Key Takeaways
- Taxpayers with aggregate turnover above ₹5 crore must issue e-invoices for supplies to registered businesses, so many larger hotels now report their B2B invoices to the government.
- Since October 2023, a recipient can download the e-invoices issued to its GSTIN from the e-invoice portal, for up to six months from the date the invoice reference number was generated.
- That data lets finance check each stay’s GSTIN, tax type and value against the booking. It does not cover stays with no e-invoice, which need a separate follow-up.
For most companies, hotel GST has been hard to check. Invoices arrive in different formats from hundreds of properties, usually through travellers’ expense claims. Many are never compared with the booking at all. The GST e-invoicing system changes that for a large share of business stays, because the invoice data now sits in a government system that the guest’s company can access.
What a Hotel E-Invoice Is
E-invoicing applies to taxpayers whose aggregate turnover exceeds ₹5 crore, a threshold that has applied since 1 August 2023 under Notification No. 10/2023–Central Tax. It covers tax invoices, credit notes and debit notes for supplies to registered businesses. A hotel above the threshold that bills a stay to your GSTIN must report that invoice to an Invoice Registration Portal, which returns an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a signed QR code.
The invoice is still the hotel’s tax invoice, and it must carry the particulars set out in Rule 46 of the CGST Rules: among them the recipient’s name, address and GSTIN, the taxable value, and the rate and amount of central, state or integrated tax. For an e-invoice, Rule 46 also requires a QR code with the IRN embedded in it.
If a stay was billed to your GSTIN by a hotel that issues e-invoices, there is a government record of it, with the GSTIN, the tax and the value as the hotel reported them.
What Finance Can Now Download
In October 2023, the GST Network made a download facility live on the e-invoice portal. Taxpayers can download e-invoices they generated and, as recipients, e-invoices issued to them. The data is available for up to six months from the date the IRN was generated.
That six-month window matters. It means the e-invoice route works best as a monthly routine, not a year-end exercise. Stays from earlier periods can still be checked against the invoices you hold, but the government data for them may no longer be available to download.
Five Checks the Data Makes Possible
With the e-invoices in hand and a booking report from your travel agency or booking tool, each stay can be tested in a consistent way.
- Is there an e-invoice for the stay?Match on the hotel’s GSTIN, the check-out date and the amount. A booking with no matching e-invoice needs a follow-up.
- Is it billed to the right GSTIN?The invoice should name your registration in the state where the hotel is located.
- Is the tax type right?A stay is normally taxed as CGST and SGST of the hotel’s state, not IGST.
- Does the value agree with the booking?Extra nights, early check-outs, food and laundry often explain differences. Each one needs a look.
- Is the rate what you expected?Rates on hotel accommodation changed on 22 September 2025, so check the rate against the room value.
What the Data Cannot Tell You
The e-invoice system only holds invoices that hotels were required to report and did report. Smaller hotels below the threshold are not required to issue e-invoices, and a stay billed without a GSTIN produces a consumer bill rather than a B2B e-invoice. Neither will appear in the data you download.
Those stays are not necessarily lost, but they need a different route: someone has to contact the property, usually through the travel desk or agency, to obtain a proper tax invoice billed to the right GSTIN. The e-invoice data makes it much easier to see exactly which stays fall into that group.
Nor does the data decide eligibility for you. Whether credit is available still depends on the conditions in sections 16 and 17 of the CGST Act, including that the stay was for business and that the invoice appears in your GSTR-2B. Since 22 September 2025, rooms valued at ₹7,500 or less per unit per day are taxed at 5% without input tax credit, and rooms above that at 18%. Views differ on what the 5% condition means for a business guest’s own credit, so that question should be checked case by case with your tax advisers.
Timing Matters
Two clocks run at once. The e-invoice data is downloadable for six months, and input tax credit for a financial year must be claimed by 30 November of the following year or the date the annual return is filed, whichever is earlier, under section 16(4) of the CGST Act. A monthly check keeps both in view: invoices are reviewed while the data is available and while there is still time to have errors corrected.
The data to check every larger hotel stay now exists. The question is whether anyone looks at it each month.Ashish Kumar, Managing Partner
How TraCarta Helps
Our Hotel GST Reconciliation works only with GST e-invoices from the government e-invoice system. With your approval of API access, and no passwords shared, we pull every hotel e-invoice billed to your GSTINs, match each one to your bookings and check the GSTIN, tax type and value. Each month you receive a reconciliation showing what can be claimed, what needs review and what needs correcting, with a copy of every matched e-invoice. Stays with no e-invoice, and invoices that need correcting, are flagged with exactly what is needed, for your travel desk or travel agency to follow up.
Sources
- GSTN advisory on e-invoice download from the e-invoice portal, October 2023
- CBIC, Notification No. 10/2023–Central Tax (e-invoicing threshold)
- CBIC, CGST Rules, 2017 (rule 46)
- CBIC, CGST Act, 2017 (sections 16 and 17)
- CBIC, Notification No. 15/2025–Central Tax (Rate)
General information only, not tax advice. Check the current law and your facts before acting.
