GST Export Invoice Format

By now, most businesses are familiar with the specific type of invoice needed in GST, the tax invoice, which we discussed in depth here. However, what to do if you also trade with businesses outside of India who ask for invoices in a different currency? In that case, you would need to create an invoice for export, which will still have to respect the same GST tax invoice rules. We’ll be looking at how to make one and it’s particularities.

What is an export invoice?

An export invoice is a GST tax invoice that you create for clients that are outside of India and request an invoice with a different currency on it. It has the same format and requirements as a normal GST tax invoice, but it needs some extra details that will be discussed below.

What does an export invoice under GST contain?

An invoice for export must contain the following:

• Name, address and GSTIN of supplier - your details just as a tax invoice for India contains them
• Invoice number (just as before, a numeric series specific for a financial year)
• Date of issue
• Due date



Now, here is where a tax invoice for export becomes different:

• Name, billing address and if different, shipping address of the recipient - as the country of the recipient is different than India, your place of supply will be “Outside India”
• Next, you will need to add the type of export.

There are 3 types of export, let’s try to understand each one:

Export under Bond/ LUT - supply of goods, services or both, under bond or letter of undertaking, without paying IGST, and them claiming a refund of unutilized ITC on purchases of inputs used for supplying the respective exported goods or services

Export with IGST - Any exporter, the UN, any Embassy or other agencies who supply goods or services, paying IGST, can claim a refund on the IGST paid on the supplied goods or services

SEZ with IGST - Since the supply of goods or services to SEZ is treated as a zero-rated supply, no IGST will be paid on such supply. If you enter the GSTIN of their receiver, the country of supply will be selected as India and the currency of the invoice will be INR.

Your invoice should contain a line, usually at the bottom, that mentions which of these types of export the invoice falls under. Example: Supply meant for export on payment of integrated tax.

• Add Shipping Bill information, such as date, number and port code. If you do not have these details, you can still create an export invoice but you will need this information when applying to claim refund of taxes paid.
• Then, you will need to set the conversion rate, from INR to the selected currency of your client. This rate will be mentioned on the bill of export issued by the custom authorities.
• Enter items details with quantity, units of measurements, description
• Tax rate for each item, with tax amount shown in separate columns (ex. IGST, CESS if applicable)
• Signature (or digital signature) of the supplier or an authorized person
• At the end of the invoice, you should have your total value of the bill in terms of INR and the foreign currency.

How the GST export invoice format looks in Sleek Bill

In short, when you create a new tax invoice in Sleek Bill and select a non-India client, you will be able to add the currency of your invoice, information for your shipping bill and the type of export. Currently, the system supports three types of export: Export under Bond/LUT, Export with IGST, SEZ with IGST.

This export invoice template is designed to be GST compliant and each one that you create is automatically entered in GSTR1.

If you want to find out more details about how can do this in Sleek Bill, we wrote a step by step how to article to help you out.