GST on Office Supplies and Corporate Gifts — A Practical Guide

GST rates to know

• Stationery, paper: 12-18%
• Packaged food/snacks: 5-18% (varies by item)
• Tea, coffee: 5%
• Water (20L can): 18%
• Corporate gifts (mixed): typically 18%
• Branded T-shirts: 5-12%
• Coffee vending machine (rental service): 18%

Input tax credit (ITC)

Eligible for most office-use items. NOT eligible for gifts given free to employees or clients (Section 17(5) of CGST Act). Food/beverages may have ITC restrictions — get CA confirmation.

E-invoice threshold — the number people get wrong

The e-invoice (IRN) requirement is set by your VENDOR's aggregate annual turnover, not by the value of the invoice. Any supplier whose AATO has crossed ₹5 crore in any financial year since 2017-18 must generate an IRN for B2B invoices, exports and SEZ supplies, and stays inside the mandate permanently even if a later year falls below it. There is no rupee threshold on the individual invoice: a ₹900 invoice from a ₹50 crore vendor needs an IRN, and a ₹5 lakh invoice from a ₹2 crore vendor does not.

This matters in both directions. Asking a small supplier for an IRN they are not required to issue will stall a genuine invoice; accepting a no-IRN invoice from a large supplier who should have raised one puts your ITC at risk, because an invoice that required an IRN and does not carry one is not a valid document for credit. Check the vendor's turnover band once, at onboarding, rather than invoice by invoice. Separately, from 1 April 2025 suppliers at ₹10 crore and above must report invoices to the IRP within 30 days of the invoice date, so a late-reported invoice can reach you without a valid IRN even from a vendor who normally issues them.

Common mistakes

• Vendor billed under personal entity — no ITC
• Invoice in company's trading name, not legal entity — no ITC
• Missing e-invoice above threshold — no ITC
• Claiming ITC on gift items — non-compliant