What Is An Invoice?

Tax Invoice

The provisions relating to Tax Invoices are provided under section 31 of the CGST Act 2017. A tax invoice shall be issued by a registered person supplying taxable goods or taxable services or both.

Time limit for issuance of invoice: [Sections 31(1), (2), (4) & (5) read with rule 47]

The time for issuing an invoice would depend on the nature of supply viz. whether it is a supply of goods or supply of services.

1. In case of taxable supply of goods: An Invoice shall be issued before or at the time of, Removal of goods for supply to the recipient, where the supply involves movement of goods; orDelivery of goods or making available thereof to the recipient, in any other case.
2. In case of continuous supply of goods: Where successive statements of accounts/successive payments are involved, the invoice shall be issued before/at the time each such statement is issued or each such payment is received.
3. ?In case of taxable supply of services: a) Invoice shall be issued before or after the provision of service, but within a period of 30 days from the date of supply of service. b) 45 days in case of an insurer or banking company or financial institution, including a non-banking financial company (NBFC
4. In case of continuous supply of services: a) Where the due date of payment is ascertainable from the contract the invoice shall be issued on or before the due date of payment. b) Where due date of payment is not ascertainable from the contract the invoice shall be issued before or at the time when the supplier of service receives the payment. c) Where payment is linked to the completion of an event the invoice shall be issued on or before the date of completion of that event.

Where the supply of services ceases before its completion:

In a case where the supply of services ceases under a contract before the completion of the supply, the invoice shall be issued at the time when the supply ceases and such invoice shall be issued to the extent of the supply made before such cessation.

How to prepare Tax invoice and Contents of tax invoice :

There is no format prescribed for an invoice, but rules make it mandatory for an invoice to have the following fields :

1. Name, address, and GSTIN of the supplier
2. A consecutive serial number not exceeding 16 characters, in one or multiple series, containing alphabets/numerals/special characters hyphen or dash and slash, and any combination thereof, unique for a FY
3. Date of its issue
4. If the recipient is registered: Name, address and GSTIN or UIN of recipient.
5. If the recipient is unregistered:

If recipient is? unregistered and value of supply isParticulars of invoiceRs. 50,000 or moreName and address of? the? recipient and the address of? delivery,? along with the name of State and its codeless than Rs. 50,000unregistered recipient? may? still request the aforesaid details to be recorded in the tax invoice

1. HSN code for goods or services
2. Description of goods or services
3. Quantity in case of goods and unit or Unique Quantity Code thereof
4. Total value of supply of goods or services or both
5. Taxable value of supply of goods or services or both taking into account ??????????discount or abatement, if any
6. Rate of tax (central tax, State tax, integrated tax, Union territory tax or cess)
7. Amount of tax charged in respect of taxable goods or services (central tax, State tax, integrated tax, Union territory tax or cess)
8. Place of supply along with the name of State, in case of a supply in the course of inter-state trade or commerce
9. Address of delivery where the same is different from the place of supply
10. Whether the tax is payable on a reverse charge basis
11. Signature or digital signature of the supplier or his authorized representative.
12. Quick Response code, having embedded Invoice Reference Number (IRN) in it, in case an e-invoice has been issued.To read the full article click on the link given https://lawlegends.in/article/what-is-an-invoice/