Bill of supply
Rule 49 of the CGST Rules
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A bill of supply is issued instead of a tax invoice by a composition taxpayer and for exempt supplies; it carries the same particulars but no tax, and is not needed for a supply below two hundred rupees to an unregistered person unless demanded.
The exact words of the law
1,902 characters, uneditedReproduced from the CBIC text. We explain it above — but you should always be able to read it yourself.
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(3) of section 31 shall be issued by the supplier containing the following details, namely,-
(a) name, address and Goods and Services Tax Identification Number of the supplier;
(b) a consecutive serial number not exceeding sixteen characters, in one or multiple series, containing alphabets or numerals or special characters – hyphen or dash and slash symbolised as "-” and "/" respectively, and any combination thereof, unique for a financial year;
(c) date of its issue;
(d) name, address and Goods and Services Tax Identification Number or Unique Identity Number, if registered, of the recipient;
(e) Harmonised System of Nomenclature Code for goods or services;
(f) description of goods or services or both;
(g) value of supply of goods or services or both taking into account discount or abatement, if any; and
(h) signature or digital signature of the supplier or his authorised representative: Provided that the provisos to rule 46 shall, mutatis mutandis , apply to the bill of supply issued under this rule: Provided further that any tax invoice or any other similar document issued under any other Act for the time being in force in respect of any non-taxable supply shall be treated as a bill of supply for the purposes of the Act. 1 [ Provided also that the signature or digital signature of the supplier or his authorised representative shall not be required in the case of issuance of an electronic bill of supply in accordance with the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).] 2 [ Provided also that the Government may, by notification, on the recommendations of the Council, and subject to such conditions and restrictions as mentioned therein, specify that the bill of supply shall have Quick Response (QR) code.] 1 . Inserted vide Notification No. 74/2018-CT dated 31.12.2018
What changed, and when
The amendment trail, newest first — because the version that applies to your case depends on the period.
2020-04-01 · Inserted
71/2019-C
Inserted (w.e.f. 01.04.2020 by Notification No. 71/2019-C.T. , dated 13-12-2019) vide Notification No. 31/2019 – CT dated 28.06.2019.
Where this comes from
Text reproduced from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, as available on 2026-09-05. The explanation and practice notes above are GSTZone’s own, written for this hub. If you spot anything out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it — this hub is checked daily against CBIC.
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