GST on freelance invoices in India: a plain-language guide

If you're freelancing or running a small agency in India, GST (Goods and Services Tax) shows up on almost every invoice you raise once you're registered. The rules are simpler than they look once you separate two questions: what rate applies, and how it splits.

What rate applies to your services

Most professional services (design, development, consulting, marketing) fall under the standard GST slabs: 5%, 12%, 18%, or 28%, depending on the specific service classification. 18% is the most common rate for professional and consulting services. Check your specific service category or ask your accountant if you are unsure which slab applies to you.

CGST + SGST vs IGST: the part that actually confuses people

This is not about the rate, it is about where your client is registered relative to you.

• Intra-state (you and your client are registered in the same state): the GST splits evenly into CGST (Central GST) and SGST (State GST), each at half the total rate. An 18% invoice becomes 9% CGST + 9% SGST.
• Inter-state (you and your client are in different states): the full rate is charged as IGST (Integrated GST) instead of splitting.

A worked example

Say you invoice a client ₹50,000 for a project, at 18% GST, and the client is in a different state.

• Taxable value: ₹50,000
• IGST (18%): ₹9,000
• Total invoice: ₹59,000

If that same client were in your state instead, the ₹9,000 would split into ₹4,500 CGST and ₹4,500 SGST, with the same ₹59,000 total.

You can run this calculation instantly, in either direction (adding GST to a base amount, or extracting it from a total that already includes tax), with the free GST Calculator.

Putting it on the invoice

Whichever split applies, it needs to show as separate line items on the invoice, not folded into one tax figure. Helium Suite's invoicing supports tax as a line item, and the free Invoice Generator produces a clean, print-ready PDF with the breakdown shown clearly.