How to claim the TCS that Meesho, Amazon and Flipkart deduct
Ye article Hinglish mein bhi hai: Meesho TCS credit kaise claim karein: step by step
The TCS a marketplace deducts from your payouts, 0.5% of your net sales, is your money, not a fee. Accept the entry under "TDS and TCS Credit Received" on the GST portal and file it, and the amount lands in your electronic cash ledger, where it pays your GST or can be refunded.
Many sellers never claim it because they assume a deduction is gone for good. It is sitting on the portal, waiting.
What is TCS?
The law asks every marketplace (an e-commerce operator) to collect a small tax at source on the sales it processes for you: 0.5% of the net taxable value. That is 0.25% CGST plus 0.25% SGST on sales within your state, and 0.5% IGST on sales to other states.
The marketplace reports it every month in its own return, GSTR-8, due by the 10th of the next month. Only after that does the entry appear on your side of the portal.
Example (made-up numbers): in October your net Meesho sales after returns were ₹2,00,000 before GST. TCS: ₹1,000. Over a year that is about ₹12,000. Unclaimed, that ₹12,000 is simply lost.
How to claim it: 6 steps
- After the 10th, log in at gst.gov.in.
- Go to Services, Returns, Returns Dashboard and pick the year and month.
- Open the TDS and TCS Credit Received tile (GSTR-2X) and look at the TCS part.
- Accept each marketplace's entry if it matches your settlement report. Reject it if it does not.
- File it with EVC or DSC. Accepting alone does nothing; the credit moves only once you file.
- Check your Electronic Cash Ledger. The TCS should now be there, ready to pay the tax in your GSTR-3B.
From the September 2025 period, every entry must be accepted or rejected, and a filed statement cannot be changed. Check before you file.
How do you check the amount?
| Where | What to match |
|---|---|
| The marketplace's TCS or tax report | The month's TCS and net taxable value |
| The portal entry | The same amount, against the marketplace's GSTIN |
| Your GSTR-1 | That marketplace's sales in Table 14 |
If they differ, ask the marketplace's seller support first. Rejecting a wrong entry and getting it corrected beats accepting a wrong number you cannot undo.
To see what the TCS on your sales should have been, use the free TCS calculator.
Where does the money go next?
- Your GSTR-3B tax is paid from the cash ledger.
- A refund: if the cash ledger keeps growing (for example because your ITC covers all your tax), claim the excess back with RFD-01, "excess balance in electronic cash ledger".
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Result |
|---|---|
| Accepted but never filed | Nothing reached the ledger |
| Looked before the 10th, found nothing, forgot | TCS sat unclaimed for months |
| Accepted without checking | A wrong amount that cannot be changed later |
| Marketplace sales missing from Table 14 of GSTR-1 | Your return and the marketplace's report disagree |
The full method, with ITC on marketplace fees as well, is in Didi's book Paisa Wapas: TCS aur ITC ka Poora Claim (written in Hinglish).
Questions
Is TCS credit the same as ITC?
No. ITC goes to the credit ledger; TCS goes to the cash ledger. They are separate.
Can I still claim TCS from earlier months?
Yes. Accept the pending entries and file. The sooner, the better.
I sell with an enrolment ID, not a GSTIN. Is TCS deducted?
No. Marketplaces do not collect TCS from sellers using the enrolment ID route; the rule applies to sellers with a GSTIN.
Does TCS change how I prepare GSTR-1?
Marketplace sales go in Table 14 against the marketplace's GSTIN. GST Didi's free filing tool builds this from your Meesho, Amazon and Flipkart reports.
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