Professional services
A corporate trainer's invoice should describe the programme, dates, number of training days, participants and delivery mode (classroom, virtual or blended), with venue, travel and materials shown as separate lines if they are billed. Commercial training and coaching is SAC 999293 at 18%, since corporate workshops do not lead to a qualification recognised by law. Certification fees paid to an external body in the client's name can be pure-agent costs; everything the trainer contracts in its own name is part of the taxable fee.
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Or create these invoices in software, free| Description | HSN/SAC | Qty | Rate (₹) | Taxable (₹) | GST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leadership development workshop, middle managers, two days | 999293 | 2 OTH | 60,000.00 | 1,20,000.00 | 18% |
| Sales negotiation training, virtual, three half-day sessions | 999293 | 3 OTH | 25,000.00 | 75,000.00 | 18% |
| Psychometric assessment licences, per participant | 999293 | 25 NOS | 1,500.00 | 37,500.00 | 18% |
| Training workbooks and participant kits | 999293 | 25 NOS | 400.00 | 10,000.00 | 18% |
| Trainer travel and stay for outstation programme | 999293 | 1 OTH | 22,000.00 | 22,000.00 | 18% |
| Taxable value | ₹2,64,500.00 | ||||
| GST (CGST + SGST, or IGST if inter-state) | ₹47,610.00 | ||||
| Invoice total | ₹3,12,110.00 | ||||
Sample prices are illustrative. Check the GST rate for your exact item or service before billing.
Rule 46 of the CGST Rules applies to every tax invoice, including this one:
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The education exemption applies to services by educational institutions as part of a curriculum for a qualification recognised by law, and to a few specified government-approved skill programmes. Corporate workshops, soft-skills sessions and technical training for employees are none of these. They fall under commercial training and coaching, 999293, taxed at 18% as education services that are not exempt. The September 2025 rate changes did not change this.
When the trainer organises a residential programme at a hotel and bills one price for training, rooms and food, the supply is generally composite with training as the principal supply, taxed at 18% on the whole. If the client books the hotel directly, the hotel bills the client and the trainer bills only its fee. Decide the model in the proposal: putting hotel rooms on a training invoice at a hotel rate is not correct when training is the principal supply.
Virtual training delivered to a foreign company's staff can be an export of services where the client is outside India and pays in foreign exchange. Training delivered in person in India to a foreign company's visiting staff is performed in India, and the place of supply for services requiring physical presence may be India, so check the rule before zero-rating.
Some training under specified government skill development schemes is exempt when provided by approved training partners. A corporate trainer not approved under those schemes, or training outside them, charges 18%. Keep the scheme approval letter with any exempt invoice.
A freelance trainer with turnover under ₹20 lakh need not register. Many corporate clients prefer registered trainers for credit. TDS under section 194J is commonly deducted on training fees.
Corporate programmes are often postponed. Fees retained on late cancellation are taxable at 18%. If an advance was taxed and the programme is cancelled with refund, issue a refund voucher.
Training companies increasingly sell self-paced e-learning courses and learning platform licences alongside live workshops. A licence to access a library of online courses with no live trainer is closer to an online content or IT service than to classroom coaching, though the rate for both is 18%. Invoice such licences per user and per period, with the course catalogue or platform name, and keep them separate from instructor-led days. For foreign learners buying courses directly, online supply rules apply, and the training company should check whether the buyer is in India before deciding the tax. Bundled packages that mix both should show the components so the client can renew one without the other.
Corporate and commercial training under SAC 999293 is taxed at 18%.
Yes, at 18% for Indian clients. For foreign clients it can be an export under LUT.
Yes. Use the participant count as quantity and the per-head fee as the rate, naming the batch and dates.
If supplied as part of the programme, they take the training rate. Separately sold books follow their own goods rate.
Per user and per period, as separate lines from live training days, at 18% GST.
No. Registration is required only after aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh (₹10 lakh in special category states), though many trainers register early because companies prefer to claim input tax credit on training fees.
Sources: PIB — Recommendations of the 56th GST Council (Annexure III, services rate changes) · GSTN — Official HSN/SAC master list (SAC_MSTR sheet) · GST Council — Notification 11/2017-CT(Rate), services rates (consolidated)
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