Why the GST invoice matters
Buy a server from a foreign provider on a card and you get a card statement in dollars, a forex conversion by your card issuer, and a reverse-charge obligation: you self-assess GST on the import of services and file it yourself, with nothing appearing in your GSTR-2B.
Buy from a GST-registered Indian supplier and the price is in rupees, GST is charged on the invoice, and the invoice is reported so it shows up in your GSTR-2B. A registered business claims the whole tax back as input credit, which makes the GST a pass-through rather than a cost. The GST billing page sets the two side by side.
Set up your GSTIN before the first order
Input credit depends on your GSTIN being on the invoice, and it can only be printed there if it is on the account before the invoice is raised. Add your GSTIN, legal name and billing state in the panel first.
The billing state decides the tax split. A customer in the same state as the supplier (Uttar Pradesh) is charged CGST and SGST in equal halves; a customer in any other Indian state is charged IGST on one line. The total is 18% either way and is claimable in full. Customers outside India are invoiced from the USD price list as a zero-rated export.
What the tax invoice shows
Every paid order and renewal produces a GST tax invoice, downloadable as a PDF from the panel, with:
- The supplier's GSTIN (Blazing Bullet Private Limited, Noida) and your GSTIN and legal name.
- SAC 998315, the services code for cloud and hosting services.
- Place of supply, taken from your billing state.
- The tax split: CGST and SGST, or IGST.
- A sequential invoice number per financial year.
- The payment reference: the UPI, card or net-banking transaction id.
Claiming input tax credit
The invoice is reported in the supplier's GSTR-1, so it appears in your GSTR-2B for matching. Hand the PDF to your CA, or match it yourself in the return, and claim the 18% back. If the GSTIN was missing when the invoice was raised, it cannot be claimed against that invoice, which is why the account setup comes first.
Paying for a VPS by UPI
Scan and pay from any UPI app; the wallet credits instantly. Indian debit and credit cards and net-banking work the same way. Term plans are billed upfront at order time; hourly usage draws down a prepaid wallet and is billed in arrears. The transaction id is recorded on the invoice as the payment reference.
Customers outside India pay by card in USD. Indian customers are billed in rupees, so there is no forex conversion on the price.
Credit notes, hourly usage and upgrades
Cancel a monthly or longer plan early and the unused part comes back to the wallet, prorated, with a GST credit note against the invoice that paid for it. Hourly usage is invoiced with GST in the same way as a term plan. Upgrades during a term are charged pro-rata for the remaining term at the same discount, with an invoice for the difference.
Buying a VPS with a GST invoice: step by step
- Create an account and complete eKYC
Verify once with Aadhaar/DigiLocker or an ID document, as CERT-In requires.
- Add your GSTIN
Enter the GSTIN, legal name and billing state in the panel before you order.
- Choose the server
Pick a plan on the VPS page or an exact size on the builder, choose Linux or Windows, and hourly or a term.
- Pay by UPI, card or net-banking
The server is usually live under a minute after payment and the tax invoice is issued automatically.
- Download the invoice
Get the PDF from the panel and pass it to your accountant for the GSTR-2B match.