limit, which PlusGST does not do today. Check anything that matters with your CA.

Next: how your invoices become GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, or all guides and tools.