With the arrival of GST tax in India, invoice would have to be issued with new norms laid out by the government. Don’t worry The Buzz Stand is here to help you out on basics of GST. We would start with discussing about GST invoice format and then talk about differences between this and earlier invoice formats. Then, taking this post into further detail we would be discussing about invoice in detail. So, let’s begin the learning!

GST Invoice Format

Every GST Invoice Format needs to have the following details

  1. Supplier details- Name, address and GSTIN
  2. After GST Registration in India, there is a unique 16-digit serial on each invoice that is unique for each financial year. IT can contain alphabets, numbers and special characters “-”and “/”
  1. Invoice issue date
  1. If the recipient is registered name, address and his GSTIN
  2. If recipient is unregistered then, name, address, state and code applicable in case transaction is greater than 50,000
  3. GST HSN Code for Goods
  4. Goods or Service description
  5. Quantity
  6. Total value of goods supplied or services provided
  7. Taxable valuable of goods supplied or services provided excluding any discounts
  8. Tax Rate
  9. Tax amount charged
  10. Place of Supply in case of Inter-state transaction
  11. Mentioning of reverse charge taxation of GST if it is applicable
  12. Signature or digital signature of authorized person or supplier
This image is a sample GST invoice format issued by government of India. It has been explained as a part of basics of GST series

Sample GST invoice format

Differences Between GST Invoice Format and Old Invoice Format

There is a lot in common between this new format and older one. In the earlier one as well we had to mention details like supplier details like name and address, recipient details, tax details like tax rate and total tax. But now, let us see the differences to get a clear insight.

Under GST tax, there is a GSTIN code that is issued to every registered person. This code needs to be mentioned on every invoice that is issued. Along, with it there is a requirement of a serial number that has to be unique for a financial year that would help in identifying it easily. This can be of 16 digits.

Whereas, in earlier invoice you were required to mention the TIN number and TAN. All these multiplicities have been removed.

GSTIN of the Recipient

We all know GST tax has been brought to reduce the number of taxes and avoid multiplicity. Therefore, one critical thing that has changed is the invoice should have GSTIN of recipient to make sure he gets benefit of input tax credit. If GSTIN of recipient is not mentioned on the invoice then, he would be treated as end consumer. However, if transaction is greater than Rs 50,000 then name, address, state and state code need to be mentioned

GST HSN Code for Goods

The new tax has adopted global codes for the purpose of taxation. These are GST HSN Codes. These would be applicable for GST invoice format.

In case of services, the Accounting Code of services has been adopted.

GST Export Invoice

If an invoice is meant for export only then the GST Export invoice should have one of the following clearly stated on it

  • Supply Meant for Export after payment of the Integrated Tax
  • Supply meant for export under letter of undertaking- payment not to be made for integrated tax

 

They must also contain recipient name, address, country details

Method to Issue GST Invoice

If the transaction is related to supply of goods, then there should be 3 copies of invoice

  • Original for Recipient
  • Second for transporter
  • Third for supplier himself

However, when it comes to providing invoice for services, 2 copies should be made

  • Original- Recipient
  • Duplicate- For service provider

After the invoice has been generated this has to be uploaded on portal by the recipient as input supplies

Time Limit for Issuing Invoice

Invoice must be provided within a time frame of 30 days from the date of providing service.

To learn and know more about GST tax, you can go through basics of GST series. In case of any help related to GST invoice format you can contact The Buzz Stand team.