Under Indian Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws, issuing a compliant Tax Invoice is mandatory for all registered businesses and freelancers crossing statutory registration thresholds (₹20 Lakhs for services, ₹40 Lakhs for goods).
1. Structure of a 15-Digit GSTIN
Every registered supplier's GSTIN contains encoded state and tax registration data:
GSTIN Structure: 09 AAAAA 0000 A 1 Z 5
• Digits 1-2: State Code (e.g. 09 for Uttar Pradesh, 27 for Maharashtra)
• Digits 3-12: Permanent Account Number (PAN)
• Digit 13: Entity Code | Digit 14: Default Z | Digit 15: Check sum
2. Intra-State vs Inter-State Tax Rates
• Intra-State Supply (Same State): Bill 9% CGST + 9% SGST (Total 18%).
• Inter-State Supply (Different State): Bill 18% IGST.
• Export of Services (Outside India): 0% IGST under Letter of Undertaking (LUT / Form GST RFD-11).
3. Section 50 Interest Penalties for Delayed Payments
Section 50 of the CGST Act mandates 18% annual simple interest for delayed tax payment remittances. Easily generate tax-compliant INR invoices using Vicaksha's GST Tax Rules Engine.