On Flipkart, TCS is GST collected at source on your net taxable sales, and TDS is income tax deducted on your gross sales under Section 194-O. Both are held back from your settlement and deposited in your name. They are not Flipkart fees. You claim them as credit against your GST and income tax liability, after confirming they match your records.
Which invoice are you actually looking at?
Sellers use the word invoice for three different documents. Mixing them up is the most common source of confusion.
- Your sale invoice is the tax invoice for the customer's order. It shows the taxable value and GST on your goods.
- Flipkart's fee invoice is the invoice Flipkart raises on you for services such as commission, fixed fee, shipping and collection charges, with GST on those services. Fee names change, so check your seller agreement and current rate card.
- Tax statements for TCS and TDS are separate reports or certificates in Seller Hub that show what was deducted and deposited against your PAN and GSTIN.
TCS and TDS do not appear as charges on the fee invoice. They are deductions from the amount Flipkart pays you, shown in the settlement report and in the tax statements.
TCS and TDS in plain terms
Flipkart acts as an e-commerce operator. The law requires it to collect and deduct two different taxes on the sales you make through its platform.
| Point | TCS | TDS |
|---|---|---|
| Law | GST (tax collected at source by the operator) | Income Tax Act, Section 194-O |
| Usually calculated on | Net taxable value of supplies (sales less returns) | Gross sales made through the platform |
| Where you see your credit | GST portal, in the TCS details reported by the operator | Form 26AS and AIS on the income tax portal |
| Used against | GST liability, through the electronic cash ledger | Your income tax liability |
The rates, the exact base and any exemptions change with notifications and circulars. Do not rely on a blog post for them. Confirm the latest position in the CGST notifications, the Income Tax Act and CBDT circulars, your Flipkart tax statements, and with your tax adviser.
Neither is a fee. Both are advance tax that you recover as credit, but only if the amounts are reported correctly against your PAN and GSTIN.
Where the deductions show up in your settlement
Download the payment or settlement reports from the payments section of Seller Hub. Report names and column headings change from time to time, so work from what your account shows. Look for:
- Order-level lines for sale value, returns, commission, fees and GST on fees.
- Lines or summary totals labelled for TCS and TDS. Some reports show them per order, others only per settlement.
- The settlement date and the order date. These are often different and decide which month a deduction falls in.
Download both the detailed and the summary versions where available. The summary tells you what was paid, and the detailed version tells you why.
How to reconcile TCS and TDS step by step
- Pick one period, for example a month, and fix whether you are using order date or settlement date.
- Total your gross sales and your returns for that period from the settlement report.
- Work out the base for each tax (net taxable value for TCS, gross sales for TDS) and check how GST is treated in each base, as per current rules.
- Apply the current rates from your tax statement or the notification. Compare the result with the deducted amounts in the report.
- Match the report totals to the Flipkart tax statement for the same period.
- Later, match the same amounts to the GST portal (TCS) and Form 26AS or AIS (TDS) once they are reflected.
- Record every difference with its cause, and raise a ticket with Flipkart for any that you cannot explain.
Common reasons the numbers do not match
- Return timing. A return in a later month can reduce the TCS base then, not in the month of the sale.
- Period cut-offs. Order date, delivery date, settlement date and tax return period can all fall in different months.
- Multiple GSTINs. If you are registered in several states, TCS is reported against the GSTIN of the supply, which may not be the one you expected.
- PAN or GSTIN errors. Wrong or missing details can cause credit to be reported against the wrong record or be deducted at a different rate. Check what applies in your case.
- Different bases. If your working includes GST in the base and Flipkart's does not, or the other way round, your numbers will differ.
- Late reporting. Credit shows only after the operator files its return, so a deduction may be visible in the settlement before it shows on the portal.
Claiming credit and keeping records
Keep a monthly working that ties settlement deductions to the tax statement, then to the GST portal and Form 26AS. If a month is still open after the portal has updated, you have a recoverable item, not just a bookkeeping difference.
Ask your chartered accountant how to claim TCS credit in your GST returns and how to handle TDS credit in your income tax return. Those procedures are updated by the authorities from time to time.
If you sell across several marketplaces, doing this by hand in spreadsheets gets heavy. MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle reconciles marketplace sales and settlements, checks fees against agreed terms and tracks returns and recovery cases. Myntra Excel reports are reviewed today, and other marketplaces are in scope discussion, so ask about Flipkart coverage before you plan around it.
Worked example
Illustrative example only. The figures and the 1% rates below are assumptions for the arithmetic. They are not actual Flipkart or tax rates, so replace them with the current rates from your documents.
| Line | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|
| Gross sales (taxable value) | ₹1,00,000 |
| Returns | ₹10,000 |
| Net taxable value | ₹90,000 |
| Commission and fees | ₹15,000 |
| GST on fees | ₹2,700 |
| TCS (assumed 1% of ₹90,000) | ₹900 |
| TDS (assumed 1% of ₹1,00,000) | ₹1,000 |
| Settlement paid (₹90,000 − ₹15,000 − ₹2,700 − ₹900 − ₹1,000) | ₹70,400 |
Here, ₹900 should later appear as TCS credit on the GST portal and ₹1,000 as TDS in Form 26AS. If either is missing or lower, that is the amount to chase. Real settlements also include GST on sales and other adjustments, so this is simplified.
Questions and answers
Is Flipkart TCS the same as TDS?
No. TCS is GST collected at source on your net taxable sales under GST law. TDS is income tax deducted on gross sales under Section 194-O. They have different bases, different credit routes and appear in different places on the government portals.
Are TCS and TDS extra fees charged by Flipkart?
No. They are tax amounts held back from your settlement and deposited in your name. You get credit for them against your GST and income tax, provided they are reported correctly against your GSTIN and PAN.
Where can I confirm the current TCS and TDS rates?
Check the latest CGST notifications, the Income Tax Act and CBDT circulars, the tax statements in your Flipkart Seller Hub, and your seller agreement. Rates and conditions can change, so confirm with your tax adviser before applying them.
What should I do if TDS is missing in Form 26AS?
First confirm the deduction in your Flipkart settlement and tax statement, then check that your PAN is correct and allow for the operator's return filing time. If it is still missing, raise a ticket with Flipkart and consult your accountant.