How many digits go on the invoice
Notification 78/2020 – Central Tax set the rule from 1 April 2021, by aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year:
| Turnover in the previous year | HSN digits on a tax invoice |
|---|---|
| Up to ₹5 crore | 4 |
| More than ₹5 crore | 6 |
A business with turnover up to ₹5 crore may leave the HSN digits off tax invoices for supplies to unregistered persons — that is, bills to ordinary consumers.
The code is hierarchical: the first two digits are the chapter, four the heading, six the sub-heading, and India uses eight for the full tariff item. The GST portal has an HSN and SAC search. Services are classified by SAC instead.
Example
If the full code on your purchase bill for an item is 1234 56 78 (an illustrative number, not a real item), a shop with ₹3 crore turnover last year prints 1234 on a B2B tax invoice and may leave it off a consumer's bill; a business above ₹5 crore prints 123456 on every tax invoice.
How Nivasik handles it
- Each POS item can carry its HSN or SAC code, and it travels onto every bill line.
- Reports go down to GST by HSN, with GSTR-1 data and a Tally import file (CSV) for your accountant.