The answer
A supplier registered in Ladakh (GSTIN starting 38) charges CGST + UTGST, not SGST, on any sale delivered inside Ladakh. Ladakh is a Union Territory without a legislature, so the second head is UTGST under the UTGST Act, 2017. On a sale to another state or UT the same total becomes a single IGST charge. Numerically UTGST equals SGST; only the head name and the law behind it differ.
Which tax heads apply, and when?
| Sale type | Place of supply | Tax heads |
|---|---|---|
| Intra-UT | Inside Ladakh (code 38) | CGST + UTGST |
| Inter-state | Any other state or UT (e.g. Jammu & Kashmir) | IGST |
The UT-side head here is UTGST, because Ladakh is a union territory (no legislature). See the companion exhibit: CGST+SGST vs IGST — place of supply.
Why Ladakh works this way
Ladakh charges UTGST, not SGST, on supplies that stay inside the territory. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 carved it out as a separate Union Territory and gave it GST code 38, with no legislative assembly. Where there is no State legislature there is no SGST to levy; the State-side half is instead UTGST, administered centrally.
This is where most invoice tools get it wrong. They treat every place of supply as a "state" and auto-fill SGST for Ladakh. The rupee figure they print is correct, since UTGST is the same 9% as SGST would have been. The head name and its statutory basis are not. An invoice labelling the Ladakh half as "SGST" cites a law that does not apply to the territory.
Watch the Jammu & Kashmir lookalike. J&K (code 01) is a Union Territory with a legislature, so a J&K supply uses CGST + SGST. Ladakh (code 38) has no legislature, so it uses CGST + UTGST. The two were a single territory until 2019, yet a Ladakh seller billing a J&K buyer now makes an inter-state supply under IGST Act §7: one IGST line, not CGST + UTGST.
Worked example — ₹10,000 sale at 18%
A Ladakh supplier sells goods worth ₹10,000 at a 18% GST rate, delivered inside Ladakh. The 18% splits into two equal UT-and-Centre halves:
- Taxable value
- ₹10,000
- CGST @ 9% (Centre)
- ₹900
- UTGST @ 9% (UT)
- ₹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 UTGST 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-UT Ladakh sale the buyer sees two rows:
- CGST: the Centre's half, 9% in the worked example.
- UTGST: the UT half, 9% in the worked example.
The pakka bill generator reads the two-digit code from each GSTIN and picks CGST + UTGST or IGST for you, so the Ladakh invoice carries the heads the law actually requires.
Raise a Ladakh GST invoice
Enter your GSTIN and the buyer's, and the tax heads (CGST + UTGST or IGST) compute automatically. Rule 46 fields, validated GSTIN, ₹9 per invoice. No signup.
Open the pakka bill generator →Ladakh GST tax-head FAQ
- Does a Ladakh business charge SGST or UTGST?
- UTGST. Ladakh (GSTIN code 38) is a Union Territory without a legislature, so the State-side head is UTGST under the UTGST Act, 2017, never SGST.
- Why do invoice tools show the wrong tax head for Ladakh?
- Most tools treat every place of supply as a state and default to SGST. Ladakh has no State legislature to levy SGST, so the correct intra-UT head is UTGST. The rupee amount is identical; the head name and the law behind it differ.
- How is 18% GST split on a ₹10,000 sale inside Ladakh?
- ₹900 CGST (9%) + ₹900 UTGST (9%) = ₹1,800 tax. The invoice total is ₹11,800. UTGST equals what SGST would have been numerically.
- If a Ladakh seller bills a Jammu & Kashmir buyer, is that intra or inter?
- Inter-state. Ladakh (38) and J&K (01) are two separate UTs, so IGST applies, not CGST + UTGST, even though both were one territory before 2019.