Clarification - biling system

[Guest]

We are registered as a courier agency, earlier we used to raise invoices to customers on 14 Days basis, but there is demand from most of the customers to raise invoices on Monthly basis. As per Service Tax rules it is mentioned that the Billing will have to be done on 14 day basis.. Kindly suggest us.

[Surender Gupta]

In fact if you do not raise invoice within 14 days from the date of provision of service the same may be treated as contravention of the provisions, practical difficulties may force the service provider to take such steps. Therefore, in the absence of any lenient view in the rules, it is purely your own decision to determine the timings.

AI Summary

Timely billing requirement may make delayed invoices a contravention of service tax rules; providers must choose billing cycle wisely. The operative compliance obligation requires invoices to be issued within 14 days of service provision; non compliance may amount to a contravention of service tax rules. Practical pressures, such as customer demand for monthly billing, may lead providers to adopt monthly invoicing, but absent an express relaxation, the choice of billing cycle remains the provider's decision and entails weighing compliance risk against operational convenience.