The answer
A supplier registered in Kerala (GSTIN starting 32) charges CGST + SGST on any sale delivered inside Kerala. On a sale to another state or UT it becomes a single IGST charge. Kerala is a State with its own legislature under the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, so the State levy is SGST. UTGST never applies.
Which tax heads apply, and when?
| Sale type | Place of supply | Tax heads |
|---|---|---|
| Intra-state | Inside Kerala (code 32) | CGST + SGST |
| Inter-state | Any other state or UT (e.g. Tamil Nadu) | IGST |
The state-side head here is SGST, because Kerala is a state (has legislature). See the companion exhibit: CGST+SGST vs IGST — place of supply.
Why Kerala works this way
Kerala levies the State half of GST as SGST under the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, paired with the central CGST Act, 2017. SGST on an intra-Kerala sale accrues to Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala's Vidhan Sabha means UTGST never applies to a Kerala-origin invoice.
Kerala is India's primary source of spices (HSN 0904–0910: pepper, cardamom, ginger), cashews (HSN 0801), and seafood (HSN 0302–0306). Nearly all of these commodities are sold to buyers outside the state — to north-Indian distributors (code 09, 06, 07) or to direct export. Each inter-state domestic sale from Kochi or Kozhikode to a buyer in another state triggers IGST under IGST Act §7. The bulk of GST mismatches in Kerala's agricultural-commodity exports come from agents who bill from a Kerala address but move goods via Tamil Nadu warehouses, creating a place-of-supply dispute.
Kerala also runs a growing IT/ITES sector centred on Technopark (Thiruvananthapuram) and Infopark (Kochi). Software service invoices from these parks to clients in Maharashtra, Karnataka, or abroad (where the place of supply is the client's billing state) must carry IGST. A Kochi IT firm whose back-office defaults all invoices to CGST+SGST will cause input-credit reconciliation failures for every out-of-state client.
Worked example — ₹10,000 sale at 18%
A Kerala supplier sells goods worth ₹10,000 at a 18% GST rate, delivered inside Kerala. The 18% splits into two equal state-and-Centre halves:
- Taxable value
- ₹10,000
- CGST @ 9% (Centre)
- ₹900
- SGST @ 9% (State)
- ₹900
Invoice total
₹11,800
On the same sale to a buyer in another state or UT, the ₹1,800 becomes one IGST line of ₹1,800 at 18%, with no CGST or SGST column. The buyer pays ₹11,800 either way; only the heads change.
How it appears on your pakka bill
On a GST tax invoice (pakka bill) under Rule 46, the tax block is not a single "GST" line. It names each head separately, so for an intra-state Kerala sale the buyer sees two rows:
- CGST: the Centre's half, 9% in the worked example.
- SGST: the State half, 9% in the worked example.
The pakka bill generator reads the two-digit code from each GSTIN and picks CGST + SGST or IGST for you, so the Kerala invoice carries the heads the law actually requires.
Raise a Kerala GST invoice
Enter your GSTIN and the buyer's, and the tax heads (CGST + SGST or IGST) compute automatically. Rule 46 fields, validated GSTIN, ₹9 per invoice. No signup.
Open the pakka bill generator →Kerala GST tax-head FAQ
- Which GST heads apply when a Kerala business raises an invoice?
- For a sale delivered inside Kerala (buyer place-of-supply code 32), CGST + SGST, split half and half. For a sale to any other state or UT, a single IGST charge at the full rate.
- Does Kerala charge SGST or UTGST?
- SGST. Kerala is a full State with its own legislature, so the State levy is SGST under the Kerala State GST Act, 2017. UTGST never applies.
- How is 18% GST split on a ₹10,000 sale inside Kerala?
- ₹900 CGST (9%) + ₹900 SGST (9%) = ₹1,800 tax. The invoice total is ₹11,800.
- A Kochi spice exporter bills a Tamil Nadu buyer: CGST+SGST or IGST?
- IGST. Kerala (32) and Tamil Nadu (33) are different state codes, so it is an inter-state supply: one IGST line at the full rate, no CGST or SGST.