GST for Influencers in India: A Practical Guide to Invoicing Brands

Many Indian creators earn recurring income from brand deals for a year or two before learning that GST applies to it as it does to other service businesses. This isn't tax advice for your situation. Talk to a CA about your numbers. This guide explains the parts that matter in plain language, so you can start a conversation with an accountant from an informed place.

Do you even need to register for GST?

The general services threshold is often stated as ₹20 lakh of aggregate turnover, with lower thresholds and other exceptions in some cases. It is a PAN-wide measure, not a separate allowance for each social account or client. Whether a particular receipt counts, and whether an exception requires registration earlier, depends on the facts. Use the CBIC's GST guidance as a starting point and have a CA review your mix of brand, affiliate, platform and product income.

What rate applies to a sponsored post?

Do not copy a rate from another creator's invoice. The service classification, place of supply and contract determine the tax line. The CBIC circular on paid guest-anchor services illustrates that creator-like work can be taxable, but it is not a rate ruling for every influencer arrangement. Confirm the current rate for your own deliverable before invoicing.

How GST actually shows up on the invoice

When GST applies and your agreed fee is exclusive of tax, show the fee and GST as separate lines and add them to the amount due. If the contract says the price is tax-inclusive, the calculation differs. Confirm which price you agreed before sending the invoice. GST you collect must then be accounted for in your filings.

TDS: the part on the other side of the transaction

Separately from GST, a payer may have to deduct TDS (Tax Deducted at Source). The applicable category, rate and threshold depend on the contract and payer. The familiar sections 194C and 194J are references to the 1961 Act. For sums first credited or paid from April 1, 2026, the Income Tax Department says the 2025 Act's section 393 applies. Ask the payer which category they used and obtain the withholding record so your accountant can reconcile it with your tax account.

A useful way to hold both ideas at once: GST is tax you collect and pass on. TDS is tax the brand withholds on your behalf. They move in opposite directions, apply to different parts of the transaction, and neither should quietly cancel the other out in your own bookkeeping.

What this means for your invoice numbers

Show the fee and any applicable GST clearly. If the payer will withhold TDS, a note can set expectations, but the actual deduction should come from the payer's statement and certificate. Record the invoice total, verified TDS and amount received separately. Investigate any remaining difference rather than assuming the brand paid in full.

A few things worth doing regardless of your exact numbers

• Set aside a fixed percentage of each payment for tax as soon as it arrives. See our guide to creator income and tax reserves for more.
• Number every invoice sequentially, without gaps, for GST filing.
• Reconcile what you invoiced against what actually landed, quarterly at minimum, so a TDS-driven "shortfall" never gets mistaken for a brand that underpaid you.
• Talk to a CA when your income becomes recurring, not only once it is large. Good habits are easier to build early.

knit.bio can apply the rates you enter and help keep the invoice and payment records together; it cannot determine the right rates for you. Review current GST guidance and TDS transition guidance with a CA before relying on an invoice template.