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About this tool
Test an invoice on a foreign client against all five conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act, see which one fails, and price the GST that follows.
This checker tests one invoice raised on a foreign client against all five cumulative conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act, 2017 — supplier in India, recipient outside India, place of supply outside India, payment in convertible foreign exchange or in RBI-permitted rupees, and the two parties not being mere establishments of the same person — and names the exact clause that fails. It is built for freelancers and agencies billing abroad, because a single failed condition turns a zero-rated export into an ordinary 18% supply. It also works out the place of supply under section 13 including the intermediary rule in section 13(8)(b), compares the Letter of Undertaking route against paying IGST and claiming it back under section 16, and shows the month in which your entered monthly billing crosses the Rs 20 lakh registration threshold in section 22 of the CGST Act.
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Five conditions shown one by one with the clause number, not a bare yes or no.
Shows the rupees of CGST + SGST or IGST that follow when a condition fails, at the rate you enter.
Applies section 13(8)(b) and the tests in Circular No. 159/15/2021-GST to put the place of supply where the law puts it.
Runs your monthly billing month by month and returns the month the Rs 20 lakh threshold is exceeded, plus the section 25(1) deadline.
All five conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act, 2017 must hold together: the supplier is in India, the recipient is outside India, the place of supply is outside India, the payment comes in convertible foreign exchange or in Indian rupees wherever the RBI permits, and the supplier and recipient are not merely establishments of the same person under Explanation 1 to section 8. Miss any one and the supply is not an export — it is taxed like any other supply, which for most professional services means 18% under Notification No. 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate).
The usual reason is section 13(8)(b): if you arrange or facilitate a supply between your client and a third party rather than supplying on your own account, you are an intermediary and the place of supply is your own location in India. Condition (iii) of section 2(6) then fails, supplier and place of supply coincide, and section 8(2) of the IGST Act makes it an intra-State supply bearing 9% CGST plus 9% SGST. Circular No. 159/15/2021-GST dated 20 September 2021 sets the tests: three parties, two distinct supplies, and the character of an agent or broker — a sub-contractor supplying on his own account is not an intermediary.
Yes, if you want to invoice without tax. Section 16(3) of the IGST Act lets a registered person export under a Letter of Undertaking in Form GST RFD-11 — extended to every registered person by Notification No. 37/2017-Central Tax dated 4 October 2017 — and claim refund of unutilised input tax credit instead. Without an LUT the alternative under section 16(4) with Notification No. 01/2023-Integrated Tax is to pay IGST on the invoice and claim that tax back, which blocks the cash in the meantime. Under an LUT, rule 96A of the CGST Rules requires the foreign exchange to arrive within one year of the invoice; if it does not, the tax becomes payable within 15 days with interest at 18% a year under section 50(1).
Yes. Aggregate turnover in section 2(6) of the CGST Act expressly includes exports, so export-only billing counts towards the section 22(1) threshold of Rs 20 lakh — Rs 10 lakh in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Notification No. 10/2017-Integrated Tax dated 13 October 2017 keeps a supplier of services out of the compulsory inter-State registration in section 24(i) until that threshold is exceeded, and section 25(1) then gives 30 days from the date liability arises to apply.