NUMBERING OF INVOICES.

[Padmanathan KV]

RULE 48(b) OF THE CGST RULES DEALING WITH INVOICE NUMBERING ENDS AS FOLLOWS"UNIQUE FOR A FINANCIAL YEAR" WHAT DOES IT MEAN? CAN WE USE SL.NO.1TO 5000 IN FY 2017-18 AND AGAIN START WITH SL NO. 1 IN 2018-19?

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

You cannot start from one again. The number should be unique for each financial year.

[YAGAY and SUN]

In addition to reply by Mr. Kalyani, in simple words unique means, not used earlier. for example in 2017 -18 you choose T/0000001 then for 2018-2019 it must be B/000001/18-19

[CSSANJAY MALHOTRA]

GSTN GSTR-1 will show processing error if same serial no of invoices is used.

[KASTURI SETHI]

Unique means with a difference.I support the views of all expert.

[DR.MARIAPPAN GOVINDARAJAN]

I endorse the views of Shri Sanjay Malhotra

AI Summary

Invoice numbering uniqueness must prevent reuse across financial years to avoid GST return processing errors.
Rule 48(b) requires invoice numbers to be unique for a financial year, meaning serials used in one year must not be reused in another. Taxpayers should adopt a year-identifying prefix or change the series at the start of a new financial year to maintain uniqueness and avoid GSTN/GSTR 1 processing errors.