01
Instructions
How the file works, and the one correction to read before anything else: buying from an unregistered supplier has not meant reverse charge since February 2019.
Self-Invoice & Payment Voucher: Which One Do You Owe?
Two documents, two different triggers, and most businesses issue neither. One is due only when your supplier is unregistered. The other is due on every reverse charge payment you ever make. This file tells you which you owe, gives you both to print, and keeps the register that proves you issued them. Updated September 2026.
- A five-step test that ends with the answer: both documents, one, or nothing at all
- Print-ready self-invoice and payment voucher formats, each with its own numbering series
- A 150-row register that totals the tax you owe in cash and flags anything left unissued or undecided
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Petpooja presents
Self-Invoice & Payment Voucher
For GST-registered businesses in India
2
Documents · two triggers
Excel · 6 sheets
What's Inside
Six sheets, and the second one gives you the answer
02
Do I Owe A Document
Five questions in order. The last one tells you whether you owe both documents, one of them, or nothing at all, plus the six things people believe that are not true.
03
Self-Invoice
Print-ready, under section 31(3)(f). Every field, including the ones there is no supplier GSTIN to fill, and its own numbering series.
04
Payment Voucher
Print-ready, under section 31(3)(g). The document almost nobody issues, and the one that is due on every reverse charge payment you make.
05
RCM Register
One row per supply. Totals the tax you owe in cash, counts how many needed a self-invoice, and flags anything left unissued or undecided.
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And a sixth: Verified Entries
The reverse charge entries we read at the notification itself, each with its source, and a plain note on the ones we could not verify, rather than a table we cannot stand behind.
Get the tax right at the bill
Petpooja Invoice does GST-compliant invoicing with the tax calculated automatically, and keeps billing and inventory in one place with every transaction recorded.
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Why This Matters
The rule everyone quotes was repealed in 2019
Ask almost anyone about reverse charge and you will hear the same sentence: buy from an unregistered supplier, pay the tax yourself, raise a self-invoice. It is repeated in guides, in webinars, and by a good number of accountants. It was true for about three months in 2017.
The original section 9(4) did work that way. It was suspended in October 2017, and then replaced outright with effect from 1 February 2019. What stands in its place is far narrower: the Government may notify a class of registered persons who pay reverse charge on specified categories bought from unregistered suppliers. So the liability is no longer automatic. It attaches only if you are in a class that has actually been notified, and the classes notified so far are narrow and specific. For ordinary trading, food service and professional businesses the answer is no, but it is worth confirming with your accountant rather than assuming either way.
Which leaves the question this file answers: when do you owe something? Reverse charge still applies to a list of notified services: freight from a transporter, an advocate's fee, sponsorship, a director's remuneration. And when it applies, there are two separate documents with two separate triggers, which is where even careful businesses come unstuck.
The self-invoice is due only if your supplier is unregistered. If they are registered, they invoice you and there is nothing for you to raise. The payment voucher is due either way, on every reverse charge payment you make. Our own GST audit preparation checklist puts it bluntly: receipt and payment vouchers are the documents businesses are least likely to have.
One more thing that trips people up at the end: reverse charge tax is paid in cash. You cannot discharge it out of input tax credit. The credit comes afterwards, on the strength of the documents you issued.
If your invoicing itself needs tidying first, the GST invoice template is the place to start, and the proforma invoice pack covers the documents that are not invoices at all.
Sample Preview
Four supplies, three different answers
Here's a preview of what you'll get inside:
Freight from an unregistered transporter:
reverse charge applies and the supplier is unregistered, so you owe
both: a self-invoice and a payment voucher
An unregistered advocate's fee: same
answer, both documents, and it is the unregistered part that makes the
self-invoice due. The entry names an individual advocate or a firm of advocates, and
an LLP counts as a firm
Security from a company: reverse charge
applies, but the supplier is registered, so they invoice you, and you owe the
payment voucher only. This is the row people get wrong
Vegetables from the local vendor:
unregistered, and it makes no difference. This is not a notified category, so there is
no reverse charge and nothing is due
The register adds it up: four supplies
logged, two that needed a self-invoice, nothing left unissued, and the tax payable
totalled separately because it has to be paid in cash
... plus the five-step test that produced those answers, both
document formats ready to print, and an honest list of which reverse charge entries we
could verify at the notification and which we could not.
Key Numbers
Three things worth knowing before you file
1 Feb 2019
The day the rule everyone still quotes stopped applying. Section 9(4) was substituted by the CGST (Amendment) Act 2018 and now only lets the Government notify a class of registered persons for specified categories from unregistered suppliers. Ordinary unregistered purchases are not caught.
Source: CGST Act 2017, s.9(4), as substituted w.e.f. 01-02-2019Two documents
Section 31(3)(f) requires an invoice for supplies received from a supplier who is not registered. Section 31(3)(g) requires a payment voucher at the time of making payment. Different triggers, different timing, and one of them applies even when the other does not.
Source: CGST Act 2017, s.31(3)(f) and s.31(3)(g)Paid in cash
Reverse charge liability cannot be discharged out of input tax credit. The credit ledger may only be used towards output tax, and output tax is defined to exclude tax payable on reverse charge. So it is paid in cash, and the credit is claimed afterwards on the strength of the documents you issued.
Source: CGST Act 2017, s.49(4) read with s.2(82), which excludes reverse charge tax from “output tax”
Common Mistakes
6 mistakes that cost credit or invite a notice
01
Self-invoicing every unregistered purchase
The commonest one, and it creates work nobody owes. Since February 2019, buying from an unregistered supplier does not by itself put you on reverse charge. Check whether the supply is a notified category before you raise anything.
02
Skipping the payment voucher because the supplier is registered
A registered supplier invoices you, so there is no self-invoice. The payment voucher is a separate requirement and is due anyway. This is the row most businesses get wrong, and our own GST audit checklist flags it as the document least likely to exist.
03
Reading the service and not the recipient
Every entry names a supplier in one column and a recipient in another, and both have to match. A director's services are reverse charge when supplied to a company or body corporate, not to a proprietor.
04
Numbering self-invoices in your sales series
They are not sales. Mixed into the same series they distort your outward supplies and are painful to explain later. Give each document its own continuous series, as the file does.
05
Paying the reverse charge tax out of credit
It has to be paid in cash. Netting it against input tax credit is a common shortcut and it does not work. Claim the credit afterwards, separately.
06
Never asking whether the supplier is registered
It is one question, and it decides which document you owe. Ask at the time, record the answer, and keep it. Deciding a year later from memory is how the register ends up guessed. If the invoicing itself is the weak point, the GST invoice template comes first.
Comparison
A typical RCM article vs this file
| Aspect | What most guides say | With this file |
|---|---|---|
| Whether you owe anything at all | "Unregistered purchase = RCM": repealed in 2019 | A five-step test that ends in a yes or a no |
| Which document | Usually treated as one thing | Two documents, with the trigger for each spelled out |
| The payment voucher | Rarely mentioned | A format, and the reason it is due even for registered suppliers |
| Fields with no supplier GSTIN | Not addressed | Laid out, because that is the whole point of a self-invoice |
| Proof you issued them | Not covered | A 150-row register that flags anything unissued |
| Paying the tax | Often silent | Stated: cash, not credit, with the total kept separate |
| Which entries are current | A confident full table | Only what we read at the notification, and a plain note on the rest |
Swipe the table sideways to see the full comparison.
Know what you owe, then prove you issued it
Download the free pack, work through the five steps, and start the register today.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to self-invoice purchases from unregistered suppliers?
Almost certainly not. That was the original section 9(4), which applied from 1 July 2017, was suspended in October 2017, and was replaced outright with effect from 1 February 2019. The section now only lets the Government notify a class of registered persons who pay reverse charge on specified categories bought from unregistered suppliers, and the classes notified so far are narrow and specific. So buying from an unregistered supplier does not, by itself, create a reverse charge liability or a self-invoice. It does so only if you fall inside a notified class, which is worth confirming with your accountant rather than assuming. This is general guidance and not tax advice.
What is the difference between a self-invoice and a payment voucher?
They are two documents with two different triggers, and you can owe one without the other. Section 31(3)(f) requires an invoice for goods or services received from a supplier who is not registered, so the self-invoice arises only when reverse charge applies and your supplier is unregistered. Section 31(3)(g) requires a payment voucher at the time of making payment to the supplier, and that one is due on every reverse charge payment, whether the supplier is registered or not. The most common error is treating them as the same thing, or skipping the voucher because the supplier issued an invoice.
My supplier is registered. Do I still owe anything under reverse charge?
Yes, a payment voucher. Because they are registered, they issue the invoice and there is nothing for you to self-invoice. But section 31(3)(g) attaches to the payment, not to the registration status of the supplier. Our own GST audit preparation checklist notes that receipt and payment vouchers are the documents businesses are least likely to have, which is precisely why this one is worth setting up properly.
Which services actually attract reverse charge?
The categories are notified under section 9(3), in Notification 13/2017-Central Tax (Rate), and the list has been amended repeatedly, and the department’s own rate-notification index carries the amendments separately. The entries we read at the notification itself include a goods transport agency, an individual advocate or firm of advocates, an arbitral tribunal, sponsorship, a director of a company or body corporate, an insurance agent, a recovery agent, and a copyright transfer by an author or composer. We have deliberately not reprinted the full table: there is no consolidated version published, several amending notifications are no longer reachable on the department's own website, and a list we cannot verify end to end is worse than none. The file names what we verified and says plainly what to check for yourself.
Can I pay reverse charge tax using my input tax credit?
No. Reverse charge liability is discharged in cash. The input tax credit is claimed afterwards, subject to the usual conditions, and the documents you issued are what support it. This is general guidance and not tax advice; confirm your own position with your accountant. Netting the two against each other is a common shortcut that does not work, and it is worth keeping the two steps visibly separate in your books.
How should I number self-invoices?
In their own continuous series, separate from your sales invoices. They are not outward supplies, and mixing them into the sales series distorts your outward figures and is awkward to unpick later. The file gives the self-invoice and the payment voucher a numbering field each for that reason. If your sales invoicing needs sorting out first, start with the GST invoice template.
About Petpooja
Petpooja is India's leading SME business software suite, trusted by 1,50,000+ businesses across restaurants, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. From billing and payroll to task management and procurement, Petpooja helps Indian businesses run better, every day.
The record is already there
Petpooja Invoice keeps billing and inventory in one place, with every transaction recorded, so the purchase side of a reverse charge entry is already written down when you come to issue the document.
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