Ques: we deal in sale of gift card voucher and purchase at same value but having confusion that gift voucher is under gst is exempt but confuse how to show in gst return along with hsn code

Ans: Your business involves the purchase and sale of gift vouchers or gift cards at the same face value, and there is confusion regarding the applicability of GST and its reporting in returns. Under Section 2(118) of the CGST Act, 2017, a voucher is defined as an instrument representing a right to receive goods or services in the future, and the actual supply occurs only at the time of redemption. The CBIC Circular No. 32/06/2018-GST dated 12th February 2018 clarifies that taxability of vouchers depends on whether the underlying supply is identifiable at the time of issue; if identifiable, GST applies at the time of issue, and if not, GST applies at the time of redemption. In your case, as you purchase and sell vouchers at face value without any margin or commission, there is no element of consideration or value addition by you, and therefore, these transactions do not constitute a supply under Section 7 and are outside the scope of GST, as also supported by rulings such as M/s Premier Sales Promotion Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd., which held that sale of prepaid gift vouchers by intermediaries is not taxable until redeemed. Consequently, such transactions should not be included in taxable turnover in GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B, but for accounting transparency they may be reported under Table 3.1(e) of GSTR-3B as non-GST outward supplies. Regarding HSN/SAC codes, since these are financial instruments and not goods or services per se, no HSN is strictly required; however, if your system mandates a code, any commission or margin earned on voucher sale can be classified under SAC 9971 or 9983 (financial/business support services), while pure face-value resale without margin requires no HSN. In summary, the purchase and sale of gift vouchers at par value is outside GST scope, no HSN is required, and reporting can be limited to non-GST outward supplies, whereas any commission element will be treated as taxable supply of service at the time of resale or redemption, and should be shown in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B accordingly, consistent with legal provisions, circular clarifications, and advance rulings.