Tax Collected at Source (TCS) requires sellers of specified goods, or operators of certain platforms, to collect an additional amount from the buyer and deposit it with the government as tax. The buyer can claim it against their own tax liability.
TCS exists under both income tax and GST in specific situations. As with TDS, accurate collection, deposit and reporting are required to stay compliant.
Administratively, TCS mirrors TDS with the roles reversed. The seller collects the extra amount at the time prescribed, deposits it under a TAN, files a quarterly return in Form 27EQ and issues the buyer a certificate in Form 27D. The collection is reported against the buyer's PAN, so it appears in the buyer's Form 26AS as tax already paid, ready to be set off when the return is filed.
The direction of adjustment is the practical difference: TDS reduces what the payee receives, while TCS increases what the buyer pays. Income-tax TCS attaches to notified categories — scrap, timber and other forest produce, minerals, motor vehicles above a notified value, and foreign remittances or overseas tour packages — each with section-dependent rates and thresholds that change with Finance Acts, which is why the current notification should always be checked.
Sellers on e-commerce platforms meet a separate GST-law TCS: the operator withholds a notified percentage of net taxable supplies from the payout and deposits it against the seller's GSTIN. The seller must accept these credits on the GST portal, where they land in the cash ledger for paying tax. The recurring mistake, under both laws, is booking TCS as an expense or income instead of a recoverable tax credit.