09 September 2021
There is a 'foreign Print on Demand' ecommerce website which provides platform for artists / content creators to open their storefront(on their website) and sell their artwork to the customers who are also from outside India. The artist i.e. seller uploads his artwork on various products like tshirts, pillows ,mugs etc and creat virtual listings and sets selling price for products. The customers visit and place order with site and then it forwards the order to the third party manufacturers (who are also located outside India). These manufacturers manufacture and deliver products to customers. The site handles everything including getting customer traffic, receiving orders, providing customer support, instructing manufacturer to produce and deliver products, returns, receiving payment from customers etc.on behalf of the seller i.e. artist. (it acts as a agent for a seller) It is a artist who is selling the product, not platform. After deducting base price(which includes redbubble fees, manufacturing cost) from selling price, rest amount known as 'artist margin' is paid to the artist (technically they don't call it Royalty). In sales history section of platform, details such as order no., order date and shipping date, product details, country of customer, retail price, manufacturing fees and artist margin are shown for each product every month in table form. But customers details such as name and address as well as manufacturer details are not shared with artist. As per my understanding, there are following transactions involved from Seller's perspective 1. Seller to customer 2. Services from platform to seller 3. From manufacturer to seller
I have following queries 1. If seller is Indian resident , does he need to get gst registration ? Is there any threshold for it? 2. Whether it is export of service or goods from seller to customers? 3. As there are no invoices issued or received by seller, how to report it under GST? (When customer places order, website sends them email confirmation of order. Invoices are issued only in case of international customers e.g. manufacturer in US and customer in EU. Seller gets only order no, doesn't get copy of invoice). Do I need to issue invoice for GST reporting only? If yes, then whose name should be as a recipient in invoice as customer details are not shared? AND whether to mention export of services or goods? 4.Does seller need to pay GST on RCM for services received from platform and manufacturers? Is service provided by platform intermediary? 5. Does seller need to pay GST on RCM for goods manufactured and delivered outside India( in both cases, there are no invoices from platform and manufacturer to seller) 6. If there is no need to pay GST on rcm basis on services received from platform and manufacturers, or if gst is not applicable on them, then do I still need to report them under GST( which GSTR form and under which heading) Do I need to generate self invoice for the same? Is it non- gst inward supply?
09 September 2021
You can be seller only if you are buying these products from manufacturers.Are you? Who raises the invoice on the customer for sale of goods? Unless we are clear on the complete process, any advice would not be complete and correct.
10 September 2021
The platform raises invoice on the customer for the sale of good. The manufacturing cost including any taxes levied on manufacturing will be paid by platform on the behalf of seller.
11 September 2021
Manufacturing invoice for each sale is provided by platform to artists and manufacturing cost is paid by platform on behalf of artist. Artists are buying goods manufactured by manufacturer through platform as well as selling them through platform.But,goods are not imported in India. Goods are shipped directly to customers. Platform, manufacturers, and customers are from outside India
13 September 2021
Apparently, It looks like purchase of goods outside India and sale of Goods outside India. This transaction is covered in Schedule III of the CGST Act and would not be treated supply and thus will be outside the purview of GST. However, there needs to be proper detailing done from all the documents which are there in this connection and then only one can opine on this matter.
CAclubindia
