Bill of supply under GST

Who issues it

• Composition taxpayers: they pay tax on turnover at a fixed rate and cannot collect GST from buyers. Every sale goes on a bill of supply. See GST composition scheme.
• Registered persons supplying exempt goods or services: for example, a grocer selling fresh vegetables, or a clinic supplying exempt healthcare services.

Exports under LUT are not on a bill of supply. They are zero-rated and go on a tax invoice with the LUT declaration.

What it must contain

Rule 49 of the CGST Rules sets the contents:

• Name, address and GSTIN of the supplier.
• A consecutive serial number, up to 16 characters, unique for the financial year.
• Date of issue.
• Name, address and GSTIN (or UIN) of the recipient, if registered.
• HSN code of goods or SAC of services.
• Description of goods or services.
• Value of supply, after any discount.
• Signature or digital signature of the supplier or an authorised person.

A composition dealer must also print 'composition taxable person, not eligible to collect tax on supplies' at the top. A layout is in bill of supply format.

Example

A composition-registered stationery shop in Kota sells to a school:

No GST line. The school pays ₹11,400 and claims no ITC. The shop pays composition tax on its turnover each quarter from its own pocket.

Small sales and mixed bills

• Below ₹200: a bill of supply need not be issued for a supply below ₹200, subject to the conditions set in the rules (broadly, where the recipient is unregistered and does not ask for one). A consolidated document can cover such sales at the end of the day. Check the current conditions.
• Taxable and exempt items to an unregistered buyer: a regular dealer can issue a single invoice-cum-bill of supply covering both.
• Taxable and exempt items to a registered buyer: a tax invoice for the taxable items and a bill of supply for the exempt ones, or the combined document as the rules allow.

Bill of supply vs tax invoice

Where bills of supply are reported

• Composition dealers do not file GSTR-1. They report turnover in the quarterly CMP-08 statement and the annual GSTR-4, and pay tax at the composition rate on it.
• Regular dealers with exempt sales report them in GSTR-1 in the nil-rated, exempted and non-GST table, split into inter-state and intra-state and into registered and unregistered buyers, and in the nil/exempt row of GSTR-3B.
• Document summary: regular dealers list their bill of supply series separately from tax invoices in the document summary table of GSTR-1, with the count issued and cancelled.

Exempt sales also count when you split common input tax credit between taxable and exempt turnover, so the totals must be accurate even though no tax is charged on them.

Common mistakes

• A composition dealer printing 'GST included' on bills. It cannot collect GST, even inside the price.
• Issuing a bill of supply for zero-rated exports.
• Using the same number series as tax invoices without distinction, which confuses the document summary in GSTR-1.
• Leaving HSN off because 'no tax is charged'. HSN is still required.

This is general information, not tax advice. Exempt status of an item can change; check the current notifications, or see nil-rated, exempt and non-GST supplies.

Bills of supply in Tally and Cashflow OS

In TallyPrime, a sales voucher type can be set up for bills of supply, and items marked exempt or nil-rated are reported in the right table of GSTR-1 automatically. Cashflow OS syncs those vouchers; the GSTR-1 view shows exempt and nil-rated totals for the period, and the HSN-wise detail confirms items are classified correctly. If writing back is switched on, sales vouchers created from the phone use the item's GST details from Tally.