Invoicing Under GST | Rules

As a GST registered dealer, you are required to provide GST Invoices, also known as bills to your clients. Here, we will be covering the following aspects of GST Invoices:

1. What is a GST Invoice?
2. Who should issue GST Invoice?
3. What are the mandatory fields a GST Invoice should have?
4. By when should you issue invoices?
5. How to personalise GST Invoices?
6. What are other types of invoices?
7. Can you revise invoices issued before GST?
8. How many copies of Invoices should be issued?
9. GST Invoicing under Special Cases?
10. FAQs on Invoice

1. What is a GST Invoice?

An invoice or a bill is a list of goods sent or services provided, along with the amount due for payment.

2. Who should issue GST Invoice?

If you are a GST registered business, you need to provide GST-complaint invoices to your clients for sale of good and/or services.

Your GST registered vendors will provide GST-compliant purchase invoices to you.

3. What are the mandatory fields a GST Invoice should have?

A tax invoice is generally issued to charge the tax and pass on the input tax credit. A GST Invoice must have the following mandatory fields:

1. Invoice number and date
2. Customer name
3. Shipping and billing address
4. Customer and taxpayer’s GSTIN (if registered)**
5. Place of supply
6. HSN code/ SAC code
7. Item details i.e. description, quantity (number), unit (metre, kg etc.), total value
8. Taxable value and discounts
9. Rate and amount of taxes i.e. CGST/ SGST/ IGST
10. Whether GST is payable on reverse charge basis
11. Signature of the supplier

**If the recipient is not registered AND the value is more than Rs. 50,000 then the invoice should carry:

 i. name and address of the recipient,

  ii. address of delivery,

  iii. state name and state code

Here is a sample invoice for your reference:

4. By when should you issue invoices?

The GST Act has defined time limit to issue GST tax invoices, revised bills, debit notes and credit note.

Following are the due dates for issuing an invoice to customers:

5. How to personalise GST Invoices?

You can personalise your invoice with your company’s logo. The ClearTax BillBook allows you to create and personalise GST Invoice free of cost.

6. What are other types of invoices?

6.A. Bill of Supply

A bill of supply is similar to a GST invoice except that bill of supply does not contain any tax amount as the seller cannot charge GST to the buyer.

A bill of supply is issued in cases where tax cannot be charged:

• Registered person is selling exempted goods/services,
• Registered person has opted for composition scheme

Invoice-cum-bill of supply

As per Notification No. 45/2017 – Central Tax dated 13th October 2017

If a registered person is supplying taxable as well as exempted goods/services  to an unregistered person, then he can issue a single “invoice-cum-bill of supply” for all such supplies.

6.B. Aggregate Invoice

If the value of multiple invoices is less than Rs. 200 and the buyer is unregistered, the seller can issue an aggregate or bulk invoice for the multiple invoices on a daily basis.

For example, you may have issued 3 invoices in a day of Rs.80, Rs.90 and Rs. 120. In such a case, you can issue a single invoice, totaling to Rs290, to be called an aggregate invoice.

6.C. Debit and credit note

A debit note is issued by seller when the amount payable by buyer to seller increases:

1. Tax invoice has a lower taxable value than the amount that should have been charged
2. Tax invoice has a lower tax value than the amount that should have been charged

A credit note is issued by seller when the value of invoice decreases:

1. Tax invoice has a higher taxable value than the amount that should have been charged
2. Tax invoice has a higher tax value than the amount that should have been charged
3. Buyer refunds the goods to the supplier
4. Services are found to be deficient

7. Can you revise invoices issued before GST?

Yes. You can revise invoices issued before GST. Under the GST regime, all the dealers must apply for provisional registration before getting permanent registration certificate.

Refer to this image below to understand the protocol of issuing a revised invoice:

This applies to all the invoices issued between the date of implementation of GST and the date your registration certificate has been issued.

As a dealer, you must issue a revised invoice against the invoices already issued. The revised invoice has to be issued within 1 month from the date of issue of the registration certificate.

8. How many copies of Invoices should be issued?

• For goods– 3 copies
• For services– 2 copies

9. GST Invoicing under Special Cases?

In some cases, like banking, passenger transport, etc., the government has provided relaxations on the invoice format issued by the supplier.

10. FAQs on Invoice

10.A. What’s the difference between invoice date and due date?

Invoice date refers to the date when the invoice is created on the billbook, while the due date is when the payment is due against the invoice.

10.B. How to issue an invoice under reverse charge?

In case of GST payable under reverse charge, on you must additionally mention that tax is paid on reverse charge, on the GST invoice.

10.C. Is it mandatory to maintain invoice serial number?

Yes, invoice serial number must be maintained strictly. You may change the format by providing a written intimating the GST department officer along with reasons for the same.

10.D. Can I digitally sign my invoice through DSC?

Yes, you can digitally sign invoice through DSC.