GST invoicing for e-commerce sellers, explained

What must appear on the invoice

• Your legal name, address and GSTIN.
• A consecutive invoice number, unique within its series for the financial year.
• Date of issue.
• Customer name and address; their GSTIN too if they are registered.
• Place of supply, with the state name, for inter-state supplies.
• Description of goods, HSN code, quantity and unit.
• Taxable value, any discount, and the total.
• Tax rate and amount, split into CGST and SGST, or shown as IGST.
• Whether tax is payable on reverse charge, where applicable.
• Signature or digital signature of the supplier or an authorised person.

CGST + SGST, or IGST?

The split follows the place of supply, not where the customer's billing address happens to be. For goods, the place of supply is where the movement of goods terminates for delivery to the recipient. If that state is your own registered state, charge CGST and SGST. If it is a different state, charge IGST.

Invoice numbering, and why it matters

Numbers must run consecutively within a series for the financial year. Gaps and duplicates are the things a scrutiny will find fastest, and they are almost always caused by numbering invoices manually across two systems. Let exactly one system own each series.

Separate series per channel or per warehouse is allowed and often sensible — what is not allowed is the same series being generated in two places at once.

Returns, cancellations and credit notes

1. 1

   Do not delete or edit the original invoice

   Once issued and reported, it stands. Deleting it creates a gap in the series and a mismatch against what the marketplace already reported.

2. 2

   Issue a credit note against it

   The credit note references the original invoice number and date, and reverses the value and tax for the returned goods.

3. 3

   Handle partial returns proportionally

   If two of five units come back, the credit note covers those two — value, tax and any proportionate discount.

4. 4

   Report it in the correct period

   Credit notes are declared in your returns, subject to the time limit prescribed under the GST law for the relevant financial year.

The marketplace-specific parts

TCS under section 52

The marketplace collects tax at source on the net value of taxable supplies made through it, deposits it, and reports it against your GSTIN. It appears in your electronic cash ledger and must be reconciled against your own sales records. The rate has been revised over time — check the current one.

E-invoicing (IRN)

Businesses above a notified aggregate turnover threshold must report B2B invoices to the Invoice Registration Portal and carry the resulting IRN and QR code. The threshold has been lowered several times, so confirm whether it currently applies to you.

E-way bill

Required for the movement of goods above the notified consignment value, with some state-level variation for intra-state movement. Marketplace-fulfilled shipments are frequently handled by the logistics partner, but the responsibility depends on the arrangement.

Settlement is not revenue

What a marketplace pays you is order value minus commission, fees, shipping and penalties, adjusted for TCS. Your invoice reports the sale; the settlement report explains the difference.