“voucher” means an instrument where there is an obligation to accept it as consideration or part consideration for a supply of goods or services or both and where the goods or services or both to be supplied or the identities of their potential suppliers are either indicated on the instrument itself or in related documentation, including the terms and conditions of use of such instrument;
‘Voucher’, for the purposes of GST, necessarily means that instrument which should be accepted as consideration (wholly or partly) for a supply. Therefore, a voucher is an asset for the recipient, and without a recipient, a ‘voucher’ would lose its meaning. Therefore, in a case of a supplier issuing a voucher to a recipient of goods, on his making a purchase from the supplier, the voucher is not being viewed as an additional outcome of the supply made to the recipient. Rather, it is an instrument that can be used in place of money (or other consideration) which can be used on effecting yet another inward supply. E.g. coupons, tokens, promo-codes, etc.
However, where the supply can be identifiable at the time of issue of voucher, the tax should be remitted for the month in which the voucher is issued, as if it were an advance received for a supply to be made at a future date.
Reference maybe had to the discussion in the context of money under section 2(75) about Payments and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 where RBI is authorized to issue pre-paid instruments (PPIs) apart from Indian legal tender to be used to settle obligations to pay consideration. All vouchers are not money if they are not so recognized by RBI. And if the vouchers are recognized by RBI then they will take the character of money. Reference may be had to the discussion in the context of time of supply under section 12(4)/13(4) for a detailed discussion on the types of vouchers and implications in GST.