E-Way Bill for Stock and Branch Transfers

Moving goods between your own locations feels like an internal matter, and that instinct is where most branch transfer mistakes start. Under GST, the answer to "do I need an e-way bill" is usually yes once the value crosses the limit, but the answer to "is this a taxable supply" depends entirely on whether the two locations sit under the same GSTIN or under two different ones. Get that one fact right and the invoice, the tax, the e-way bill fields and e-invoicing all follow from it.

The one question that decides everything

Before thinking about the e-way bill, look at the GSTIN of the sending location and the GSTIN of the receiving location. There are only three possibilities:

• Different states. The GSTINs must differ, because a GSTIN is state-specific. You cannot have one registration covering a branch in Gujarat and a depot in Maharashtra, and a place of business in a state where you make taxable supplies needs registration there.
• Same state, two registrations. Section 25(2) and Rule 11 let one PAN hold more than one GSTIN in a state. Our guide to multiple GST registrations on the same PAN covers when that happens.
• Same state, same registration. A godown, a warehouse or a second shop declared as an additional place of business on one GSTIN.

The first two are supplies. The third is not. The e-way bill obligation applies to all three, because it is triggered by goods moving, not by a sale happening.

Transfers between two GSTINs: a taxable supply

Section 25(4) of the CGST Act says a person who has obtained, or is required to obtain, more than one registration is treated as a distinct person for each registration. Paragraph 2 of Schedule I then treats a supply of goods between distinct persons, made in the course or furtherance of business, as a supply even when made without consideration. No price, no payment and no profit motive are needed.

So a transfer from your Pune GSTIN to your Bengaluru GSTIN is an inter-state supply. The Pune branch:

• issues a tax invoice at the time of removal of the goods, as it would for a customer;
• charges IGST at the rate applicable to the goods;
• reports the invoice in its GSTR-1 as a B2B supply to the Bengaluru GSTIN;
• pays the IGST through GSTR-3B.

The Bengaluru branch then sees the invoice in its GSTR-2B and can claim the IGST as input tax credit under Section 16, subject to the usual conditions. Across the PAN, the tax is broadly neutral: one GSTIN pays, the other claims. What is not neutral is the cash flow and the compliance trail, and a transfer of goods on which credit is blocked, or which the receiving branch uses for exempt supplies, leaves real tax behind.

The same logic applies when both registrations are in one state. A transfer from your first Maharashtra GSTIN to your second Maharashtra GSTIN is an intra-state supply between distinct persons, so it is invoiced with CGST and SGST instead of IGST.

For the rate itself, rates were rationalised in September 2025, and the current GST rate slabs post covers the new structure. Check the specific HSN on CBIC's rate finder at cbic-gst.gov.in before issuing the invoice.

What value to put on the invoice

Because there is no price between branches, Section 15 cannot use transaction value, and Rule 28 of the CGST Rules applies to supplies between distinct or related persons. In order, the value is:

1. the open market value of the supply;
2. if that is not available, the value of a supply of like kind and quality;
3. if neither is available, the value worked out under Rule 30 (cost plus 10%) or Rule 31 (reasonable means).

Two provisos make this workable in practice. First, where the receiving branch resells the goods as such, the supplier can choose to value the transfer at 90% of the price the recipient charges its unrelated customers for like goods. Second, and more important for most businesses, where the recipient is eligible for full input tax credit, the value declared in the invoice is deemed to be the open market value.

That second proviso is why most businesses transfer at cost or at a standard transfer price without a valuation dispute: if the receiving branch can claim every rupee of the tax, the value you choose makes no net difference to revenue. The protection disappears where the receiving GSTIN cannot take full credit, for example because it makes exempt supplies or the goods are blocked under Section 17(5). The fuller treatment is in our post on GST valuation for related parties.

Transfers within one GSTIN: not a supply

When goods move from a warehouse to a shop and both are places of business on the same registration, there is only one taxable person. You cannot supply to yourself, so there is no tax invoice and no tax.

The goods still have to travel under a document. Rule 55 provides the delivery challan for transport of goods for reasons other than supply, and that is the document you use: serially numbered, showing the GSTIN, the consignor and consignee addresses, the HSN, quantity and value. The value on the challan also drives the e-way bill limit test.

And the e-way bill is still required if the consignment value crosses the threshold. Two points catch people out here:

• The limit is the state's intra-state limit. Because the movement never leaves the state, the threshold is whatever that state has notified, which in several states is higher than ₹50,000 and in some comes with further city-level or goods-specific relaxations. Check the current figure in our state-wise e-way bill limit guide and against the state's own notification.
• Both locations must be on the registration. Moving stock to a godown that is not declared as an additional place of business is a registration problem, not just an e-way bill one.

How to fill the e-way bill for each case

The general process is in our step-by-step e-way bill guide. For branch transfers, the fields that differ are in Part A, and they follow directly from the question above. Field labels below are as they appear on ewaybillgst.gov.in at the time of writing.

Transfer to another GSTIN (inter-state or same-state):

• Supply type: Outward. Sub-type: Supply, because it is one.
• Document type: Tax Invoice, with the invoice number and date.
• Transaction type: Regular, where the receiving branch's registered address is also where the goods are delivered.
• Consignee GSTIN: the receiving branch's GSTIN, not your own.
• Tax: IGST for inter-state, CGST and SGST for same-state.

Transfer within the same GSTIN:

• Supply type: Outward. Sub-type: For Own Use.
• Document type: Delivery Challan.
• Consignor and consignee GSTIN: the same, with the dispatch and delivery addresses set to the two places of business.
• No tax amounts, since there is no supply.

Part B carries the vehicle number as for any other movement, and validity runs from Part B, not from Part A. The e-way bill rules and limits post explains how consignment value is measured, including tax.

Where e-invoicing comes in

E-invoicing applies to B2B tax invoices issued by a registered person whose aggregate turnover crosses the notified threshold, which is above ₹5 crore. Aggregate turnover is measured across the PAN, so a smaller branch is not exempt just because its own sales are low.

• Inter-GSTIN transfer: it is a B2B supply on a tax invoice, so if the sender is in e-invoicing, the invoice needs an IRN. Generate it first; the e-way bill can then be created from the IRN, with Part A pre-filled from the e-invoice data.
• Same-GSTIN transfer: a delivery challan is not an invoice and there is no supply, so there is no e-invoice. The e-way bill is generated directly.

Larger businesses should also watch the 30-day e-invoice reporting limit. Branch transfer invoices raised late at month end are a common source of IRNs that can no longer be generated.

Scenario by scenario

A missing or wrong e-way bill on any of these rows carries the same exposure as on a sale: detention under Section 129 and the penalty described in our post on e-way bill penalty and detention. If you verify branch or customer GSTINs in bulk from your own systems, the GST API returns registration status and filing history in one call at ₹0.50 per verification.

Frequently asked questions