The following frequently asked questions relate to the Zoom Phone product in India. For non-Zoom Phone products, you can refer to the India GST frequently asked questions for ZVC India.
This article covers:
Zoom Phone is an enterprise cloud phone system.
Zoom Phone is available through a Native product in India that allows for inbound and outbound calling via its support for native connectivity to the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”).
Zoom Phone is also available via a Bring Your Own Carrier Model (BYOC). This allows for premise Peering and Cloud Peering, which allows enterprise customers to keep their current PSTN service providers.
Note: Zoom Phone Native and BYOC services are treated in the same way under the GST laws in India.
GST is the abbreviation of Goods and Services Tax. GST is in general due when goods and/or services are sold. It applies to most goods and services that are bought and sold for use or consumption in India. It is a consumption tax because it is ultimately borne by the final consumer. Zoom Phone services in India are treated as a service and are liable to GST.
Generally, GST is invoiced by the supplier that is selling goods or services and collected from the customer. Subsequently, the supplier reports and remits the collected GST to the tax authorities. In the case of Zoom Phone services, ZVC India will charge GST on the invoice issued to the customer.
GST generally applies to all the taxable supplies made by ZVC India to customers in India (there may be some supplies to customers in Special Economic Zones (“SEZ”) that are treated without GST). Zoom Phone services in India are treated as a supply of service and liable to GST except when provided to a SEZ customer.
The supplies are bifurcated as intra-state supplies and inter-state supplies. Intra-state supplies are where the supplier and the place of supply (i.e. location of customer) are located in the same state whereas inter-state supplies are where the supplier and the place of supply (i.e. location of customer) are located in different states.
Central GST (“CGST”) and applicable State GST (“SGST”) are levied on intra-state supplies, whereas Integrated GST (“IGST”) is levied on inter-state supplies.
The Zoom Phone services provided by ZVC India are subject to GST at 18% (unless a customer has SEZ status and has provided proof of SEZ status to ZVC India).
A Goods and Services Tax Identification number (“GSTIN’) is a unique 15-digit PAN-based identification number that identifies a person/entity as being registered for GST in India.
Zoom Phone services are treated as telephony over the internet in India and are classifiable under HSN 998423 telephony services over the internet under GST.
The place of supply for Zoom Phone services is determined based on the customer's Sold To address.
Currently, Zoom Phone is available in six telecommunication circles covering 10 geographical states in India, these being:
The equipment used to make the supply is required to be located within a specific calling circle. The location of the equipment is the place from which the supply is made for GST purposes.
Yes. ZVC India is registered in the states listed below as part of the provision of the Zoom Phone services:
When purchasing Zoom Phone services, the relevant GSTIN of the state from which the services are provided will be shown on the tax invoices issued to you by ZVC India.
If your Sold To address is in the same state where ZVC India is registered for GST for a particular telecommunication circle, you will be charged CGST and SGST. If your Sold To address is in a different state, then IGST will be charged.
The table below shows the GST that will be charged in the six telecommunication circles based on your location:
| Sr. No. | Telecommunication Circle | ZVC India’s billing State | Your location State | GST charged |
|
1. | Mumbai MET RO | Maharashtra | Maharashtra | CGST and SGST |
|
2. | Andhra Pradesh | Telangana | Telangana | CGST and SGST |
|
3. | Andhra Pradesh | Telangana | Andhra Pradesh | IGST |
|
4. | Karnataka | Karnataka | Karnataka | CGST and SGST |
|
5. | Delhi NCR | Delhi | Delhi | CGST and SGST |
|
6. | Delhi NCR | Delhi | Haryana | IGST |
|
7. | Delhi NCR | Delhi | Uttar Pradesh | IGST |
|
8. | Tamil Nadu | Tamil Nadu | Tamil Nadu | CGST and SGST |
|
9. | Tamil Nadu | Tamil Nadu | Puducherry | IGST |
|
10. | Maharashtra | Maharashtra | Maharashtra | CGST and SGST |
|
11. | Maharashtra | Maharashtra | Goa | IGST |
There is no requirement to be GST registered to purchase Zoom Phone and BYOC services. However, to receive an e-invoice and to avail input tax credit of the GST charged by ZVC India, you must be GST registered.
In case you are GST registered and wish to receive an e-invoice and avail input tax credit on Zoom Phone services, you will be required to provide your state-level GSTIN to ZVC India.
If you are purchasing Zoom Phone for multiple states and wish to receive separate invoices for each state where such services are provided, then you will need to provide a GSTIN for each state as applicable.
Yes. ZVC India is required to provide e-invoices through the Invoice Registration Portal (“IRP”) for any Business to Business (“B2B”) supplies including any supplies to a customer in an SEZ.
Where you purchase Zoom Phone, and you intend to receive an e-invoice and avail input tax credit on such invoices, you must provide a GSTIN of your local office in the respective telecommunication circle for which you purchase Zoom Phone.If you do not provide your GST number to ZVC India, no e-invoice will be generated through the IRP process and you may not be able to reclaim GST charged to you by ZVC India.
To provide your GST number to ZVC India, follow the steps below depending on where your billing portal is located in the left navigation menu of the Zoom web portal. Not sure how to identify where your billing portal is located? Learn how to locate your billing settings.
ZVC India utilizes real-time validation against the Goods & Services Tax Portal to determine if the GSTIN provided belongs to a SEZ taxpayer. If the GSTIN provided indicates that you are located in an SEZ, no GST will be charged on the supplies made to you.
Zoom regularly reviews customer GSTIN details to check if SEZ status remains valid. If it is identified that you do not have valid SEZ status, ZVC India reserves the right to charge GST on any future invoices issued to you.
If you have not provided your GST number and you provide this at a later date, ZVC India will not go back and adjust for any invoices previously issued. As such, it is essential that as a customer you provide ZVC India with your correct GST number if you want to avail of the GST paid to Zoom as an input tax credit.
To align with revised rules announced by the Indian Government, ZVC India is required to generate e-invoices within 30 days from the date of invoice, debit note, or credit note. It is therefore critical that your GST number and other relevant information for e-invoicing is correctly provided by you to ZVC India at the time of invoicing. Further, ZVC India reserves the right to recover any tax, interest, or penal liabilities suffered for non or delayed issuance of e-invoices through the IRP due to non or delayed submission of a valid GSTIN by you to ZVC India.
You are required to notify us if there is a change in your GST registration status or particulars.
GST applies to all services provided by ZVC India to customers except where services are supplied to customers that have SEZ status i.e., customers that have provided a GSTIN which via the real-time validation indicates that they are a SEZ taxpayer.
If you purchase Zoom Phone in multiple states you will receive a separate invoice, from each billing state of ZVC India (as indicated above) in which you have purchased Zoom Phone.
If you purchase Zoom Phone alongside other Zoom products you will receive separate invoices for the Zoom Phone products and the other Zoom products, even if you purchase the products in the same state.
If you have multiple GSTINs in a State (including SEZ and non-SEZ), and expect to receive e-invoices to each/ any of your respective registrations within that state, you will need to have separate billing accounts for each GSTIN. ZVC India can issue separate e-invoices from each billing account as per declaration of GSTIN’s and “Sold To” and “Bill To” address you have provided.
If you do not have or provide a GSTIN, ZVC India will report the transaction as a B2C supply or a supply made to a non-business customer. You will be required to have a GSTIN and address location in a particular telecommunication circle in which you purchase Zoom Phone, to avail GST paid to Zoom as input tax credit.
If a GSTIN provided is not valid, ZVC India will treat the supply as being made to a non-business customer when it submits its GST returns to the Indian tax authorities. The impact of this is that even if the supply is made to a business customer, the customer may be unable to avail the GST charged by Zoom as input tax credit.
Please note, there may be other requirements required to be met by the customer to support an input GST credit claim.
ZVC India will apply GST if the location of the “Sold To” contact address entered by the customer is in India. This information is subject to cross-referencing against other data to verify that the ‘Sold To’ country is accurate.
Please note, if the ‘Bill To’ or ‘Sold To’ address are not aligned with your GSTIN registration details, this may impact your ability to avail GST input tax credit on the tax charged by ZVC India. As such, it is your responsibility as a customer to make sure the “Bill" and "Sold To” addresses you provide to ZVC India align.
No. GST applies to all sales of ZVC India’s services in India.
If you are located in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), you (1) provide your GSTIN and (2) the GSTIN provided indicates that you are located in a Special Economic Zone, then the supplies that ZVC India makes to you will be taxable at the zero rate of GST.
ZVC India will verify SEZ status with the Indian Tax Authorities when submitting its GST returns. If during this process it is identified that a customer does not have valid SEZ status, ZVC India reserves the right to charge GST on any future invoices issued. ZVC India may further request for a declaration of use of the services in the authorized operations of the SEZ/ SEZ unit.
Where a customer cannot provide valid information to support SEZ status then ZVC India will collect GST on supplies made.
No. GST will be charged on all taxable supplies made to charitable organizations in India.
If you are registered for GST and you want to claim the input tax credit for the GST paid on invoices issued by ZVC India, you should ensure that you provide ZVC India with your GSTIN and keep a copy of ZVC India’s invoice for your records.
ZVC India will issue e-invoices where required for supplies to customers who have provided ZVC India with a valid GST number.
There is a time limit of 30 days from the date of invoice, debit note, or credit note to generate e-invoices. It is therefore critical that you provide accurate billing information to Zoom to ensure that the e-invoice is generated correctly and within the required timeline. If you don’t provide accurate and timely billing information, Zoom will not be able to report the supply through the e-invoicing mechanism and you will not be able to claim the GST charged as input tax credit.
In addition, if your ‘Bill To’ or ‘Sold To’ address are not aligned with your GST registration, this could impact your ability to claim the GST charged as input tax credit. Customers should therefore ensure that both the ‘Bill To’ and ‘Sold To’ address are aligned with the GST registration.
To provide or update your GST number to ZVC India, please refer to the section Does ZVC India provide e-invoices for Zoom Phone services in India? for details on how to do this.
Errors that may lead to e-invoices not being successfully generated typically relate to errors in customer billing information. We, therefore, recommend undertaking the below checks when updating billing information on the Zoom portal when purchasing Zoom Phone in India:
Please note, if you do not provide a valid GST number to Zoom your supply will not be reported through the e-invoicing system and you may not be able to claim input tax credit.
However, the GSTIN can be entered at any time, and once provided it will show on the next invoice and future Zoom Phone invoices issued to you. ZVC India will also report all future supplies against your GSTIN while filing its GST returns (which is required to support your input tax credit claim).
Please note that no retrospective adjustments will be made where you have not provided your GST number.
Further, if GSTIN is entered before the next invoice, ZVC India will not charge GST on the next invoice or future invoices issued to you only if you are in a SEZ.
Once the GSTIN is entered, ZVC India will also report all future supplies against your GSTIN number when reporting its output GST to the Indian Tax Authorities (which is required to support your input GST deduction).
ZVC India reserves the right to recover any tax, interest, or penal liabilities suffered for non or delayed issuance of e-invoices through the IRP due to non or delayed submission of a valid GSTIN by you to Zoom.
Credit notes with GST are required to be issued before October 31 of the end of the financial year to which the invoice relates. See examples below of the time limits applicable:
If the credit note is issued outside of these dates, an adjustment for the GST amount may not be included on the credit note.
Further, in a scenario, where a GST credit note is reported through the e-invoicing system against your GSTIN, this may result in reversal of input tax credits claimed earlier by you on ZVC India’s invoice (as per provisions contained in the GST law).
Every customer is unique and so are their specific tax circumstances. The following information should not be considered as tax advice but as a general overview of relevant tax rules. Zoom cannot provide you with tax advice for your individual situation, and therefore we strongly recommend speaking with a professional tax advisor for tailored advice.