All About Tax invoices under GST

Invoicing under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system involves specific procedures and requirements that businesses must adhere to when issuing invoices for goods and services. These invoices must comply with the CGST Act and include crucial information as prescribed in CGST Rules 2017. Furthermore, it is essential for businesses to understand whether they are required to issue a tax invoice or a consolidated invoice based on the nature and volume of transactions. GST compliance also mandates that these invoices be maintained in an organized manner, as they are vital for accurate tax reporting and filing purposes. In this article we will try to explore each & every point related to invoicing under GST like time to issue a tax invoice, types of invoices under GST, E-invoice, Contents of tax invoice etc.

The person who supplies the goods or services which are taxable under GST, is required to issue a tax invoice.  The provisions relating to tax invoices are contained in section 31 of CGST Act 2017 and Rule 46 & 47 of CGST Rules 2017.

Time limit to issue tax invoice:

1. In case of goods involve movement:
The tax invoice should be issued either before or at the time of removal of goods for supply to the recipient.

2. In case of goods not involving movement:
The tax invoice should be issued either before or at the time of delivery of goods or making available thereof to the recipient.

3. In case of continuous supply of goods:
The invoice shall be issued before or at the time each such statement is issued or each such payment is received.

4. In case of goods sent on approval basis:
The invoice shall be issued before or at the time of supply or six months from the date of removal, whichever is earlier.

5. In case of service:
The tax invoice shall be issued within a period of thirty days from the date of the supply of service. However, in case of banking & insurance services the invoice shall be issued within forty five days from the date of the supply of service.

6. In case of continuous supply of services:
(a) where the due date of payment is ascertainable: the invoice shall be issued on or before the due date of payment;

(b) where the due date of payment is not ascertainable: the invoice shall be issued before or at the time when the supplier of service receives the payment;

(c) where the payment is linked to the completion of an event, the invoice shall be issued on or before the date of completion of that event.

Types of invoices:

1. Tax invoices: To be issued by the supplier for taxable supply of goods or services or both.

2. Bill of Supply: To be issued by the supplier in case of exempt supply done by him. The person who has opted to pay tax under composition scheme is also required to issue Bill of supply for supply made by him.

3. Invoice-cum-bill of supply: As per Rule 46A of CGST Rules 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.

4. Self invoice:  As per section 31(3)(f) a registered person who is liable to pay tax under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) of section 9 shall within the period as may be prescribed, issue an invoice in respect of goods or services or both received by him from unregistered suppliers. Further as per Rule 47A, the recipient has to issue self invoice within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the said supply of goods or services.

Copies of invoices should be issued:

1. In case of supply of goods – Three copies are required to be issued:
Original for recipient, Duplicate for transporter and Triplicate for supplier

2. In case of supply of services – Two copies are required to be issued:
Original for recipient and Duplicate for supplier

The requirement to issue E-invoice
As per Notification No.13/2020 CT read with rule 48(4), the registered person whose aggregate turnover in any preceding F.Y from 2017-18 onwards exceeds five crore rupees shall required to generate e-invoice in FORM GST INV-01 after obtaining an Invoice Reference Number in respect of supply of goods or services or both to a registered person or for exports. However, the following persons are not required to generate E-invoice;
1.  Government department
2.  Local authority
3.  SEZ (Special Economic Zone) unit  
4.  An insurer or a banking company or a financial institution, including a non-banking financial company.
5. Goods transport agency (GTA) supplying services in relation to transportation of goods by road.
6. The supplier of passenger transportation service.
7. The supplier supplying the services by way of admission to exhibition of cinematograph films in multiplex screens.

Contents of tax invoice:
As per Rule 46 of CGST Rule 2017, the tax invoice should have the following particular:
1. Name, address and GSTIN of the supplier
2. Invoice number not exceeding sixteen characters
3. Invoice date
4.  Name, address and GSTIN of the recipient (if registered).
5. If the recipient is not registered AND the value is more than Rs. 50,000 then the invoice should contain the name and address of the recipient, Address of delivery, State name and state code
6. HSN code/ SAC code
7. Description of goods or services, quantity (number), unit (meter, kg etc.)
8. Taxable value, GST rate & amount of tax (central tax, State tax, integrated tax), total value of supply
9. Place of supply
10. Address of delivery where the same is different from the place of supply;
11. Whether GST is payable on reverse charge basis
12. Signature of the supplier
13. Quick Reference code, having embedded Invoice Reference Number (IRN) in it, in case of e-invoicing.
14. In case of Export of goods or supply to SEZ, the following declaration should be mentioned on the invoice;
“Supply meant for export/supply to sez unit or sez developer for authorised operations on payment of integrated tax' or 'supply meant for export/supply to sez unit or sez developer for authorised operations under bond or letter of undertaking without payment of integrated tax”.

The Concept of Revised Tax Invoice issued before registration:

Section 31(3)(a) of CGST Act 2017 states that a registered person may, within one month from the date of issuance of certificate of registration, issue a revised invoice against the invoice already issued during the period beginning with the effective date of registration till the date of issuance of certificate of registration to him.

Disclaimer: The information given in this article is solely for purpose of understanding the law. It is completely based on the interpretation of the author and cannot be constituted as a legal advise, the author of this article and Lawcrux team is not responsible for any legal issues if arises on the basis of the interpretation given above.