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A travel agency bill is rarely one service. A single client file can contain a flight booking (commission), two hotels (reselling), a cab package (your own or vendored), and a tour guide (pass-through). Each piece can carry different GST treatment — which is why "tours and travels bill format" is one of the most searched billing queries in India, and why so many agency bills are quietly wrong.
Here's how to structure it properly.
First, know which model you're billing under
1. Pure agent (commission model). You book flights/hotels in the client's name; the airline or hotel bills the client (or you pass their invoice through), and your income is commission or service fee. GST at 18% applies only on your commission/service fee, not the ticket value.
2. Principal (package model). You sell a tour package at your price, buying components behind the scenes. GST on a tour operator selling packages is 5% without input tax credit, subject to conditions (the bill must state it's a tour package and inputs' ITC isn't claimed).
Most small agencies do both in the same month — bill them differently, don't blend.
The travel bill format
Header: Agency name, address, phone/email, GSTIN, and your IATA number if accredited (corporate clients look for it).
Bill numbering and date, client name/company/GSTIN.
Traveller and trip block:
- Traveller name(s) — often different from the payer
- Destination and travel dates
- PNR/booking references per component
- Number of pax (adults/children)
Itemised services, each with its own line and treatment:
SKYLINE TOURS & TRAVELS — Ahmedabad | GSTIN 24AAQPS3456R1Z2
INVOICE No: STT/2026/0197
Client: Nirav Shah | Trip: Kerala family package, 12–17 Aug 2026 | 4 pax
1. Kerala tour package (5N/6D: hotels, cabs, ₹86,000
sightseeing, houseboat — as per itinerary)
[Tour package — GST 5% without ITC] 4,300
2. Flight AMD–COK–AMD ×4 (airline invoice attached) ₹38,480
3. Service fee — flight booking ₹1,200
GST 18% on service fee ₹216
TOTAL ₹1,30,196
Advance received (05-07) ₹50,000
BALANCE DUE ₹80,196
Notice what's happening: the package carries 5%, the flight is passed through at actuals with the airline's invoice attached, and 18% applies only to the service fee. That's a compliant mixed bill.
Rules that trip up travel agencies
- Don't charge GST on top of pass-through amounts. If the hotel already charged GST on its invoice, you either pass that invoice through (agent model) or absorb it into a 5% package (principal model). Adding your own 18% on the hotel's gross is double taxation.
- Air travel commission has a special valuation option (0.9% of basic fare domestic / 1.8% international) — most small agencies simply charge 18% on their actual service fee instead, which is cleaner.
- 5% package rate means no ITC. You can't claim credit on hotel and transport inputs while billing packages at 5%. Choosing between 5%-no-ITC and 18%-with-ITC is a real decision for larger operators; get a CA's view once your volumes justify it.
- Place of supply: For B2B clients, it's the client's registered location; that determines CGST/SGST vs IGST on your fee.
Destination weddings: the crossover case
If you handle destination wedding logistics — room blocks, guest travel, shuttles — your billing looks like a hybrid of travel agency and event vendor. Bill the room block and travel as itemised pass-throughs or a package, and your coordination fee separately at 18%. Families planning weddings scrutinise bills line by line; itemisation prevents the "what is this amount?" calls. Our wedding planner business guide and multi-day wedding management guide cover the operational side.
Advances, cancellations, refunds
Travel runs on advances and dies by cancellations:
- Issue a receipt for every advance with the running balance shown — format in our money receipt guide
- Put cancellation slabs on the bill itself: "Cancellation: 30+ days — 25% of package; 15–29 days — 50%; under 15 days — 100%"
- On refunds, issue a credit note referencing the original invoice, not a fresh negative bill
Billing tools for travel businesses
The painful part of agency billing is mixing rates and tracking balances per client file. BrightDesk tracks each trip as a booking with advances and payment history, and generates itemised, GST-ready invoices — the GST invoice generator handles per-line tax rates. For quick one-off bills, use the free invoice generator.
Related reading: advance payment invoicing, cancellation and refund policies, and payment terms that actually get you paid.