GST for freelancers and consultants

Updated 11 October 2026

A freelancer must register for GST once total turnover from services crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh in a few special category states), and income from foreign clients counts towards that limit. Most freelance work, such as software, design, writing, marketing and consulting, is taxed at 18%. Work for foreign clients can be billed without GST under a letter of undertaking (LUT).

Do you need to register?

Turnover here means aggregate turnover: the value of all your taxable, exempt and export supplies across India under one PAN. It is gross fees billed, not profit, and it leaves out the GST itself. A salary from an employer does not count, because employment is not a supply under GST. The GST registration guide covers the application.

Charging GST to Indian clients

Once registered, you add GST to every invoice for an Indian client. For a client in your own state, charge 9% CGST plus 9% SGST; for one in another state, charge 18% IGST (see CGST, SGST and IGST). The invoice needs your GSTIN, the client's GSTIN if registered, the SAC code for your service, the place of supply and the tax amounts (see GST invoice rules). You then file returns and pay the tax you collected, minus the GST you paid on business purchases such as a laptop, software or a co-working desk. Registered clients claim your GST as credit, so for them it costs nothing extra.

Foreign clients: export of services

Work for a client abroad is an export of services, which is "zero-rated": no GST is charged, but you can still claim credit on business purchases. It qualifies only if all of these hold:

• you are in India and the client is outside India;
• the place of supply is outside India (usually the client's location; services tied to property or events in India are exceptions);
• you are paid in convertible foreign exchange, or in rupees where the RBI permits;
• you and the client are not merely offices of the same entity.

A registered freelancer exporting without charging GST files a letter of undertaking (Form RFD-11) on the GST portal before the first export invoice of each financial year, and must receive payment within one year of the invoice. The exports and LUT guide walks through it. Since 30 March 2026, intermediary services, such as an agent arranging supplies for a foreign principal, can also qualify as exports, after the Finance Act, 2026 changed the place-of-supply rule for them.

Freelance platforms and foreign tools

Fees charged by foreign freelance platforms and subscriptions to foreign software are imports of services. If you are registered, you generally pay 18% on such fees under reverse charge and claim the same amount as credit, so the net cost is nil. If you are not registered, the foreign provider may add GST to its bill instead.

The composition option

Service providers with turnover up to ₹50 lakh can choose to pay a flat 6% (3% CGST plus 3% SGST) of turnover instead of 18%, without credit. The catch: you cannot charge GST to clients, cannot claim credit and cannot make inter-state supplies, which rules out clients in other states or abroad. For most freelancers it does not fit. See the composition scheme guide.

GST is separate from income tax

GST is collected from clients and passed on to the government; it is not your income. Income tax is charged on profit, and freelancers in specified professions can use presumptive taxation, under which half of gross receipts is treated as profit (see presumptive taxation under 44AD and 44ADA). Indian clients may also deduct TDS from your fees, which you adjust against your income tax (see TDS and TCS). Use the GST calculator to add 18% to a quote.