Professional services
An event manager's invoice must show whether the company is billing a composite event package or its fee plus vendor costs. Event, exhibition and conference organisation is SAC 998596 at 18%. Where the firm contracts venue, decor, sound and catering in its own name and resells them, they are part of its supply. List the event name, date and venue, and break the package into management fee, production and logistics so the client can check costs against the approved budget and the advances already paid.
Download this format free
Pre-filled with event manager sample items and fields. No sign-up.
Or create these invoices in software, free| Description | HSN/SAC | Qty | Rate (₹) | Taxable (₹) | GST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event management fee for annual dealer meet, 10% of production cost | 998596 | 1 OTH | 1,20,000.00 | 1,20,000.00 | 18% |
| Stage, lighting and LED wall fabrication and setup | 998596 | 1 OTH | 3,50,000.00 | 3,50,000.00 | 18% |
| Sound and AV equipment hire with technicians, one day | 998596 | 1 OTH | 90,000.00 | 90,000.00 | 18% |
| Guest registration desk and hospitality staff, 12 persons | 998596 | 12 NOS | 3,000.00 | 36,000.00 | 18% |
| Anchor and performing artist arrangement | 998596 | 1 OTH | 1,50,000.00 | 1,50,000.00 | 18% |
| Taxable value | ₹7,46,000.00 | ||||
| GST (CGST + SGST, or IGST if inter-state) | ₹1,34,280.00 | ||||
| Invoice total | ₹8,80,280.00 | ||||
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:
Read more: Billing for Service Businesses: Models, GST and Best Practice · Advance Payment Under GST: Receipt Vouchers, Tax and Adjustment · Credit Note Under GST: When, How and By When to Issue It · TDS on Invoices: How Section 393 Changes Billing from April 2026
The SAC list places events, exhibitions, conventions and trade show organisation and assistance services at 998596, taxed at 18%. An agency that supplies a full event under one contract is usually making a composite supply where event organisation is the principal supply, so the whole package takes 18% even if it includes some goods such as printed backdrops or gifts. Separate supplies priced and contracted on their own, like a hamper order, take their own rates.
Food is the main trap. If the agency itself contracts the caterer and bills the client a single event price, catering is part of the composite event service at 18%. If the client contracts the caterer directly, the caterer bills the client under its own outdoor catering rules. Agencies should decide the structure before quoting, because changing it after the event means credit notes and revised invoices.
Services by way of organising an event are generally supplied where the event takes place when the client is unregistered, and at the client's location when the client is registered. A Mumbai company holding a conference in Goa through a Mumbai agency usually gets an invoice with Maharashtra GST, while a family booking a destination wedding gets the tax of the venue's state. Reading the rule correctly decides whether IGST or CGST and SGST is charged.
Event clients pay large advances. GST is due on each advance when received, through a receipt voucher. If the event is cancelled, the agency issues a refund voucher for amounts returned; cancellation charges retained are taxable at 18% as a separate supply of agreeing to tolerate an act or as part of the original service, depending on the contract.
Companies usually deduct TDS under section 194C on event contracts and under 194J on fees for professional artists. The agency should report gross amounts and reconcile TDS certificates against each invoice.
Agencies that run stalls at trade fairs or organise exhibitions also use 998596. Where the agency rents exhibition space from the organiser and builds a stall for a client, the space rent and the stall fabrication are both part of what the agency supplies, and the invoice should show stall size in square metres, the exhibition name and dates, and the fabrication and dismantling charges. For an overseas exhibitor taking space at an Indian fair, the place of supply for services related to an event held in India is generally India, so these are not exports even though the client pays in foreign exchange.
Event, exhibition and conference organisation services under SAC 998596 are taxed at 18%.
When the agency contracts vendors in its own name and sells a package, GST applies on the full package value. Only true pure-agent payments made in the client's name are excluded.
Amounts retained on cancellation are generally treated as consideration for a service and are taxable at 18%. Issue an invoice for the retained portion.
For a registered business client, the place of supply is usually the client's location. For an unregistered client it is where the event is held.
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)
More formats: Advertising Agency · BPO and Call Centre · CA Firm · Cloud Hosting Provider · Coaching Centre · Company Secretary · Corporate Trainer · Detective Agency · all businesses