GSTR-8 Return Filing: Due Date | Eligibility & Rules

The GSTR-8 is a TCS (Tax collected at source) deduction form. The e-commerce companies, registered under the GST regime, file GSTR-8 return for every month. This form contains all the details of supplies made through e-commerce platforms (to both registered and unregistered customers) and TCS amount collected with respect to such supplies. 

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Along with that, the form also contains details of the consumers, payable tax, and paid tax amount. Under section 52 of Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (“CGST Act”), GSTR-8 filing is mandatory for registered e-commerce operators because, under the same law, the e-commerce platform is defined as a place that different vendors and customers use for receiving and supplying goods or services to the online market. 

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Furthermore, it's compulsory for the e-Commerce operator to register under the GST regime and get registration from the tax collection source. 

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1. Who comes under the tag "e-commerce operator"?

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Well, e-commerce operators are the persons who manage or own a digital platform like Flipkart or Amazon, etc. E-commerce operators provide a platform where sellers can reach out to a large number of consumers. On the other hand, customers can get to see multiple items from multiple sellers at a competitive price. 

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2. Salient Features of the GSTR-8 Return Form

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1. Every e-commerce operator, registered under GST regime must file the GSTR-8 return
2. GSTR-8 must be filed on or before the 10th of the following month of a certain tax period
3. Part D of GSTR 2A contains all the details of GSTR-8, filed by the e-commerce operator.
4. The e-commerce portal deducts TCS from the supplier of goods and services and deposits the same amount to the Government
5. The e-commerce operators deduct 1% of TCS on all the goods and services sold out through the portal

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3. Why GSTR-8 Return Filing is important?

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As you already know that GSTR-8 shows all the details of the supplies made through e-commerce platforms and the total amount collected on such supplies. The TCS provisions came into the role from the 1st of October 2018. Once TCS starts being applicable, now suppliers can take the input credit of all those TCS deducted by the e-commerce operator, after filing GSTR-8 return. 

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For example, suppose X Enterprise is a garment supplier and sales garments of Rs. 30,000 through the e-commerce platform Amazon. Now, being an e-commerce operator, Amazon will deduct 1% TCS and deposit Rs. 300 to the Government. This amount worth Rs. 300 will reflect in the GSTR-2A of X Enterprise after Amazon files GSTR-8.

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4. Eligibility & due dates

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All c-commerce operators registered under the GST regime are eligible and must file the GSTR-8 for every month by 10th of the following month, 

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Example

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5. Late payment fee of GSTR-8 & penalty of missing the due date

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If an e-commerce operator fails to file the GSTR-8 within due date, then a penalty of Rs. 100 for CGST and Rs. 100 for SGST will be levied per day. Hence the total amount will be 200 per day (maximum Rs. 5000). No late fee is applicable to IGST delayed filing.

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Along with the penalty fee, 18% interest per annum is also required to be paid. The taxpayer needs to calculate the total taxable amount by counting the time period between the due date and the actual date of GSTR-8 filing.

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6. Prerequisites for filing GSTR-8 Return

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In order to file the GSTR-8, below mentioned details are mandatory to provide.

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• You have to be a registered taxpayer under the GST regime and have to have a GSTIN consists of 15 digit PAN
• The yearly aggregate turnover of your business should be 20 lakh rupees or greater than that (Rs. 10 lakhs in the North East States)
• You have to have an online marketplace where other companies or traders register and sell goods or services to customers
• All registered taxpayers, who have neither opted for the composition scheme nor have a Unique Identification Number (UIN) are eligible to get the return. For the non-resident taxpayers, this return is not applicable
• You have to keep a track on all the tax collected at source by you for the transactions that are carried out through your e-commerce platform.
• If in case any incorrect information is filed in GSTR-8 then same can be rectified in GSTR-8 of succeeding months.
• Rectification can be made by the due date of GSTR-8 of September month of the financial year or date of filing of Annual return, whichever is earlier.

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7. What are the details e-commerce operators need to furnish while filing the GSTR-8 Return?

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Year-Month(Period): Choose the year and month from the drop-down menu, for which month of which year, you're filing GSTR-8

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7.1 Table 1 & 2: Basic Details

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GSTIN, Legal name and Trade Name of the registered person will get automatically filled once the taxpayer logs in, using the GST portal.

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7.2 Table 3: Details of supplies made through e-commerce operator

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Table: 3A. Supplies made to registered persons

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• Here, the taxpayer needs to furnish the details of supplies made through the e-commerce portal to the registered persons (B2B).
• Provide the details of the registered supplier who supplies goods or services to the registered customers using the e-commerce portal.
• GSTIN of the merchant, the gross value of the total supply, value of returned supply, and the net amount, which is reliable to tax- need to be quoted.

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3B. Supplies made to unregistered persons

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• Supplies made through the e-commerce platform to unregistered taxpayers need to be mentioned here.
• The e-commerce operator needs to fill all the same filed like GSTIN, gross value of total supply, the value of returned supply, and other taxes.

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7.3 Table 4: Amendments to details of supplies in respect of any earlier statement

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4A. Supplies made to registered persons

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If an e-commerce operator needs to modify anything under the B2B transaction details of the previous month which were filed in Table-3A, he/she can edit the details in this part of the GSTR-8 return form.

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4B. Supplies made to unregistered persons

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Likewise, if any modification is required for B2C transaction details, the taxpayer can edit it in this section.

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7.4 Table 5: Details of interest

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• If you make any delay in payment of TCS Collected then here comes the interest section. You need to enter interest amount payable on delay deposit.

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7.5 Table 6: Tax payable and paid

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• Here you need to furnish details related to the total amount of tax payable under CGST, SGST and IGST. Alongside that, you also need to mention the amount of tax you have paid till the date.

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7.6 Table 7: Amount of Interest Payable and Paid

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CBIC levies 18% interest on the amount of tax payable if there is any delay in payment. If there is any delay in your case you need to enter the amount of interest you need to pay for that in the column under the table 7.

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7.7 Table 8: Refund claimed from electronic cash ledger

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• Any refund claimed from electronic cash ledger will get reported here.

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7.8 Table 9: Debit entries in cash ledger for TCS/interest payment [to be populated after payment of tax and submission of return]

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• Post submission of return, The final field will also get auto-populated  Which shows cash ledger used for payment of TCS/Interest Payment.

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Every compliance is a must and missing any deadline not only imposes a penalty but also results in legal action. So be a tax compliant. To know more about the different types of GST returns, deadlines and the frequency of filing, read our article on GST Returns.