GST Invoice Format 2020

Invoicing is familiar to anyone who sells goods or services in India and all around the globe. While so far there has been a clear format for each type of invoice created - retail, tax, excise, the new goods and services tax bill will see a handful of changes in the regular invoices.

The government of India has released the rules of invoicing under GST together with an invoice template that highlights the data needed on these documents.

Invoicing in GST

Based on the GST Invoice Rules issued by the Central Government, there are two types of invoices that can be issued under GST, tax invoice (GST invoice) and bill of supply

Creating a tax invoice

When a registered supplier sells goods or services that are taxable, a tax invoice has to be issued.We've created a GST invoice template to help you make complying invoices, based on the rules issued by the government.

GST Invoice Details

From July 1st, a tax invoice that a registered supplier needs to issue must containing the following

• Name, address and GSTIN of supplier
• Type of invoice - tax invoice, supplementary invoice or revised invoice
• Invoice number (just as before, a numeric series specific for a financial year)
• Date of issue
• Name, address and GSTIN or UIN (if registered) of recipient
• HSN or SAC code for goods or services
• Description of goods or services
• Quantity and unit of goods or services
• Total value of supply of goods or services
• Rate of Tax for every item
• Tax amount of CGST, SGST or IGST has to be shown in a separate column
• Name of the supplying State and place of supply
• Address of delivery (if different from the place of supply)
• Statement mentioning if reverse charge is applicable
• Signature (or digital signature) of the supplier or an authorized person

GST Invoice Details

Supply of goods:
Before or at the time of - removal of goods, where supply involves movement of goods;
Delivery of goods to the recipient, where supply does not require movement of goods

Supply of services:
Within 30 days from the date of supply;
*If suppliers is a bank or financial institution, within 45 days of the supply of service

Note: In case a person paying tax on reverse charge receives goods or services from an unregistered supplier, the receiver must issue an invoice on the date of receipt of goods or services.

How many copies of a tax invoice do you need to make?

In case of supply of goods, triplicate copies named:

• Original for recipient: issued to receiver
• Duplicate for transporter: issued to the transporter. Not required if supplier has an invoice reference number from the GST portal.
• Triplicate for supplier: retained by the supplier

In the case of supply of services, duplicate copies named:

• Original for recipient: given to the receiver
• Duplicate for supplier: kept by the supplier.

How should a tax Invoice for exports look like?

In the case of exports of goods or services, the invoice must specify if GST has been paid on the exports. For clarity the following text should be used:

If IGST has been paid for the exports: "Supply Meant For Export On Payment Of IGST"
If IGST has not been paid: "Supply Meant For Export Under Bond Or Letter Of Undertaking Without Payment Of IGST"

Additional, in export invoices, the following information regarding the recipient should be stated:

• Name and address of recipient
• Delivery address and country
• Number and date of application for removal of goods for export

When should a tax invoice not be issued?

A registered person is not obligated to issue a tax invoice in two cases:

• The recipient isn't registered AND
• The recipient doesn't require a tax invoice.

At the end of each day, a registered supplier has to issue a consolidated tax invoice for such supplies.

NOTE: In any other case, the registered supplier is obligated to issue a tax invoice. Not issuing a tax invoice when mandatory is an offence under the GST Act and will attract penalty.