Next: Money foundations
Emergency funds
The buffer that stops one bad month becoming one bad year: how much you need, where to park it so it is there on the day, and why it comes first.
18 min
beginner
GST for freelancers
A tax you collect rather than one you pay out of income: registration thresholds, invoices that survive a client's audit, and how input tax credit nets off.
2 lessons · about 16 minutes · written for reading age 13 · last checked 2026-08-11
A different tax altogether
GST is charged on the supply and collected from the client, so it is never a slice of your own income — and it starts mattering at ₹20 lakh of turnover.
8 min
Rates, invoices and input tax credit
Most freelance services sit at 18%. A proper tax invoice, the CGST/SGST vs IGST split, and how credit for GST you paid nets off what you collect.
8 min
Check yourself
4 questions at the end. Every wrong answer explains itself.
Tools for this
What changed recently
Dated commentary on this topic — a Budget change, a new rule, a scam pattern.
2026-08-07 · 6 min read
One account for two jobs
Running client payments and grocery bills through the same bank account hides your actual margin, turns filing into archaeology, and makes one question awkward.
2026-07-31 · 6 min read
What a foreign client payment really costs
The invoice said one thousand dollars and your account shows less. Most of the gap is the exchange-rate spread, which is a fee nobody ever itemises.
2025-09-30 · 5 min read
GST 2.0: the 12% and 28% slabs are gone
The September 2025 rationalisation collapsed four main slabs into two, with a narrow 40% band for demerit and luxury goods. Thresholds did not move.
Sources
- GST rate structure and registration thresholds — Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs · checked 2026-08-11
- GST portal — registration and taxpayer search — Goods and Services Tax Network · checked 2026-08-11