GST and TDS for influencers in India

Indian creators may need to account for income tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and tax deducted at source (TDS). A money fee, a product kept after filming and marketplace work can raise different questions. A chartered accountant (CA) can assess the arrangement. Check with a CA for your case before setting the invoice and payment process.

The date matters. The Income-tax Act, 2025 took effect on 1 April 2026. Older guides use names such as section 194R and section 194-O from the previous Act. This guide keeps those familiar search terms and explains the current provisions alongside them. 1

Separate income tax, GST and TDS

Income tax concerns your taxable income. GST concerns taxable supplies and the applicable registration and payment rules. TDS is tax collected through deduction by a responsible payer under a particular rule. It is not a discount the brand negotiates off your fee.

Keep records of the agreed amount, invoice, money received, product benefits and tax deducted. Your CA needs these together to reconcile the transaction and determine the return treatment. A bank credit alone may not show the whole arrangement.

For brands, ask the accounts team to review the work before payment falls due. For creators, clarify the proposed deduction before accepting the final terms. If the parties disagree about the applicable rule, resolve the classification rather than quietly changing the transfer amount.

Check GST registration using the whole business

The general service-supplier registration threshold under CGST Act section 22 is aggregate turnover exceeding ₹20 lakh in a financial year, with state-specific exceptions and other registration provisions to consider. This is turnover, not profit, and it is not limited to the fee from a particular brand. 2

Ask your CA which receipts enter your aggregate turnover, where you make supplies and whether any compulsory-registration rule or exemption applies. Include the rest of your business activity, not only influencer work.

Advertising services commonly fall under the taxable professional and business services schedule. CBIC's heading 9983 includes a standard combined GST rate of 18% for the relevant residual services entry. Your actual classification and facts must support the rate; it is not a universal rate for every creator receipt. 3

Confirm your registration position before issuing a GST invoice or charging GST. Also check whether the agreed price includes tax. Put the answer in the quote so the creator and brand use the same total when approving the work.

Understand the old names and current TDS references

The Income Tax Department's draft Bill navigator maps old section 194R to the benefit/perquisite provision in section 393(1), table entry 8(iv), and old section 194-O to the e-commerce provision in entry 8(v). It is a historical map; apply the enacted current text below. 4

Question	Current provision and published ordinary rate
Business or professional benefit given to a resident	Section 393(1), entry 8(iv): 10% of the benefit value; ₹20,000 annual threshold. 5
Services facilitated by an e-commerce operator	Section 393(1), entry 8(v): 0.1% of the gross sale or service amount, subject to the applicable exceptions. 5

A benefit or perquisite is something of value connected with the business or profession; it can be money or something else. Ordinary money fees can also raise contractor or professional-services TDS questions. Give the CA the contract and payment flow before deciding which provision governs the work. 5

Check who must handle benefit TDS

The benefit rule applies through a “specified person” test. Section 402 covers payers other than individuals or Hindu undivided families (HUFs), as well as qualifying individuals or HUFs based on their preceding year's business or professional turnover. A small individual payer and a company may therefore need different treatment. 6

Where the rule applies and the annual benefit value exceeds ₹20,000, the ordinary 10% deduction is on the covered value, not merely the excess over the threshold. Where the benefit is entirely in kind, or money is insufficient to cover the deduction, the law requires the tax to be dealt with before release. 5

Agree who will arrange that process before shipping. Do not leave a creator to discover an unexpected tax payment after accepting a product. Ask the accounts team to confirm the records and evidence the recipient will receive.

Record whether the creator keeps or returns a product

CBDT's Circular No. 12 of 2022 distinguishes products returned after use from products influencers retain. It also discusses valuation, including purchase-price and manufacturer-price situations, and excludes GST from that benefit valuation. Use this historical guidance with your CA alongside the current Act. 7

Keep the loan terms, delivery record and proof of return for a borrowed camera or appliance. Returning the product does not dispose of the tax treatment of a separate money fee for the content.

For an exchange, GST valuation may also need review because consideration is not wholly money. CBIC's valuation rules address that situation. The retail price in a brand message does not settle every valuation question. 8

Use the barter collaboration guide to record the commercial terms, then let the CA assess the tax treatment from those facts.

Do not assume direct payment avoids e-commerce TDS

The current e-commerce rule can include money a buyer pays directly to the participant when the operator facilitated the sale or service. A platform saying it does not hold deal money is therefore not, by itself, a TDS exemption. 5

The current Act provides an exception for an individual or HUF participant where the relevant annual gross amount does not exceed ₹5 lakh and the required PAN or Aadhaar information has been furnished to the operator. That is a conditional TDS exception, not an exemption from income tax. Share required tax details privately through the appropriate process. 5

Ask the operator and your CA how facilitation, reporting and deductions are handled. Avoid deducting again without checking the law's interaction rules. This article does not determine the classification of a particular marketplace or contract.

Check inter-state and overseas work separately

CBIC Notification 10/2017 Integrated Tax provides a turnover-based registration exemption for specified inter-state service suppliers. An out-of-state client does not automatically answer the registration question. Have your CA check the applicable exemption and your state position. 9

For foreign brands or platform receipts, take the contract, customer details and payment evidence to the CA. Ask about place of supply, export conditions, currency records and any overseas withholding. Do not apply a domestic sponsorship checklist unchanged.

Bring a complete transaction record to your CA

Write down who supplied the work, who requested it, who facilitated the arrangement and who transferred money or a product. Include an agency or marketplace where it was involved. A payment processor's name alone may not describe the underlying commercial relationship.

Keep the accepted quote and later changes beside the invoice. Record the value and ownership of items provided, whether they were returned and whether any separate service fee was paid. Ask the payer for the applicable deduction record through its normal accounts process and reconcile it with the documents your CA uses for filing.

Flag differences early: an invoice addressed to the wrong business, a transfer that does not match the agreed amount or a retained product described as a loan. These are questions to resolve from records. Do not invent a balancing entry or change an agreement merely to make the paperwork appear consistent.

What to do next

Collect your agreement, invoices, payment records, benefit values, returns and deduction records for your CA. Use the creator brief guide to clarify the work and the Instagram pricing guide to separate the fee from other costs.

Read Influcius for creators or Influcius for brands. Before the next collaboration, confirm who invoices, who pays, which deductions apply and what each party must record.