TCS under Section 52 of the CGST Act
A GST provision requiring e-commerce operators to collect tax at source at 0.5 percent (0.25 percent CGST + 0.25 percent SGST, or 0.5 percent IGST for inter-state) on the net taxable supplies made through their platform.
Section 52 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act requires e-commerce operators to collect 1 percent GST (reduced to 0.5 percent effective 10 July 2024) on the net taxable supplies made by sellers through their platform, and remit it to the government on the seller's behalf.
The collection appears as a deduction in the marketplace settlement and is reported by the operator in Form GSTR-8. Sellers can claim the collected TCS as input credit through their GSTR-2A/2B, after which it offsets their GST liability. Mismatches between the marketplace's reported collection and the seller's claim are a regular friction point at month-end GST filing.
The reconciliation pattern: monthly download of GSTR-2B, line-by-line match against marketplace settlement reports, identification of TCS not reflecting in 2B (operator filing lag) or appearing at incorrect amounts, and dispute filing against the operator. Above a few hundred orders per month this is impractical without automation.