GST on LED Display Boards and Signage
What rate applies, whether your invoice should read as goods or as works, and what to check before you pay.
LED signage supplied and installed is normally taxed at 18% GST. Every price on this site is quoted exclusive of it, and it is shown as a separate line on the quote and the invoice rather than folded into the headline figure.
Goods or works, and why the distinction exists
Supply-and-install is normally one composite supply rather than separate lines for panels, structure and labour, so one rate applies to the whole contract value. What is worth knowing is that this does not by itself make it a works contract. Works-contract treatment is tied to immovable property, and installing something does not make it immovable.
The practical test is whether the finished installation could be taken down and re-installed elsewhere. A screen on a bracket or a wall frame usually could, so the principal supply is the goods — the display is what is being bought, and a heading is the normal answer. A screen on a poured foundation, a hoarding gantry or a frame built into the structure is a different argument, and there the supply may qualify as a works contract taxed as a service.
A screen supplied loose and not installed, such as a movable digital standee, is more straightforwardly a supply of goods. A screen taken on hire for an event is a service, and so is maintenance after handover, subject to what the contract covers.
For most buyers the consequence of all this is how the invoice reads and which code appears on it rather than what the invoice totals — but confirm that with your accountant rather than assuming it, and ask the supplier which way they intend to invoice before you order. It belongs on the quotation.
Input tax credit
If you are GST-registered and the signage is for your business, the GST charged is generally creditable. But credit depends on the invoice being correct, so check these before you pay:
- Your GSTIN printed on the invoice, spelled exactly right
- The supplier's GSTIN, and their name matching their registration
- Place of supply stated, and the correct split — CGST plus SGST within the state, IGST across state lines
- HSN or SAC code shown
- Taxable value and tax amount shown separately, not just a total
A wrong GSTIN on the invoice is the most common reason credit gets stuck, and it is much easier to fix before payment than after filing.
Interstate supply
If we supply from Karnataka to a site in another state, that is an interstate supply and attracts IGST rather than CGST plus SGST. The total rate is the same; only the split differs. Your place of supply is the site, not your registered office, which occasionally surprises multi-location businesses.
What we do
We are registered under GSTIN 29AGZPJ7589A1ZL and issue a proper tax invoice on every order, with GST stated separately. If you need the invoice raised to a specific entity or GSTIN, tell us before we issue it — amending afterwards is possible but tedious for both of us.