Tax invoice format for India: which document, and what it shows

The three documents

Tax invoice. Issued by a GST-registered supplier for a taxable supply. It carries the supplier’s and (if registered) the recipient’s GSTIN, HSN or SAC codes, taxable value, and the tax shown as CGST and SGST or as IGST. The full field list is on the GST invoice format page.

Bill of supply. Issued instead of a tax invoice by a supplier who cannot charge GST on that supply, such as a composition taxpayer or someone supplying exempt goods or services. It looks like a tax invoice without the tax rows and says “Bill of supply”.

Invoice from an unregistered supplier. If you are not registered, you issue a plain invoice with your name, address and PAN, no GSTIN and no GST line. Clients may still ask for your PAN so they can deduct TDS. Collecting GST without registration is not allowed.

What Indian clients ask for beyond the law

• Your PAN, even when you are registered, because their TDS filing needs it.
• The gross amount before any TDS: invoice the gross, the client pays net and gives you a certificate.
• Their PO or work-order number, in its own field.
• Bank details with IFSC, or a UPI ID, printed on the invoice.
• The words “Original for recipient” on the copy they file, for goods.
• Your signature, physical or digital, on the PDF.

Exporting services

If your client is outside India, the invoice is usually in the client’s currency, and your CA will tell you whether it is a zero-rated export under a LUT, with the statement that wording requires, or whether IGST applies. Invoira lets you choose the currency, formats amounts in that currency’s rules, and prints whatever statement you put in the notes. Use the same serial series as your domestic invoices.

Formatting each document in Invoira

Tax invoice: pick INR, set the tax label and rate, add your GSTIN to the tax number field (in Settings) or your address, put HSN/SAC in each description and the place of supply in the notes. Bill of supply: leave tax off, and write “Bill of supply” in the notes. Unregistered: leave tax off and add your PAN as the last line of your address. In every case the PDF has selectable text, the number is yours to set as a guest or assigned in sequence inside an account, and the notes print on the document and on the share page.

Two things are not built: a document heading that changes to “Tax Invoice” or “Bill of supply”, and a signature image. Both are on the roadmap with the dedicated GST fields. Until then, state the document type in the notes and sign the PDF the way you sign any PDF.

Keeping records

Whatever you issue, keep the sequence unbroken and keep a copy. In an account every issued invoice is stored with its number, its document frozen as sent, and the payments you record against it, so the record for your CA is a list, not a folder of PDFs.

A worked example

Questions

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