Bill of Supply: Format and When to Use It

• Supplier's name, address and GSTIN
• A consecutive serial number of up to 16 characters, unique for the financial year
• Date of issue
• Customer's name, address and GSTIN, if registered
• HSN or SAC of the goods or services
• Description of the goods or services
• Value, after any discount
• Signature or digital signature of the supplier
• For composition taxpayers: the words "composition taxable person, not eligible to collect tax on supplies"

A bill of supply need not be issued for a sale below ₹200, subject to the conditions in the rules. The value of such sales still counts in turnover and must be recorded. Most shops find it simpler to give every customer a printed bill, which also helps with stock and daily cash matching.

A provision store in Hassan is a composition taxpayer. In a month it sells ₹3,00,000 of goods: ₹1,20,000 of nil-rated items such as loose rice, pulses and vegetables, and ₹1,80,000 of taxable items such as soap, biscuits and oil. Every bill is a bill of supply with no GST line; a ₹450 bill for a customer simply says ₹450.

Composition traders pay 1% of their turnover of taxable supplies. For a quarter with ₹5,40,000 of taxable sales (₹1,80,000 × 3), the store pays ₹5,400 (CGST ₹2,700 + SGST ₹2,700) through CMP-08. The tax comes out of its own margin; it is not collected from customers.

A regular, non-composition shop selling only fresh vegetables also issues bills of supply, and pays no GST on those sales.

• A composition dealer printing "GST included" or tax lines on the bill
• Leaving out the composition declaration
• Issuing a tax invoice for exempt goods with 0% GST lines instead of a bill of supply
• Separate number series that restart every month
• Not keeping copies because "there is no tax on it"

For a regular taxpayer, exempt and nil-rated sales on bills of supply are reported in GSTR-1 (table 8) and GSTR-3B (table 3.1(c)). Composition taxpayers report their turnover quarterly in CMP-08 and annually in GSTR-4. Buyers cannot claim input credit on a bill of supply, because no GST was charged.

Keep a copy of every bill of supply in the same series as your other bills, the stock register, and the monthly totals of taxable and exempt sales. A composition taxpayer needs the quarterly turnover for CMP-08 and the year's figures for GSTR-4; a regular taxpayer needs exempt sales for GSTR-1 table 8 and for the common-credit reversal under rule 42. Under section 36 of the CGST Act, accounts and records are kept until 72 months after the due date of the annual return for the year.

Choose the composition scheme or mark items as exempt in TripleBill and the printed bill carries no tax lines, with the composition declaration where required.

This page is general information about GST in India, not tax advice. Rates, thresholds and rules change; confirm with the GST portal or a chartered accountant before acting.

Last reviewed: November 2026. Facts on this page were checked against:

• CGST Act, 2017, section 31(3)(c)
• CGST Rules, 2017, rules 46A and 49
• CGST Rules, 2017, rules 5 and 7 (composition conditions and rates)