Discover Updates on Sale Through E Commerce Operator in GSTR 1

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has introduced changes to the return filing process to simplify compliance for both suppliers and e-commerce businesses under GST. As part of these updates, the GSTN introduced modifications to the GSTR-1 form, effective from January 2024. It added two new tables to GSTR-1, referred to as Tables 14 & 15.

The tables are relevant in the context of taxpayers who make their taxable supply/sale through e-commerce operators in GSTR 1. It also applies to ones who interact with e-commerce operators, liable to make payment of taxes under the CGST Act’s Section 9(5).

Exploring the Impact of New Tables on GSTR 3B

The GSTN incorporated Table 3.1.1 into GSTR-3B, effective from 1st August 2022. It is where e-commerce operators as well as E-commerce sellers shall report the supplies made under the CGST Act’s Section 9(5). Previously, there was no specific way to get the table auto-populated, not even by drawing information already input while filing the GSTR-1.

The inclusion of the new tables 14 and 15 within GSTR-1 will facilitate the auto-population of Table 3.1.1 under GSTR3B. This shall, in turn, streamline the timeline of reporting e-commerce-based outward supplies and the payable tax.

A Brief Description of E-Commerce Operator Under GST  

The phrase ‘E-Commerce Operator’ signifies an individual or an entity that owns, runs and manages a particular digital platform. Said platform shall facilitate the supply of goods/services, fuelling transactions between customers and suppliers.

The e-commerce operator may be liable to pay GST under the following scenarios:

• E-commerce operators must collect TCS (Tax Collected at Source) at a pre-determined rate based on the consideration sellers receive from consumers, as per Section 52 of the CGST Act.
• Goods/services supply takes place between the supplier and the consumer via an e-commerce platform; the e-commerce operator shall charge a commission fee on which GST will apply.
• E-commerce operators must pay tax amounts under reverse charge as per Section 9(5) of the CGST Act. This obligation applies regardless of the supplier’s GST registration status in India.

Table 14- Supplies Made through E-Commerce Operators

Registered taxpayers use Table 14 to report outward supplies made through the e-commerce operator channel.

Note that Table 14 is divided into 2 sections, namely:

1. Table 14 (a)- Supplies Made Through E-Commerce Operators – u/s 52 (TCS)

• In Table 14 (a), the taxpayer must report a summary of the supplies made through e-commerce operators, ECO-GSTIN-wise. On these supplies, the e-commerce operator is obliged to collect TCS under the GST ACT Section 52.
• Next, the registered taxpayer must report the supplies within this section itself, which have already been reported in Table 4 - 10 of the GSTR-1.
• The portal will not auto-populate the tax-related liabilities and taxable value from this table in the GSTR-3B.

2. Table 14 (b)- Supplies Made Through E-commerce Operators – u/s 9(5)

• In Table 14 (b), the registered taxpayer must report the supplies net of credit and debit notes which they have initiated via the e-commerce operators. The e-commerce operator must pay tax on these supplies under Section 9(5) of the CGST Act.
• The portal will auto-populate the values reported in Table 14(b) into Table 3.1.1(ii) of the GSTR-3B.
• The taxpayer must submit all necessary details in Table 14, including the legal name/trade name, GSTIN of the e-commerce operator, net value of supplies, and applicable SGST, IGST, CGST and Cess.

Table 15- Supplies Under Section 9(5)

E-commerce operators use Table 15 to report outward supplies on which they are required to pay tax under the reverse charge mechanism, as per Section 9(5) of the CGST Act. They report these supplies only in the GSTR-1/IFF.

The GST portal will auto-populate the taxable amounts and tax liabilities entered in the table into Table 3.1.1(i) of the GSTR-3B.

Table 15 is divided into 4 parts based on the type of recipient and supplier involved.

1. Between Registered Supplier & Registered Recipient

This section of Table 15 requires reporting supplies at the original invoice level where both the supplier and receiver are registered. In these cases, the taxpayer must report the debit note or credit note in Table 9B of the GSTR-1.

2. Between Registered Supplier & Unregistered Recipient

This section of Table 15 must be reported by the e-commerce operator with supplier-level details, including place of supply (POS) and rate-wise information, for e-commerce transactions where a registered supplier makes a supply to an unregistered recipient. One must report these details net of any credit or debit notes. In addition, note that these details will not be available through the IFF.

3.Between Unregistered Supplier & Registered Recipient

One must report this section of Table 15 with the document details and the recipient’s GSTIN. Report the debit note or credit note in Table 9B of GSTR-1 in this case. One can also view this section in the IFF.

4.Between Unregistered Supplier & Unregistered Recipient

E-commerce operators must report the POS and GST rate-wise details of transactions where an unregistered supplier makes supplies to an unregistered recipient through the ECO platform. They must report these details net of any credit or debit notes. Note that the information will not be available through the IFF.

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GSTN Advisory for the Recently Introduced Tables

• Auto-population of the E-invoice

According to the Advisory, as issued by GSTN on the 15th of January, 2024, the auto-population feature shall no longer be available for the e-invoice in Table 15. The portal will populate the e-invoices reported for supplies under Section 9(5) in the GSTR-1 based on the existing functionality.

E-commerce operators should examine, analyse and add the necessary records related to supplies u/s 9(5) mentioned in Table 15.

• New Table Added in GSTR 2B, Titled “ECO-Documents”

The advisory also states that it now provides a new facility allowing taxpayers to transfer Input Tax Credit to registered recipients for supplies made through e-commerce operators under Section 9(5) of the CGST Act.

The new table shall be added to GSTR-2B under the ‘All Other ITC’ sub-section, titled ‘ECO-Documents’. As per this table, the recipient can access the document wise details regarding the supplies as received via the e-commerce operators. They must pay tax on these values under Section 9(5) of the Act.

The portal will auto-populate the amounts from the B2B and URP2B sections of Table 15 in GSTR-1 into the new 'ECO-Documents' section of the GSTR-2B table.

Conclusion

The e-commerce sector is constantly and notably expanding globally. As a result, there is a growing need to simplify and standardise regulatory requirements for different categories of e-commerce operators and sellers.

With the introduction of new tables in the GSTR-1 for e-commerce-based transactions, there has been a significant advancement in the efficiency of the process to file returns. Operators have been provided with a convenient auto-population mechanism for certain tables in GSTR-3B. The input information for such supplies will appear in GSTR-2B under a separate dedicated table.

The modification of table addition shall not only simplify compliance for individuals who make sales through e-commerce operators in GSTR 1, but also allow the Indian government to keep track of online transactions and establish transparency.

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