Chennai's marketplace seller base is unusually export-adjacent. Knitwear feeding off Tiruppur, leather from the Ambur and Vaniyambadi belt, auto components and electronics all sell domestically on marketplaces while also shipping abroad, and the two revenue streams need different GST treatment on the same set of books. A Letter of Undertaking is not an optional refinement for these sellers. Without one they charge 18 per cent IGST on exports and then spend a quarter recovering it.
Sriperumbudur, Thiruvallur, Oragadam and Padappai, with the Chennai and Ennore ports driving the export side of the same businesses. Stock inside Tamil Nadu is added to an existing registration by REG-14 amendment, which takes about fifteen working days and carries no government fee. Stock crossing a state line needs a fresh GSTIN in that state, with its own monthly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filed whether or not anything sold from there that month.
Knitwear and apparel, leather goods and footwear, automotive components and aftermarket parts, consumer electronics, and traditional textiles including handloom and silk.
The Chennai complication is running domestic marketplace sales and exports through one entity. Exports under a Letter of Undertaking go out at zero rate, domestic marketplace sales carry output GST and suffer TCS, and input tax credit accumulates against the export side. That accumulation is recoverable as a refund, and since October 2025 low-risk claims have been getting 90 per cent sanctioned provisionally within about a week on an automated risk score. Which means a clean filing record has become a cash flow variable in its own right for exporters here.
Tamil Nadu professional tax is administered by local bodies rather than a single state department, and in Chennai that means the Greater Chennai Corporation. It is a half-yearly obligation covering April to September and October to March, which is why it is missed by payroll systems configured for monthly deduction.
IEC, AD Code registered at Chennai or Ennore, and a Letter of Undertaking renewed each financial year. The LUT carries no government fee and we file it within 24 hours.
One mechanism is worth getting right, because most published guidance does not. GST TCS is not input tax credit and it does not come through the ITC tables of GSTR-3B. The operator files GSTR-8 by the 10th, the figures appear in the TDS and TCS Credit Received statement on the portal, you accept each record, and the credit reaches your electronic cash ledger only when you file that statement. Acceptance alone does not move it. The statement carries no due date and no late fee, which is precisely why busy sellers drop it and why the money sits there unclaimed, sometimes for years.
| Item | Position for Tax Year 2026-27 |
|---|---|
| GST TCS rate, Section 52 | 0.5 per cent of net taxable supplies, since 10 July 2024 |
| TCS split | 0.25 per cent CGST plus 0.25 per cent SGST, or 0.5 per cent IGST |
| Where TCS credit lands | Electronic cash ledger, only on filing TDS and TCS Credit Received |
| Income tax TDS on payouts | 0.1 per cent, since 1 October 2024 |
| Governing TDS provision | Section 393(1), Table Sl. No. 8(v), Income-tax Act 2025, from 1 April 2026 |
| TDS payment code | 1035, in the quarterly return which is now Form 140 in place of Form 26Q |
| TDS credit statement | Form 168 for Tax Year 2026-27, Form 26AS for earlier years |
| Operator return and due date | GSTR-8, filed by the marketplace by the 10th |
| GSTR-3B outward liability | Auto-populated and non-editable since the July 2025 tax period |
| GST rate slabs | Nil, 5, 18 and 40 per cent, since 22 September 2025 |
| E-invoicing threshold | Aggregate annual turnover above Rs 5 crore |
| Backlog limit | A GSTR-3B cannot be filed more than three years after its due date |
| Plan | Fee | Built for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Rs 2,499 a month | One marketplace, one GSTIN, up to 300 orders a month |
| Growth | Rs 7,999 a month | Up to three channels and GSTINs, up to 1,500 orders |
| Scale | Rs 19,999 a month | Unlimited channels and orders, multi-state, inventory-led |
| Settlement clean-up | From Rs 9,999 | Prior periods rebuilt from settlement reports |
| Ecommerce books health check | Rs 4,999 | Written report, credited against the first retainer |
The retainer you need is decided by how many channels you sell on and how many GSTINs you hold, not by turnover. Order-volume caps apply on the lower tiers so the entry plan stays a real service rather than a loss-leader.
Every price above is a professional fee, excluding GST and government charges. 50% on delivery.
All fees and charges listed are indicative only and do not constitute a binding offer. Final amounts may vary depending on the volume of work and the complexity involved.
One entity can do both, but the books have to separate zero-rated export supplies from domestic marketplace supplies from the first entry. Exports go out under a Letter of Undertaking at zero rate, domestic sales carry output tax and suffer TCS at 0.5 per cent, and the input credit that piles up against exports is claimed as a refund rather than left sitting in the ledger.
Tamil Nadu levies it through local bodies, so a Chennai employer deals with the Greater Chennai Corporation. It runs on a half-yearly cycle rather than monthly, covering April to September and October to March. Payroll software configured for the Maharashtra or Karnataka monthly pattern will silently skip it.
Yes, through a refund claim. Since October 2025 low-risk claims have been receiving 90 per cent provisional sanction within roughly seven days, assessed on an automated risk score built largely on your filing history. Clean, on-time returns now translate directly into faster cash, and a messy record into a wait of months.
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Reviewed by the CA and CS Team, CorporateWalla · Last updated 17 August 2026 · · Sources: GST portal, Income Tax Department, CBIC
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