GST Export Invoice with Foreign Currency Billing

Most businesses that deal under GST already know the invoice format requirements, but some questions arise when they do business with foreign clients with the place of supply outside of India.
Many templates for export invoices can be found online, but most of them miss some critical GST requirements and business owner have a hard time with them when it comes to filing GST reports.

What is an export invoice?

An export invoice is a GST tax invoice that you create for clients who have the place of supply outside of India. Most often than not, these clients request their invoice to have a foreign currency on it. While most of the format and requirements stay the same as for any other GST tax invoice, some extra details need to be added.

What does an export invoice under GST contain?

An export invoice should contain the following:

Name, address, and GSTIN of the supplier - just like in a tax invoice for India;
Invoice number (a numeric series specific to a financial year);
Date of issue
Due date

This is where things in an export invoice change, so you should be adding information such as:

Name, billing /, shipping address of the recipient (the country of the recipient is different than India, in place of supply should be “Outside India”).
You will need to select and add the type of export.

There are 3 types of export from which you can choose:

Export under Bond/ LUT - supply of goods, services or both, under bond or letter of undertaking, without paying IGST. You can claim a refund of unutilized ITC on purchases of inputs used for supplying the respective exported goods or services.

Export with IGST - Any exporter, agencies such as UN, any Embassy or others, who supply goods or services, paying IGST. You can claim a refund on the IGST paid on the supplied goods or services.

SEZ with IGST - Since the supply of goods and services to SEZ is treated as a zero-rated supply, no IGST has to be paid on this type of supply. When entering the GSTIN of the recipient, the country of supply will be selected as India and the currency of the invoice will be INR.

In your export invoice, there should be a line in the lower half, that mentions the type of export you are supplying under.

Example: Supply meant for export on payment of integrated tax.

Add information about the Shipping Bill: date, number and port code.
You can create an export invoice without these details, but you will need this information if you wish to claim a refund of taxes paid.
Set the conversion rate: this is needed for transparency and for proper calculation. As your GST invoices for export will also appear in GST reports in INR, you will need both INR and the foreign currency on your invoice. This rate will be mentioned on the bill of export issued by the customs authorities.
Add details related to quantity, units of measurements, description of items.
Tax rate applicable to each item, with tax amount shown in separate columns (ex. IGST, CESS if applicable).
Signature (or digital signature) of the authorized person.
At the end of the invoice, you should have your total value of the bill in terms of INR and the foreign currency.

This is an example of how your GST export invoice could look like if you would make it with Sleek Bill:

How to make an export invoice in Sleek Bill?

It’s a very easy process and it’s just like creating any GST tax invoice, it takes 2 minutes tops. When you create a new tax invoice in Sleek Bill and select a non-India client, you will be prompted with our optimized template with your preferred currency, shipping bill info option and selecting the type of export for your supply. Currently, we support all three types: Export under Bond/LUT, Export with IGST, SEZ with IGST.
Our export invoice template is designed to be GST compliant and all your invoices are automatically entered in GSTR1, ensuring that you have no issues with compliance.

If you want to find out more details about how to do this in Sleek Bill, check out our step by step article

GST Explained

What is GST bill?

GST, short for Goods and Services tax, is a new tax that will be imposed on the sale and purchase of goods and services in India. GST is meant to replace all taxes in India with a single unified tax applied to value addition instead of the total value of the product at each stage in the supply chain.

This method provides credit for the input tax paid on the purchase of goods and services, which can be offset with the tax to be paid on the supply of goods and services. As a result, this reduces the overall manufacturing cost, with the end customer paying less.

Which goods and services are exempted from GST?

With certain current taxes remaining, the following goods and services will be fully or partially exempted from the GST

What are the GST benefits for your business?

Free movement of goods: Business owners will be able to sell more in other states without having to worry about interstate transaction costs. With GST, the entry tax will be eliminated, which will save time and money spent.

What taxes does GST replace?

Currently, there are many indirect taxes that both the state and central governments are collecting on every purchase and sale.

How will GST work in practice?

The GST will follow a similar model with the one before it

What is the proposed GST rate?

GST will have a 4-tier tax structure

Why is GST being introduced in India?

One of the main reasons for GST being introduced in India is the tax burden that falls both on companies and consumers. With the current tax system, there are multiple taxes added at each stage of the supply chain, without taking credit for taxes paid at previous stages. As a result, the end cost of the product does not clearly show the actual cost of the product and how much tax was applied. This cascading structure is too complex and inefficient.

How will Inter-state transactions work in GST?

For inter-state transactions, the Centre will levy Integrated GST (IGST), which is equal to the average of the CGST and SGST rates. After applying IGST, CGST and SGST credits received from purchases, the seller will then pay the remaining IGST on the added value.

What is the exemption limit in the GST?

Businesses with turnover revenue of 20 lakhs and above will have to register and file for GST returns, with a threshold of 10 lakhs for businesses in the north east and hill states.

How will imports be handled in GST?

A combination of CGST and SGST will be applied to the import of goods and services that come to India. Tax benefits and credits will be given to the state where the imported goods and services are consumed.