Retail invoice vs tax invoice

Where the two names came from

In most states before 2017, a VAT dealer printed two kinds of bills. A tax invoice showed VAT separately and let the buying dealer claim input credit. A retail invoice, given to end consumers, often showed only an inclusive price with no tax split. Many shopkeepers still say retail bill for counter sales and tax bill for dealers.

GST replaced this. Section 31 of the CGST Act requires a registered person making a taxable supply to issue a tax invoice, whoever the buyer is. A separate retail invoice is not a GST document type. This is general information, not tax advice.

The habit of keeping two kinds of bill books has outlived the law that created it. Some shops still keep a retail bill book without tax details for consumers and a tax bill book for dealers. For a regular GST registration this is a problem: every taxable sale must be on a tax invoice from a numbered series, so the second book creates sales that do not match your returns.

B2B vs B2C tax invoice

B2C large invoices

A B2C invoice for an inter-state supply above a value threshold is reported individually in GSTR-1 as B2C large, with the place of supply. The threshold was lowered to ₹1 lakh in 2024. Confirm the current figure on gst.gov.in and read B2C large invoices in GSTR-1.

Example: a Jaipur furniture shop sells a ₹1,40,000 dining set to a consumer in Ahmedabad, delivered there. Place of supply is Gujarat, so IGST applies, and the invoice is reported as B2C large with the customer's name and delivery address on it.

When a consumer turns out to be a business

A walk-in customer pays, takes the bill and then calls the next day: please put my GSTIN on the bill. If the invoice has not been reported yet, many businesses cancel and reissue it with the buyer's details in the same period, keeping the cancelled copy. If it has already been reported in GSTR-1 as B2C, it can be amended in a later GSTR-1, within the time limit for amendments. See GSTR-1 amendments. Asking have you a GSTIN? at billing time avoids the whole exercise.

Inclusive pricing on counter bills

Consumers see GST-inclusive prices, so counter bills often back-calculate tax.

Rates change by notification; use the current rate for each HSN.

Who issues something other than a tax invoice

• Composition dealers: bill of supply, no tax shown. See bill of supply format.
• Exempt goods or services: bill of supply.
• Unregistered businesses: an ordinary bill or cash memo, no GST.
• Small sales under ₹200: a regular taxpayer may issue one consolidated invoice at day end, if buyers do not ask for one.

Counter billing checklist

1. One bill format for all customers, with an optional GSTIN field.
2. Ask for GSTIN before printing, not after.
3. Collect name and address for bills of ₹50,000 and above, and for deliveries out of state.
4. Show taxable value and GST even on inclusive-price bills.
5. Keep a single series per counter so numbering stays clean.

Doing this with Tally and Cashflow OS

TallyPrime uses the same sales voucher for B2B and B2C bills; the party's GST registration type decides how it is treated in GST reports. Cashflow OS prepares GSTR-1 views from that Tally data, with tiles that open bill-wise and HSN-wise detail, so you can check that B2C, B2C large and B2B rows look right before downloading the JSON for the portal. See GST reports.