How to Claim TCS Credit on the GST Portal (Don't Leave Your Money There)

To claim TCS credit, log in to the GST portal and open Services, then Returns, then "TDS and TCS credit received". Pick the month, accept the rows your marketplaces reported and file the statement. The amount then lands in your electronic cash ledger, where it pays your GSTR-3B tax or can be claimed as a refund.

Where is this money, and why do you have to ask for it?

Every month Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho hold back 0.5% of your net taxable sales as TCS, tax collected at source, and deposit it with the government under your GSTIN. They report it in their own monthly statement, GSTR-8, by the 10th of the next month. The background is in our explainer on TCS for online sellers.

Why does it not simply show up in your account? Because the government wants you to confirm the figure first. The portal shows you what each operator reported and asks one thing: is this right? Only your answer, filed and signed, moves the money.

For a seller doing Rs 8 lakh a month, that is about Rs 4,000 a month. Small, but it is your working capital.

How do you claim it, step by step?

1. Log in at gst.gov.in. Go to Services, then Returns, then "TDS and TCS credit received".
2. Select the financial year and the return filing period, and click Search.
3. On the "TDS and TCS credit received" tile, click Prepare Online.
4. Open the "TCS Credit Received" tile. Each row is one operator GSTIN. For periods from April 2025 the rows also show the place of supply, so one marketplace can appear on several rows.
5. Compare each row with your own sales reports for that month.
6. Tick the rows that are right and click Accept. To reject a row, choose a reason under Remarks first, then click Reject.
7. If the "Amendments to TCS Credit Received" tile has rows, open it and act on those too. The portal will not let you file until every row in every tile has an action.
8. Go back and click Generate Summary (shown for periods from September 2025). Use the preview button to download the draft PDF and read it once.
9. Tick the declaration, choose the authorised signatory and click "File TDS TCS credit received". Sign with DSC, the digital signature, or EVC, the OTP sent to the signatory.
10. Note the ARN, the acknowledgement number. Then open Services, Ledgers, Electronic Cash Ledger and confirm the credit.

It takes about five minutes once you have done it twice.

Should you accept or reject a row?

These are the only two buttons you get, so it helps to know what each one does.

Reject is for rows that are truly wrong: an operator you never sold through, or a figure far from your own records. It is not for small gaps. TCS is worked out on sales minus returns of that month, so a return that the operator booked a few days apart from you will shift the figure a little. That is timing, not an error, and it evens out next month.

What can you do with the credit?

Pay GSTR-3B. GSTR-3B is the monthly return in which you pay tax. Your input tax credit is used first. Whatever is still payable is taken from the cash ledger, and you deposit only the shortfall. So file the TCS statement before GSTR-3B. The portal allows it to be filed even before GSTR-1.

One detail trips people. The cash ledger keeps IGST, CGST and SGST in separate pockets. TCS on sales to other states arrives as IGST. If the tax you owe is CGST and SGST, the balance can be moved between heads with Form PMT-09 on the portal.

Claim a refund. If your input tax credit covers your tax every month, the cash balance just grows. Then go to Services, Refunds, Application for Refund and choose "Excess Balance in Electronic Cash Ledger". This is Form RFD-01. You enter the amount under each tax head and pick your bank account. The portal blocks the application if your latest GSTR-3B is not filed, and the portal manual points to the two-year limit in section 54.

A worked example

You sell from Jaipur at 5% GST. In October your net taxable sales and the TCS you expect are:

All three rows match, so you accept all and file. Rs 4,000 reaches your cash ledger.

Now GSTR-3B. Output tax on Rs 8,00,000 is Rs 40,000. Your input tax credit is Rs 31,000. You owe Rs 9,000 in cash. With Rs 4,000 already in the ledger, you deposit Rs 5,000. Skip the TCS statement and you deposit the full Rs 9,000 while Rs 4,000 sits unused. Over a year that is Rs 48,000 of your money lying idle.

What if the Flipkart row showed Rs 2,10,000 and Rs 1,050? First recheck your own total, net of returns. If the gap is real, raise a ticket with the marketplace and keep the ticket number. Rejecting sends the whole row back, and the Rs 1,050 waits too.

What if a figure is wrong or missing?

Do not sit on old gaps. Under section 52 the operator can correct its statement only up to 30 November after the financial year ends, or the date of its annual statement if that is earlier. Our guide on TCS matching shows how to compare state by state.

The mistake sellers usually make

The first is the obvious one: never opening the statement. No due date means no reminder, and months pile up.

The second is quieter. You open the statement, click Accept, and close the tab without filing. Nothing is credited. Worse, the portal will then stop you from filing a later month until that one is filed. Accepting is half the job. Filing is the other half.

The third is treating TCS as input tax credit and hunting for it in GSTR-2B. It is cash. Look in the cash ledger.

Can you do this yourself? Yes, every month. Call a professional when rows are missing for several months or the balance is large enough to justify a refund claim.

Frequently asked questions

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