What a GST tax invoice should contain

A tax invoice is both a bill and a compliance document. Missing fields can cause trouble for you and for your customer when they claim input tax credit.

Core fields

• Supplier name, address and GSTIN.
• A unique, sequential invoice number, within the allowed character length.
• Date of issue.
• Customer name, address and GSTIN if registered.
• Place of supply, with state name and code.
• Description of the service and its SAC code.
• Taxable value, discounts shown separately.
• Rate and amount of CGST, SGST or IGST.
• Total invoice value, often also in words.
• Signature or digital signature where required.

Subscription-specific details

Add the billing period covered by the invoice and the plan name. For prorated lines, show the dates. This reduces queries and helps your own revenue recognition later.

Credit notes

If you reduce or cancel an invoice after issuing it, issue a credit note referencing the original invoice rather than editing it. Keep the same discipline for numbering.

E-invoicing

Businesses above a notified turnover must generate e-invoices through the government's portal and get an invoice reference number. Ask your CA whether and from when this applies to you.

Knock numbers invoices in sequence and keeps credit notes linked to their originals.