What a "general bill" actually is
India's GST regime classifies bills based on the seller's registration status, not the type of goods or services. The "general bill" template covers three legitimate forms a small business may issue, depending on its position in the GST framework:
- Tax invoice, issued by a regular GST-registered seller per Rule 46 of the CGST Rules. Charges GST. Buyer (if registered) can claim ITC.
- Bill of supply, issued by a composition-scheme seller (Section 10 CGST, turnover up to ₹1.5 crore for goods, ₹50 lakh for services) per Rule 49. No GST charged. Must carry the declaration "composition taxable person, not eligible to collect tax on supplies".
- Cash memo / receipt, issued by an unregistered seller below the GST threshold (₹40 lakh aggregate turnover for goods, ₹20 lakh for services). No GST charged. Plain document with seller and buyer details, items, total.
GST registration thresholds
The thresholds for mandatory GST registration in 2026 are:
- Goods seller, normal states: aggregate annual turnover above ₹40 lakh
- Goods seller, special-category states (NE + hill states): ₹20 lakh
- Service provider: ₹20 lakh (₹10 lakh in special-category states)
- E-commerce sellers: mandatory registration regardless of turnover
Below the threshold, registration is voluntary. Crossing it triggers a 30-day window to register.
Rule 46 invoice fields (when you ARE GST-registered)
- Supplier's name, address, GSTIN
- Consecutive invoice number (≤16 characters, unique per FY, alphanumeric + hyphen/slash only)
- Date of issue
- Recipient's name, address, GSTIN (mandatory for B2B above ₹50,000)
- HSN code for goods or SAC code for services
- Description, quantity, unit, rate of each line item
- Total taxable value, discount, net value
- GST rate split into CGST + SGST (intra-state) or IGST (inter-state)
- Place of supply (mandatory for inter-state)
- Whether tax is payable on reverse charge
- Supplier's signature or digital signature
₹2 lakh PAN reporting (Rule 114B)
Per Rule 114B of the Income Tax Rules, 1962, any sale or service transaction where the total value exceeds ₹2,00,000 requires the buyer's PAN to be quoted on the bill. This applies to cash, cheque, card and digital payments alike. The seller is responsible for capturing the PAN; non-compliance attracts penalties under Section 272B (₹10,000 per default).
Cash payment limits
- Section 269ST: No person should receive ₹2,00,000 or more from a single person in a single day, single transaction or single event in cash. Penalty: 100% of the amount received on the recipient.
- Section 40A(3): Cash payments above ₹10,000 to a single payee in a day are disallowed as a business expense (₹35,000 for transporters).
- Best practice for bills above ₹10,000: use UPI, bank transfer, cheque or card.
Multi-rate carts under Rule 46(l)
When a bill mixes goods and services at different GST rates, Rule 46(l) requires the invoice to show each rate's taxable value, CGST and SGST separately. Single-rate-applied bills are non-compliant when the cart actually mixes brackets. The generator's tax invoice mode produces this consolidation automatically.
Common mistakes
- Issuing a tax invoice from an unregistered shop. A non-GSTIN seller cannot charge GST. Use the cash-memo format.
- Composition seller charging GST. Composition is a no-GST scheme. Issue a bill of supply, not a tax invoice.
- Missing PAN on a ₹2 lakh-plus bill. Rule 114B violation, ₹10,000 penalty.
- Cash transactions above ₹2 lakh from one party. Section 269ST applies to the receiver.
- Invoice number with special characters. Only A-Z, a-z, 0-9, hyphen and slash allowed (Rule 46(b)).