The provisions of Service tax require that the invoices/bills/challans issued by the service provider to the service recipients are duly signed by the service provider or by the person authorized by him on his behalf. I happened to see some invoices without signature and there is a remark that 'since computer generated bills no signature is required'. Whether it is allowed? The views of the experts are solicited.
M. GOVINDARAJAN
Invoice signature requirement: service tax invoices must be signed; no general exemption for computer generated bills. Service tax provisions require that invoices, bills, or challans issued to service recipients be signed by the service provider or an authorized person; there is no general exemption for computer generated invoices under the service tax law, with the banking sector noted as the only identified exemption. (AI Summary)