9 important facts to know about tax invoice under GST

We are almost there. They day has come. July 1 is near. There still are apprehensions about GST and people still don't know about it. It is being touted as the best reform of the country till date. It will remove tax-on-tax and integrate the entire market.

Following are some important facts about GST provisions relating to invoice for information to stakeholders.

1. All the GST tax payers are free to design their own invoice format.

2. Only certain fields are mandatory in it. The format can be in any way they like.

3. The time period prescribed for issuing invoice is different for goods & services - for goods, it is any time before its delivery and for services, it is within 30 days from the date of supply of services.

4. Small taxpayers like retailers don't need to issue invoice for every small transaction. They can issue an invoice for all the transactions during the day at the end of the day. But they will have to issue it if the customer demands for it.

5. In normal circumstances, one copy of invoice is required to be carried by the transporter. However, GSTN (Goods and Services Tax Network) provides a facility to obtain an invoice reference number and if a taxpayer has generated this number, his goods need not be accompanied by paper invoice during transportation. This mechanism helps to address frequently reported problems like paper invoices getting misplaced, mutilated, torn or lost in course of transportation of goods.

6. To keep the burden low on taxpayers, the GST law provides that taxpayers with annual turnover of uptoRs. 1.5 crore need to mention HSN code in the invoices.

7. Since there are large number of transactions in banking, insurance and passenger transport, taxpayers need not mention the address of the customer and serial number on the invoice.

8. Where the goods are transported for delivery but quantity to be supplied is not known at the time of removal, the good may be removed on delivery challan and invoice may be issued after delivery.

9. No need to issue separate Bill of supply if VAT invoice is issued for non-taxable supplies.