Free GST Filing Software for Freelancers and Consultants

Your US client has just paid in dollars, an Indian startup wants a "proper GST invoice" by Friday, and you're not sure if you even need a GSTIN. If you're a registered freelancer or consultant, you can file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for one GSTIN at zero cost with HelloBooks Free, straight to the GST portal. Most solo professionals raise a handful of invoices a month, so the free plan's 200 transactions a year is usually plenty.

Let's go through what GST actually expects from you, including the bit that confuses almost every freelancer: foreign clients.

Do I really need GST registration as a freelancer?

Once your aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh in the special category states), yes. Aggregate turnover means everything you bill across India under your PAN, and it includes exports.

That's where people trip up. Take Kavya, a designer in Kochi, billing ₹28 lakh a year, all of it to clients in the US. Her thinking goes, "exports are zero-rated, so GST doesn't apply to me." It does. Zero-rated doesn't mean outside the count, so she has to register.

Plenty of freelancers register below ₹20 lakh anyway. Usually it's because an Indian client won't release payment without a GSTIN on the invoice. Sometimes it's because they want the GST back on a ₹1.2 lakh laptop. Both are fair reasons. Just know that once you're registered, you file every period, including nil returns in quiet months, and a missed nil return still carries a late fee.

What rate do I charge?

Almost all freelance work sits at 18%. That's 9% CGST plus 9% SGST when the client is in your state, or 18% IGST when they're in another state. The SAC code is what changes:

Pick the 6-digit code that matches what you actually do. GSTR-1 now asks for an HSN/SAC-wise summary, so the code really does matter.

Foreign clients, exports and the LUT

Billing someone abroad counts as an export of services only when all five conditions in Section 2(6) of the IGST Act hold. You're in India. The client is outside India. The place of supply is outside India. You're paid in convertible foreign exchange (or in rupees where the RBI allows it). And the two of you aren't just two offices of the same person.

If it's a genuine export, it's zero-rated, and you have two ways to bill it. Nearly everyone files a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) and charges no IGST at all. The other route is to pay 18% IGST upfront and claim a refund, which locks up cash for months. Hardly any individual does that by choice.

You file the LUT on the GST portal in Form RFD-11. It's valid for one financial year, so do it at the start of each FY, before your first export invoice of FY 2026-27. It's free and takes about ten minutes. You file it yourself; HelloBooks doesn't file LUTs.

On the invoice, write "Supply meant for export under LUT without payment of IGST" and quote your LUT reference. Keep the bank's FIRA or e-BRC for every dollar or euro receipt. That's your proof of the payment condition if anyone asks.

Some cases aren't clear-cut, such as intermediary work, services on goods sitting in India, or a foreign client with an Indian subsidiary. Talk to a CA before you treat those as exports.

Monthly returns or QRMP?

If your turnover is under ₹5 crore (and as a freelancer, it is), you can choose QRMP. You file GSTR-1 once a quarter by the 13th of the following month and GSTR-3B by the 22nd or 24th, depending on your state. In the first two months of each quarter you pay any tax due through PMT-06 by the 25th.

For someone whose income is mostly exports, that's a relief. You go from 24 returns a year to 8, and the monthly challans are small or nil. If an Indian client wants their invoices in GSTR-2B every month, you can upload just those through the optional IFF by the 13th.

A real-looking quarter: Ananya in Pune

Ananya is a UX consultant, registered in Maharashtra and on QRMP. These are her numbers for Oct 2026 to Dec 2026 (illustrative, of course):

Her output tax is ₹27,000 IGST plus ₹14,400 CGST/SGST, so ₹41,400 in all. Her ITC is ₹18,360 of IGST, provided both purchase invoices show up in her GSTR-2B.

IGST credit gets used against IGST liability first. That leaves ₹8,640 of IGST to pay, and the ₹7,200 CGST and ₹7,200 SGST go in cash. Net cash for the quarter is about ₹23,040, minus whatever she already paid through PMT-06 in Oct 2026 and Nov 2026. The ₹6 lakh of exports shows up in GSTR-1 as zero-rated supplies. It adds to turnover but not to tax.

Her deadlines are 13 Jan 2027 for GSTR-1 and 22 Jan 2027 for GSTR-3B (Maharashtra is in the 22nd group). And her transaction count? Three sales invoices and two bills this quarter. Even billing Singapore monthly, she'll land somewhere around 30 to 40 entries for the year.

The ITC mistakes we see most often

The biggest one is assuming a GST invoice means you get the credit. You don't, unless the supplier has reported it and it appears in your GSTR-2B. If it's missing, chase the supplier before you file.

Foreign tools are the second. Design apps, hosting and AI tools billed from abroad are usually an import of services for a registered person. You pay the GST yourself under reverse charge and then take it back as credit. On paper the net effect is nil. But skip it, and a notice can ask for the tax plus interest.

Then there are blocked credits. Food, club memberships and personal-use stuff are out under Section 17(5). A phone that's half personal is a judgment call, so keep it sensible.

One bit of good news: credit on inputs used for exports isn't lost. If it piles up because nearly all your income is exports, you can claim a refund of accumulated ITC under LUT. That's a separate portal process, and it's worth getting a CA's help the first time.

How HelloBooks helps

HelloBooks Free files GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for one GSTIN directly to the GST portal from inside HelloBooks. You don't export a file and upload it somewhere else. It's ₹0, with no card and no expiry.

GSTR-2B reconciliation shows which purchase invoices are in 2B, so you only claim what you can. You can raise invoices from the mobile app the day a milestone closes; the filing itself happens in HelloBooks on the web. If you're late, GSTR-3B shows the GST portal's own interest and late-fee figure before you file. You can match client receipts and Razorpay payouts using bank statement import, and invite your CA into the same books to check the export side.

When does Pro at ₹499/month make sense? When you bring in a third person, when your entries cross 200 a year, or when you want GSTR-9 generated ready to file. Pro also covers every GSTIN of one legal entity, if you ever register in a second state. Have a look at pricing.

Your GST year on one page

• [ ] Register once turnover, exports included, looks set to cross ₹20 lakh
• [ ] File the LUT at the start of each FY
• [ ] Put the right 6-digit SAC on every invoice
• [ ] Decide between monthly and QRMP on purpose
• [ ] Reconcile GSTR-2B before claiming ITC
• [ ] Check foreign subscriptions for reverse charge
• [ ] Save a FIRA or e-BRC for each export receipt
• [ ] If your turnover requires it, diarise GSTR-9 for FY 2026-27 by 31 Dec 2027

FAQs

Do I need GST registration if all my clients are abroad?

Yes, once your aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in the FY. Exports count toward that figure even though they're zero-rated.

Does HelloBooks file my LUT?

No. You file the LUT yourself on the GST portal in RFD-11. HelloBooks files your GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, which is where your export invoices get reported.

What if I've been exporting without an LUT?

Technically, IGST should have been paid with a refund claimed later. If you've done neither, sit down with a CA and regularise it sooner rather than later.

Is HelloBooks Free enough for a solo consultant?

For most people, yes. You get one GSTIN, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filing, and 200 transactions a year. You'd move to Pro for more users, more volume or GSTR-9.

On QRMP, do I still pay every month?

Yes. You pay through PMT-06 by the 25th for the first two months of the quarter, then settle up in the quarterly GSTR-3B.

There's more on the returns themselves in our GSTR-1 filing and GSTR-3B filing guides. File the LUT before the first export invoice of the year, keep your FIRAs in one folder, and freelance GST becomes a 20-minute job each quarter.

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