What is GSTR-8?

Who files it

GSTR-8 is filed by an e-commerce operator that must collect GST TCS under section 52, such as a marketplace that collects payment for its sellers' sales. Sellers do not file it. A brand selling only its own goods on its own website is not an e-commerce operator for this purpose and does not file it.

What it contains

For each month, the operator reports for every seller's GSTIN:

• the taxable value of supplies made through the platform, split between sales to registered and unregistered buyers;
• returns of those supplies;
• the net value and the TCS collected on it, by tax type;
• amendments to earlier months.

Due dates

• Monthly: GSTR-8 is due monthly, by the same date by which the TCS must be deposited.
• Annual: the operator also files an annual statement under section 52(5), in Form GSTR-9B, by the due date after the end of the financial year.
• Corrections: an error in a month's statement can be corrected in a later month's GSTR-8, but only up to a cut-off after the end of the financial year set by the law.

Why it matters to sellers

1. Your TCS credit depends on it. The figures you accept on the GST portal come from the operator's GSTR-8. Until it is filed, you cannot claim the credit.
2. The department compares it with your GSTR-1. Large gaps between what the marketplace reports for your GSTIN and what you report as sales through that marketplace can lead to questions or notices.
3. It shows sales by GSTIN. If a marketplace has reported sales under a GSTIN where you did not expect them, it often means stock or orders are being placed in the wrong state.

A monthly routine

Download the GSTR-8 figures from the portal for each GSTIN, match them to your books and the marketplace's tax reports, and accept the TCS once they agree or the differences are explained. Raise wrong figures with the marketplace before that cut-off, after which they can no longer be corrected.