GST · 25 June 2026
7 Fields Every Skilled Professional Must Put on a GST Invoice: Rule 46 Checklist
A GST-registered skilled professional, an electrician, plumber, carpenter, tailor, mechanic, AC technician, painter, or fabricator, must issue a tax invoice under Section 31 of the CGST Act carrying the particulars listed in Rule 46. Seven fields are the ones trades most often miss: their own GSTIN, a unique invoice number, the invoice date, the SAC code for the service, the taxable value with the CGST/SGST or IGST split, the place of supply for the job, and, only if the work is exported, the LUT reference or a payment-of-IGST note. Each is a hard requirement, and a missing field costs the client input tax credit.
By Mrs. Swapna Patel
Last reviewed
25 June 2026
In this section
Answers
- 7 Fields Every Skilled Professional Must Put on a GST Invoice: Rule 46 Checklist
- What Is a Pakka Bill? The GST Invoice That Counts as Valid
- What Is a Kaccha Bill? Why the Rough Slip Has No GST Standing
- Why Move From a Kaccha Bill to a Pakka Bill?
- How to Upgrade From a Kaccha Bill to a Pakka Bill (GST Invoice)
- 5 GST Invoice Mistakes That Trigger a Tax Notice (And How to Fix Them)
- What Makes a GST Invoice Legally Binding — And Why Clients Pay Faster When It Is
- What Is a Bill of Supply? The GST Document Without Tax
- What Is an IRN (Invoice Reference Number) Under GST?
- What Is Input Tax Credit (ITC) Under GST?
A plumber, electrician, or tailor can bill a job on a plain estimate slip with a name, the work, and an amount.
A GST-registered tradesperson must raise a tax invoice carrying the Rule 46 fields, or the client cannot claim input tax credit and the bill fails at audit.
What must a skilled professional put on a GST invoice?
Short answer
A GST-registered tradesperson issues a tax invoice under Section 31 carrying the Rule 46 particulars. Seven of those fields are the ones an electrician, plumber, carpenter, or tailor most often misses.
- Rule 46 lists every field. For a service job the goods-specific entries (quantity, unit of goods) fall away, leaving a tighter set for a labour-and-materials bill.
- If your turnover is below the registration threshold and you are unregistered, you issue a bill of supply, not a tax invoice, and most of this list does not apply.
- Why it matters: under Section 16(2)(a) a contractor or business client claims input tax credit only against a valid invoice, so a missing field is your client's lost credit.
The 7 fields, in order
Short answer
GSTIN, invoice number, date, SAC code, taxable value with the tax split, place of supply, and the export note. Each maps to a Rule 46 clause.
| # | Field | What a tradesperson gets wrong |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your GSTIN | Leaving it off the bill. Your 15-character GSTIN must appear as the supplier on every job invoice. |
| 2 | Invoice number | A unique, consecutive serial up to 16 characters for the financial year. Starting a fresh count for each client breaks Rule 46(b). |
| 3 | Invoice date | Must follow the time-of-supply rules; dating a bill back to when the job started, not when it billed, is an audit flag. |
| 4 | SAC code for the service | Service Accounting Code, not an HSN. An AC technician, electrician, or fabricator uses the SAC for the service, e.g. 9954-series for construction and installation work. |
| 5 | Taxable value + tax split | Show the taxable value, the rate, and CGST + SGST for a same-state job or IGST for an out-of-state job. |
| 6 | Place of supply | For on-site work this is usually where the job is done. Bill a client in another state and it becomes IGST. |
| 7 | Export note | Only if the service is exported: a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) reference for supply without IGST, or a "with payment of IGST" note. Most local trades skip this. |
Source: Rule 46, CGST Rules 2017. SAC = Service Accounting Code; LUT = Letter of Undertaking under Rule 96A. SAC/HSN digit requirements vary by turnover tier, so check your tier before finalising a template.
Why the SAC code and place of supply trip up trades
Short answer
The SAC code fixes your GST rate, and the place of supply decides whether you charge CGST/SGST or IGST. Get either wrong and the tax on the bill is wrong.
- SAC, not HSN: a plumber, electrician, or painter supplies a service, so the bill carries a Service Accounting Code, not the HSN code used for goods. The code drives the rate, so a guess can understate GST.
- Place of supply for on-site work: for a job at the client's premises, the place of supply is usually that location. Same state means CGST + SGST; another state means IGST.
- Materials plus labour: when you supply parts and fit them on one bill, it is generally a single service of works contract or installation. One SAC and one place-of-supply still govern the invoice.
When does the export note apply to me?
Short answer
Only if you supply a service to a client outside India. Then the supply is a zero-rated export under the LUT route (Rule 96A) or with payment of IGST. A local tradesperson billing Indian clients never needs it.
- Most skilled-trades work, fitting, repair, tailoring, fabrication, is supplied to clients in India, so field 7 stays blank and the in-state CGST/SGST or out-of-state IGST split is all you need.
- A design or fabrication professional billing a foreign client is the exception: that supply is a zero-rated export and the invoice must show the LUT reference or the IGST-payment note.
- Why it matters: putting an export note on a local bill, or leaving it off a genuine export, is the field that turns a clean invoice into a queried one.
References & related
Primary sources
- Rule 46, Central Goods and Services Tax Rules 2017 — CBICMandatory particulars of a GST tax invoice.
- Section 31, Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 — CBICObligation on a registered supplier to issue a tax invoice on a taxable supply of services.
- Section 16(2)(a), Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 — CBICA buyer may claim input tax credit only against a valid tax invoice carrying the prescribed particulars.
- Rule 96A and the LUT route — CBIC GSTExport of services without payment of IGST under a Letter of Undertaking, or with payment of IGST and refund.
Last reviewed: 25 June 2026