A Credit Note or Debit Note under GST is a document which a seller issues to the buyer for making an adjustment to the original invoice issued.
- Credit Note is issued when the value of the invoice reduces. The buyer is liable to make lesser payment to the seller after adjusting the value of credit note from the original invoice issued to the buyer.
- Debit Note is issued when the value of the invoice increases. The buyer is liable to make more payment to the seller after adjusting the value of debit note from the original invoice issued to the buyer.
Details that a Credit/Debit Note should have in GST
The supplier is free to design the format provided it contains all the mandatory details prescribed by the GST Invoice Rules.
- Seller’s details
- The legal name of the business
- The registered address of the business
- GSTIN of the state from which goods or services are being supplied
- Buyer’s details
- The legal name of the business
- The registered address of the business
- GSTIN of the state to which goods or services are being delivered
- If the registered address is different then a delivery address is to be provided.
- Document details
- Nature of the document – whether Credit Note or Debit Note
- Note Number – A serial number, containing alphabets or numerals or special characters like hyphen or dash (-) and slash (/) unique for a financial year
- Date of issue of Credit Note or Debit Note
- Details of Original Invoice – Invoice Number and Date of the original Tax Invoice or Bill of Supply
- Place of Supply – Name of the state as per the place of supply rules which is generally the state of the buyer. [List of State Codes under GST]
- Item details
- HSN Code of Goods or SAC Code of Services based on the turnover limit applicable to the seller
- Item name having a description and quantity of good or service [List of Unit Quantity Codes (UQC) under GST]
- Item Rate – the price of the good or service
- The taxable value of supply of goods or services or both, taking into account the discount or abatement if any
- Tax details
- Rate of Tax (Central tax, State tax, Integrated tax, union territory tax or cess)
- Amount of tax charged in respect of taxable goods or services (CGST, SGST, IGST, UTGST, Cess)
- A signature or Digital Signature of the supplier or his authorized representative
FAQs
It is important to note that Credit Notes are only issued to adjust the taxable value and not issued for adjusting tax in the books of accounts. However, the Tax liability of the supplier cannot be adjusted if the credit note is issued after the due date.
Yes there is a time limit. Section 34(2) of the CGST Act dictates that a Credit note for exchange of goods and services can be issued for any registered dealer up to a period of Six Months.
The supplier can issue a Debit Note if the value of goods in the Invoice is less than the actual value or the rate of GST or Tax amount charged is at a lower rate than what is applicable.