Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
Mandatory for goods sellers on platforms
The threshold exemption doesn’t apply — you must register before you start selling goods on a marketplace, and the platform also collects TCS.
Some service relaxations
Certain small service suppliers through e-commerce have conditional relief. Confirm the current position for your case.
TCS, reconciliation and the platform setup
For a goods seller on a marketplace, registration is compulsory from the first sale, and the platform deducts Tax Collected at Source (TCS) — a small percentage of the net taxable supplies — before paying you. That TCS appears in your electronic cash ledger and can be claimed once you file, so you reconcile what the platform reports (in its GSTR-8) with your own sales each month. Practically this means your GSTIN must be linked correctly on the platform, your invoices must match what the marketplace reports, and you file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B like any regular dealer. A recent relaxation lets certain small suppliers sell goods through e-commerce without registration if they stay within a single state, below the threshold, and obtain only an enrolment number — but the conditions are specific, so confirm the current position before relying on it. Service suppliers on platforms have their own limited relaxations. The recurring work is the monthly reconciliation: matching marketplace settlement reports, TCS credited, returns and refunds, and your books, so that the tax paid and the credit claimed line up and don’t trigger a mismatch notice later.