GST bill format: what a tax invoice must show

A shop registered under GST issues a tax invoice for a taxable sale. What goes on it is set by Rule 46 of the CGST Rules, 2017, and how many copies by Rule 48. Here are both in plain words, and how a bill from BillYourShop carries them.

What Rule 46 asks for

• Your name, address and GSTIN.
• An invoice number, in a consecutive series, of up to 16 letters, digits, hyphens or slashes, used only once in the financial year.
• The date of issue.
• The buyer's name, address and GSTIN, when the buyer is registered.
• For a buyer who is not registered, the name and address, the delivery address and the state's name and code — when the taxable value is ₹50,000 or more, or the buyer asks.
• The HSN code, a description, and the quantity with its unit.
• The total value, and the taxable value after any discount.
• The rate and amount of each tax: CGST, SGST or UTGST, IGST, and cess.
• The place of supply with the state's name, for a sale to another state, and the delivery address where it differs from the place of supply.
• Whether tax is payable on reverse charge.
• Your signature, or that of someone you have authorised.

CGST + SGST, or IGST

It turns on the place of supply, which for goods is where they are delivered. Delivered in your own state, the tax is split equally between CGST and SGST; in another state, the whole of it is IGST. The rate is the same either way — only the heads change.

A bill to a business, and a bill to a walk-in

A business buyer's GSTIN on the bill is what lets them claim input tax credit, so a contractor will ask for it. A walk-in customer needs no GSTIN, and their name and address are required only from ₹50,000 up. Both are tax invoices; the difference is who can claim the tax back, and where the sale goes in your GSTR-1.

How many digits of HSN

From 1 April 2021 (Notification 78/2020 – Central Tax): a shop whose turnover in the previous financial year was up to ₹5 crore shows 4 digits on bills to registered buyers, and may leave the HSN off bills to unregistered ones; above ₹5 crore, 6 digits on every tax invoice.

Original, duplicate and triplicate (Rule 48)

For goods, the invoice is made in three copies: the original marked Original for recipient, the duplicate Duplicate for transporter, and the triplicate Triplicate for supplier. For services there are two: Original for recipient and Duplicate for supplier.

How a BillYourShop bill shows it

Your GSTIN and the buyer's in bold, a number from an unbroken series, an HSN code on every line, the taxable value with the rate and amount of each tax, the place of supply with the state's code, Reverse Charge: No, the amount in words, and your signature above Authorised Signatory. The customer's copy is marked Original for recipient and the shop's Triplicate for supplier; there is no transporter's copy. A full-page A4 bill adds a table of the tax by HSN. CGST + SGST or IGST is worked out from the state, not typed.

A summary in plain words, not legal advice. The rules themselves are on the CBIC website.

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