GST for Fiverr and Upwork freelancers
Platform work makes GST harder to read because a third party sits between you and your client. A buyer in Texas pays the platform, the platform deducts its fee and pays you, and you are left asking whether you need to register, whether you charge GST, and who your invoice is addressed to. The answers depend on a few facts you can check yourself.
Do you need to register at all
Service providers must register for GST once yearly turnover crosses ₹20 lakh, or ₹10 lakh in special category states. Below that you generally do not have to. One reason some freelancers register early anyway is that you cannot file a Letter of Undertaking without a registration. The GST for freelancers with foreign clients guide covers registration basics. This article covers what changes when a platform handles the money.
A supply is an export of services when five conditions hold.
- You are in India.
- Your client is outside India.
- The place of supply is outside India.
- Payment arrives in convertible foreign exchange, or in INR where the RBI allows it.
- You and the client are not two establishments of the same person.
On Fiverr and Upwork the buyer is overseas and the payout comes from a foreign platform, which usually fits. The platform adds a step, so ask your CA which party GST law treats as your recipient. When the recipient is outside India, the supply is zero-rated and you charge no GST on it.
What registered freelancers file
- A Letter of Undertaking once a year: so you can export without paying IGST up front. The LUT guide covers filing and renewal.
- Export invoices in GSTR-1: every period.
- GSTR-3B on its due date: even in months with nothing payable, because a missed return attracts late fees whether or not you owe tax.
Two platform-specific points for your CA. A service fee charged to you by a foreign platform can fall under reverse charge, where you pay 18% GST yourself and may claim it back as input credit. And some platforms collect tax at source on payouts, which you then claim in your return.
Which invoice to keep
Platforms generate their own receipts, and those receipts do not always carry what a GST file needs. Raise your own export invoice for each client or payout, with the place of supply shown as outside India and the LUT declaration if you are registered. The export invoice format guide has a template.
Proof that the money came in foreign currency
Zero-rating depends on payment arriving in foreign currency, and the document that proves it is your FIRA. A payout that reaches you as a plain INR credit can leave you without one, a risk described in the Upwork withdrawals guide. FIRA versus FIRC explains the certificates, and the RBI purpose codes guide explains the code on the document.
Mistakes that draw questions
- Adding 18% GST to an invoice for an overseas buyer.
- Registering because someone said you must, without checking the threshold.
- Letting the LUT lapse on 31 March.
- Keeping platform receipts but no FIRA, which leaves a hole in your export proof.
The tax notice red flags guide shows how GST gaps surface later. DashX issues a FIRA on every payment, which is the document that closes the gap. This article is general education and not tax advice.
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