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Shopify India GST Reconciliation: SGST, IGST, and Gateway Payout Matching

Shopify stores selling across Indian states carry a reconciliation problem that the Shopify admin does not solve: the tax split between SGST and IGST must be derived from each order's ship-to state, and the gateway payout arrives net of MDR and platform fees that do not appear in Shopify's order report. Reconciling these two flows to a single GSTR-1 line is the core task.

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Terra Insight Reconciliation Infrastructure

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Published 17 April 2026
Domain expertise
TDS Reconciliation GST Input Credit Platform Settlements NACH Batch Matching Bank Reconciliation Form 26AS Matching ERP Integrations Enterprise Finance Ops
Knowledge Card
Problem

Shopify India stores collect a single GST percentage per order but must file GSTR-1 with a CGST+SGST vs IGST split derived from each order's ship-to state under IGST Act Section 10 — while gateway payouts from Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree arrive net of MDR, GST on MDR, and refund reversals that do not appear in the Shopify order export.

How It's Resolved

Run a three-way match: Shopify order export (gross revenue, tax, shipping, discount), gateway settlement report (MDR, GST on MDR, refunds, payout batches), and bank credit. Derive CGST/SGST/IGST per order from ship-to state compared to seller's registered state. Gross up the gateway net to true revenue, book MDR as expense with 18% ITC, and reverse refund-period output tax against the original sale period.

Configuration

Shopify connector pulling order, tax, and shipping lines; gateway adapters for Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree payouts; seller-state master with intra-state vs inter-state logic; composite-supply rules for shipping GST; refund-period reversal logic keyed to original sale period.

Output

A GSTR-1 filing with invoice-level SGST vs IGST split matching the ship-to state rule, a reconciled gateway payout with MDR ITC claimable, and refund reversals applied to the correct period — with no place-of-supply mismatches or output-tax overstatement.

A Shopify India store selling apparel ships to customers in 18 states. Each week the PayU payout lands as a single bank credit, net of MDR and GST on MDR, covering orders with a mix of intra-state and inter-state shipments. Shopify’s admin shows order-level tax collected, but not the SGST versus IGST split required for GSTR-1. This article is for finance teams at Indian D2C brands running Shopify storefronts with PayU, Razorpay, or Cashfree as the payment rail.

What Shopify India GST Reconciliation Involves

Shopify India GST reconciliation is the process of matching three data sets for each sales period: the Shopify order export (gross revenue, tax collected, shipping, discounts), the gateway settlement report (MDR deductions, GST on MDR, payout batches), and the bank statement (actual credit received). The output is a tax split — CGST + SGST versus IGST — that feeds GSTR-1 at invoice-level detail.

The complication unique to India is that Shopify’s native tax configuration treats GST as a single percentage on the order. The split between CGST, SGST, and IGST is not stored explicitly in most Shopify exports — it must be derived from the ship-to state compared with the seller’s registered state under Section 10 of the IGST Act. For a seller registered in Maharashtra, a Delhi customer generates 18% IGST while a Pune customer generates 9% CGST + 9% SGST on the identical product.

How Shopify Gateway Settlement Reconciliation Works

Deriving SGST vs IGST from Ship-To State

The first step is to classify each order as intra-state or inter-state. The seller’s registered GSTIN carries a state code (first two digits). If the shipping address state code matches, the order is intra-state and the 18% (or 12%, 5%) rate splits equally between CGST and SGST. If the codes differ, the full rate is IGST. Shopify’s order export contains the shipping address — the reconciliation logic reads the state from that field and applies the split automatically. This classification must happen at order level, not at aggregate level, because a single settlement batch contains both types.

Grossing Up the Gateway Payout

Razorpay, PayU, and Cashfree deduct MDR from the gross transaction value before payout. The reconciliation step is to reconstruct gross revenue from the net settlement using the gateway’s fee report. For a ₹5,000 order with 2% MDR and 18% GST on MDR, the deductions are ₹100 MDR + ₹18 GST on MDR = ₹118, and the net payout is ₹4,882. Revenue recognised in Tally must be ₹5,000 (with CGST + SGST or IGST as applicable), not ₹4,882. The ₹18 GST on MDR is ITC-eligible against the gateway’s tax invoice.

Matching Refunds to Original Orders

Shopify refunds initiated through the admin flow through the gateway back to the customer’s card or UPI. The refund appears as a negative line in the gateway report, typically in a settlement cycle later than the original sale. The reconciliation must match the refund back to the original order, reverse the revenue and output tax in the refund period’s GSTR-3B, and adjust GSTR-1 via a credit note if the refund crosses a filing period. Missing this mapping leaves output tax overstated in the original period.

Shopify India Gateway Settlement Reference

GatewayDefault Settlement CycleTypical MDRGST Invoice Source
RazorpayT+2 cards, T+1 UPI2% cards, 0 to 0.4% UPIRazorpay dashboard — monthly tax invoice
PayUT+1 to T+21.75% to 2.5% cardsPayU dashboard — monthly commission invoice
CashfreeT+1 standard1.75% to 2% cardsCashfree dashboard — monthly GST invoice
Stripe IndiaT+72% + ₹3 per transactionStripe dashboard — consolidated monthly invoice

India Compliance Angle: GSTR-1 Place of Supply

For Shopify sellers, GSTR-1 Table 7B captures inter-state B2C supplies where the invoice value is below ₹2.5 lakh — reported in aggregate by state and rate. Intra-state B2C supplies consolidate into Table 7A. Inter-state supplies above ₹2.5 lakh must be reported invoice-wise in Table 5A. The place-of-supply field in each table is the ship-to state, not the billing state. Applying the billing state instead is a recurring error for Shopify stores where billing and shipping addresses differ — common in gifting, corporate orders, and marketplace drop-ship. A correction through an amendment in the next period’s GSTR-1 is possible but creates audit exposure in a scrutiny assessment.

Finance teams using payment gateway reconciliation tooling can ingest Razorpay, PayU, and Cashfree reports in the same pipeline and match each payout to Shopify orders by order ID. GST reconciliation software extends this by deriving CGST + SGST versus IGST splits from the ship-to state at order level, feeding the split directly into GSTR-1 format. The CBIC portal publishes the place-of-supply rules under Section 10 that govern this classification.

The following questions address the GST and gateway settlement issues Shopify India merchants encounter most frequently.

Primary reference: CBIC portal — where inter-state supply rules and Section 10 place-of-supply guidance are published.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is SGST versus IGST determined on a Shopify storefront order in India?
Under Section 10 of the IGST Act, the tax split is determined by the ship-to state on the order. If the customer's shipping address is in the same state as the seller's registered place of business, the order carries 9% CGST + 9% SGST (for 18% GST goods). If the ship-to state is different, the full 18% is collected as IGST. Shopify's tax engine computes this at checkout, but the Shopify order export does not always label the split clearly — finance teams must derive SGST versus IGST from the ship-to state field before filing GSTR-1.
How is GST applied to shipping charges on a Shopify order?
GST on shipping follows the composite supply rule under Section 8 of the CGST Act. If the order contains goods taxed at 18%, the shipping charge is also taxed at 18% as part of the same composite supply. For mixed-rate carts, Shopify applies the highest rate to the shipping line by default. The SGST versus IGST split on the shipping GST follows the same ship-to state rule as the goods themselves.
How do I reconcile a Razorpay or PayU payout against Shopify orders?
Each gateway payout is a net figure — gross order value minus MDR (typically 1.75% to 2.5% for cards, 0% to 0.4% for UPI), platform fees, and any refunds processed in the cycle. Reconciliation requires matching each payout transaction in the gateway report to the corresponding Shopify order ID, reconstructing gross revenue, and booking the MDR as an expense with 18% GST claimable as ITC. The gateway's GST invoice for MDR is the source document for that ITC claim.
What is the settlement cycle for Razorpay and PayU on Shopify stores?
Razorpay's default settlement cycle is T+2 for card payments and T+1 for UPI, with early settlement available at an additional fee. PayU operates on T+1 to T+2 depending on the merchant category code and risk profile. Cashfree's default is T+1. Each cycle includes all successful transactions in the preceding window net of refunds processed in the same period. The bank credit reference narration typically carries the gateway's merchant ID and settlement batch reference.
What are the most common GST reconciliation errors for Shopify India sellers?
The three recurring errors are: applying a single tax rate across all orders without deriving SGST versus IGST by ship-to state (produces GSTR-1 place-of-supply mismatches), treating the gateway net payout as revenue instead of grossing up for MDR and GST (understates output tax and ITC claimable), and missing refund-period reversals when a Q1 order is refunded in Q2 (leaves output tax overstated). Each error compounds monthly if the reconciliation is done on net payouts rather than order-level data.

See how TransactIG handles reconciliation for your industry

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