GST for freelancers and remote workers

1) Do you need GST registration?

GST registration becomes mandatory once your aggregate turnover exceeds ₹20 lakhs in a financial year (₹10 lakhs for special category states).

2) Turnover vs taxable income

One of the most common mistakes is mixing up GST turnover with income-tax profit.

• Turnover: Total gross receipts. Used for GST threshold checks.
• Taxable Income: Net profit after expenses (or presumptive rules).

Example: ₹22L receipts means GST registration is mandatory even if presumptive income is much lower.

3) Address and filing setup

• Owned home: Property proof is usually sufficient.
• Rented home: Rent agreement plus landlord NOC for GST use.
• QRMP: Eligible taxpayers can file quarterly to reduce compliance load.

4) LUT, RCM, and refund strategy

File LUT at the start of every financial year to export services without paying IGST upfront.

• Without LUT: pay IGST and then claim refund (cashflow pain).
• RCM: Imported SaaS tools (Zoom, Slack, cloud services) can create GST liability.
• ITC refunds: GST paid on business expenses can often be recovered.