Latest GST Guide For Freelancers In India

Goods and Services Tax or GST has been a hot and confusing topic for freelancers. Here is some clarity.

The original rule was that if you earned even a single rupee from outside the state where you filed your taxes, you had to register for GST and file taxes.

However, last week there has been some updates to this law. The latest update is welcome news for most of the freelancers in India.

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When To Get GST Registration

You need GST registration only if your gross total income is greater than 20,00,000/- INR (20 lakhs).

Gross total income = Gross total income from your state + Gross total income from out of state remittances + Gross total income from abroad.

The original rule was that you needed GST registration even if you are earning even one rupee from out of state remittances. However, this has been amended in favour of freelancers and small businesses.

Should You Pay GST For Foreign Income?

Income from abroad is exempt from GST.

However, if your gross total income (which includes income from abroad) is greater than 20 lakh INR, then you need GST registration. But you will be filing GST as zero percentage for the income from abroad.

The catch is that once you have GST registration you have to file GST for all income, both domestic and foreign. Even if it is zero percentage, you will have to do the paper work.

Note: I am not a CA, but this is the info I got from mine and which I cross verified online. Do your research or call your CA if you are in doubt.

Hello, I am Arun Basil Lal. Thank you for reading!

I am a WordPress product developer and creator of Image Attributes Pro. I am passionate about solving problems and travelling the world.

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10 Comments.

  1. Anand Subramanain says:

    This is what my CA mentioned as well. I avoided taking up Indian clients because I did not want to end up filing gst every month even when I was not making anything. 20 lakhs limit is good enough. That’s the time to start involving an accountant on retainer. Not when you are starting off! Thanks for writing about this.

  2. Edwin Basil Lal says:

    Thanks a lot for the information. Good work bro.

  3. Rahul Kumar says:

    Do I need to register for GST if I work for client other states of India. Please let me know.I wanted to reconfirm.

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