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Introduction
GST is the revised indirect tax regime that was implemented by the Government of India on 1st Jun 2017. This indirect taxation regime was introduced by the Central Government to provide a single tax structure for the entire country instead of multiple taxes at different points of sale. GST has revolutionized indirect taxation in our country.
GST Act requires the taxpayers to register under the Act as well as follow the conditions laid down under the Act with respect to every aspect of the sale of goods and services like input tax credit, tax invoices, filing of GST returns, maintaining books of accounts, etc.
GST Invoices under the new tax regime have to be revised in order to be compatible with the rules and regulations laid down under the Act. The details of the GST invoices under the GST taxation module are mentioned below.
GST Invoice Meaning
GST invoice is the ‘invoice’ or the ‘tax invoice’ that is issued by the seller or supplier of the goods or services to the purchaser or recipient of such goods and services. It is defined as per section 31 of the CGST Act 2017. Invoice can be a tax invoice or a bill of supply depending on the type of dealer or manufacturer registered under the Act.
A bill of supply can also be issued by a supplier or dealer of exempted goods. GST invoice also has to be mandatorily issued by the registered or unregistered dealer or supplier of the goods and services as part of the compliance procedures under the GST. An invoice provides the details of the goods or services sold or supplied as well as the details of the buyer or recipient and seller or supplier of such goods and services. Along with these details, the invoice also has the details of the terms and conditions of the transaction, rate of the goods or services provided under the invoice and the discounts offered, if any.
Contents of GST Invoice
GST Act has not laid down any specific format for the invoices issued under the Act. However, the rules of Invoice as per other prevalent Acts and practices determine or provide inputs or information regarding the usual format or contents that can be found in any taxable invoice or a bill of supply.
Following are the contents that are usually found in any invoice.
- Date and Invoice number
- Name of Customer
- Billing Address and Shipping Address of the customer
- GSTIN of Taxpayer and Customer (if registered)
- Quantity of the goods supplied under the invoice with the unit or unique quantity code
- Total value of the goods or services as per the invoice
- Place of supply (including name of State in case of interstate of supply of goods)
- HSN Code (Harmonized System of Nomenclature Code)/ Accounting Code of Services
- Taxable value/applicable discount
- GST rates and total GST charged including details of applicable CGST/SGST/IGST for the item
- Signature or digital Signature of the supplier / authorized representative
Contents of Bill of Supply
Bill of supply is deemed to be an invoice under the GST Act in case of unregistered dealers or suppliers or incase of suppliers of goods and services being registered under the composition scheme or the dealing in exempted goods. The contents of the bill of supply are similar to the contents of any tax invoice. Following are the contents usually found in any bill of supply.
- Date of issue of bill of supply
- Name, address, GSTIN of the supplier
- Name, address, GSTIN or UIN of the recipient (if registered)
- Serial number of the bill of supply
- HSN Code (Harmonized System of Nomenclature Code)/ Accounting Code of Services
- Details of the goods or services supplied under the bill of supply
- Value of the goods or services supplied
- Discount applicable (if any)
- Signature or digital Signature of the supplier / authorized representative
Period of issue of the GST Invoice
GST invoice is a mandatory part of any transaction under the ambit of GST as per the rules and regulations of the GST Act. Such invoice is issued for the supply of goods as well as services. The time period of issuing the GST invoice in each case is defined differently under the Act. Given below is the general idea of the time of issue of GST invoice in case of supply of goods or supply of services by the seller or supplier registered or unregistered under the GST Act.
Supply of Goods
GST invoice is issued in case of supply of goods before or at the point of
- Removal of goods from the place of storage where such supply involves movement of goods
- Delivery of goods to the recipient of goods from the place of storage (in case the supply of goods does not involve movement of goods)
- In case of continuous supply of goods, invoice has to be issued at the time of or before the receipt of each payment or account statement as per the agreement between the involved parties/ before the due date of the payment
- If the payment of goods supplied is linked to the completion of an event, invoice has to be issued before the date of completion of such event.
Supply of Services
The Act provides for the following rules to be complied in case of issue of GST invoice for the supply of services. The time limit for issue of GST invoice is
- Within 30 days from the date of supply of services
- Within 45 days from the date of supply of services where the supplier is an insurer or banker (banking institution) or a financial entity
Manner of issue of GST Invoice
GST invoice has to be issued in triplicate or duplicate depending on the type of transaction or the supply of goods or services as the case may be. Following are the details of the same.
Supply of Goods
- Original Invoice to be issued to the buyer or the recipient of the goods and to be marked as ‘Original for Recipient’
- Duplicate Copy to be issued to the transporter and to be marked ‘Duplicate for Transporter’
- Triplicate Copy to be retained by supplier and to be marked ‘Triplicate for Supplier’
Supply of Services
- Original Invoice to be issued to the recipient of the services and to be marked as ‘Original for Recipient’
- Duplicate Invoice to be retained by supplier and to be marked ‘Duplicate for Supplier’
Minimum value of GST invoice to be issued
The buyer or supplier of the goods and services has to issue a tax invoice for every transaction providing all the relevant details of such transaction. The Act, however, exempts the issue of a tax invoice in case of transactions lower than Rs. 200 in value if such recipient is unregistered. Another relevant case in this regard is when the recipient does not require or demand the tax invoice. However, if the recipient demands the tax invoice then the same has to be provided by the supplier or the seller of the goods.
When the tax invoice is not issued in any of the above cases, the supplier or seller of the goods has to prepare a consolidated tax invoice for all such transactions at the end of each day.
Permissible Transactions without the Issue of GST Invoice
GST Act provides for certain cases or situations wherein the supplier or consigner of the goods can transport such goods without the issue of tax invoice. Mentioned below are such relevant cases.
- Supply or transport of liquid gas where the quantity of such liquid gas at the time of removal from the place of business of the supplier is not known or determined
- Transportation of goods for job work
- Transportation of goods for reasons other than by way of supply
- Such other supplies as may be notified by the Board
The supplier or the consigner can issue a delivery challan in any of the above permissible cases instead of the tax invoice as required under the Act.
The delivery challan in such cases also has to be issued in triplicate similar to the supply of goods mentioned above. The three delivery challans to be issued are,
- Original Copy to be marked as ‘Original for Consignee’
- Duplicate Copy to marked ‘Duplicate for Transporter’
- Triplicate Copy to be marked ‘Triplicate for Consigner’
Whenever a delivery challan is issued instead of the tax invoice, the same has to be declared in the FORM (WAYBILL).
FAQs – GST Invoice
1. What is a debit/ credit note under GST Invoices?
Debit note or a credit note is also considered to be a part of the GST invoices and are issued as a form of correction to the original tax invoice issued by the supplier or the seller of the goods or services. Credit note is issued when the buyer or the recipient of the goods or services has returned them or when the tax charged on the original invoice is higher than what is actually chargeable or payable. A registered person, who issues a credit note in accordance with the above purposes, has to declare the details of such a credit note in the GST Return. Such declaration has to be made
- in the GST return of such month of issue of credit note or
- before the end of the month of September following the end of the financial year in which such supply was made or
- the date of furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier
Debit note is issued in the opposite case when the tax changed in the original invoice is lesser than what is to be actually paid or chargeable.
Any registered person who issues a debit note in relation to a supply of goods or services or both has to declare the details of such debit note. Such declaration has to be made in the return for the month during which such debit note has been issued.
2. What is the time limit for issuing a GST tax invoice for supply of services?
A GST tax invoice has to be issued within a period of maximum 30 days from the supply of such taxable services.
3. How many copies of GST invoice have to be issued in case of supply of goods?
The supplier has to issue the GST invoices in triplicate in case of supply of goods.
4. When is the supplier of goods exempted from issuing the tax invoice at the time of sale?
when the value of goods or services is less than Rs. 200 or when the recipient dories not demand a tax invoice, the supplier of the goods or services is exempted from issuing the same.
5. Is a tax invoice issued by a dealer under the composition scheme?
No. such dealer will issue a bill of supply as per the rules under the GST Composition Scheme.