What is GST Invoice?

An invoice is a statement issued by the supplier recording the itemized transaction and the amount paid or payable. Tax Invoice is a very important document referred to in Section 31 of the Central/State Goods and Services Act, 2017 (herein referred collectively as ‘GST Act’). It has been defined under GST Act as, ‘ invoice or tax invoice means the tax invoice referred to in section 31’. Apart from the mandate of issuing invoice under section 31 of the GST Act, GST invoice is the primary evidence to claim input tax credit.

As per the substantive section, the GST invoice should have (i) description of goods/services, (ii) quantity of goods, (iii) value of goods/services, (iv) tax charged, and (v) other particulars. The other particulars find their place under Rule 46 and Rule 54 of the GST Rules. Rule 54 is regarding special cases, generally, in most cases Rule 46 is applicable. Thus, for this write-up, we will be discussing Rule 46.

There is no prescribed format for GST invoice according to the Act or rules made there under. At best, the particulars are prescribed to be included in the tax Invoice.

Particulars of GST Invoice

In most cases, Section 31 read with Rule 46 is followed by the businesses to issue GST invoices. The particular mentioned in Rule 46 are listed hereinbelow:

(i) Name, Address and GSTIN of the supplier;
(ii) Serial Number;
(iii) Date;
(iv) GST Registered Recipient – Name, Address and GSTIN of the recipient;
(v) Unregistered recipient – Name, Address and Address of delivery, State Name, State Code, if value of taxable supply is less than INR 50,000/- and such unregistered recipient request the particulars;
(vi) HSN Code;
(vii) Descriptions;
(viii) Quantity and Unit or Unique Quantity Code;
(ix) Total Value of Supply;
(x) Taxable Value of Supply;
(xi) Rate of Tax;
(xii) Amount of Tax Charged;
(xiii) Inter-State Supply – Place of Supply along with the Name of State
(xiv) Bill to ship to – Address of delivery;
(xv) Whether Tax is payable on RCM; and
(xvi) Signature/ Digital Signature of the supplier

Sample Format of GST Invoice in accordance with Rule 46

The businesses are free to create any design for the format, just keep in mind that particulars, as prescribed by the GST Act and rules made thereunder, should be mentioned in the invoice. The above listed numbers (i – xvi) are bolded here for ease of reference.

Tax Invoice

XYZ/2021/00001 (ii) 11.07.2021 (iii) Original for Recipient (Rule 48)

Name of the Supplier : M/s ABC Co. (i)

GSTIN: 09ABCDEFGHIJ1Z2

Address : 9-9 TYU, QWE Road, New Delhi

Billed to : (iv and v) (xiv)

Name of the recipient:

GSTIN:

Address:

State:

State Code:

Place of Supply: (xiii)

Shipped to: (v) (xiv)

Consignee Name:

GSTIN:

Address:

State Name:

State Code:

Transport Details:

Name of transporter:

GSTIN:

Bilty No:.

Eway Bill No.:

Whether tax is payable on reverse charge? Y/N (xv)

(vi), (vii), (viii), (x), (xi) and (xii) {as all stated above}

Other Charges:

Total Invoice value (in Figure): (ix)

Payment Details and Terms:

(i) In favour of………….

………………

……………….

Terms and Conditions:

(i) ……………

………………….

For M/s ABC Co.

________________________

(Supplier/ Authorised Representative) (xvi)

Kindly Note: The above is just a sample of tax invoice consisting of the mandatory particulars according to the GST Act and the rules made thereunder. Adding incidental charges to valuation, export cases, special cases etc. are not here in this write-up.

You may reach the author at abhishek@gstivy.in

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author(s) are personal and academic in nature. This blog post is not a substitute for professional legal advice.