Is this invoice genuine?
Received an invoice you are not sure about? Check the GSTIN, the tax arithmetic, the HSN code and the invoice format in seconds. A fabricated GST invoice usually fails at least one of these.
What gets checked
Most guides tell you to do this by hand across the GST portal, the CBIC rate chart and an HSN lookup. Five of the six are mechanical, and we do those from the invoice itself.
A GSTIN is 15 characters with a checksum derived from the preceding fourteen. An invented number almost never satisfies it.
Place of supply, HSN or SAC, reverse charge status, invoice number and date. Fabricated documents usually omit something.
An arbitrary rate, or one worked backwards from a round total, is not something a compliant billing system produces.
Taxable value × rate must equal the tax charged, and CGST and SGST must be equal halves. Fakes often fail here.
Maximum 16 characters, permitted characters only, and a date that is neither in the future nor before the supplier was registered.
This one needs the GST portal — check whether the invoice appears in your GSTR-2B. No tool reading only the invoice can tell you.
What we cannot tell you: whether the supplier has actually paid the tax and reported the invoice. That lives on the GST portal, and it is what your input tax credit ultimately depends on under Section 16(2)(c). Check your GSTR-2B for that — anyone claiming to verify it from the invoice alone is overstating what is possible.
Checking one invoice, or a supplier's whole file?
One invoice takes about a minute. If you are reviewing a batch of supplier invoices before releasing payment or claiming credit, upload the lot at once.
General information about Indian GST, not tax advice. If you believe an invoice has been deliberately fabricated, it can be reported to the GST authorities through the grievance facility on gst.gov.in.