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A seller sees ₹1,00,000 of sales on the marketplace dashboard but a much smaller bank credit, and does not know which deductions are normal.
Walk gross sales down to the payout: subtract fees, GST on fees, TDS, TCS, return reversals and holds, and compare each line with the fee schedule and fee invoice.
The weekly settlement report, the marketplace fee invoice, the seller fee schedule and the bank statement for the payout date.
A line-by-line walk from sales to bank credit, with fees checked against invoices, tax deductions tracked as credits and holds shown as receivables.
Your Amazon or Flipkart payout is lower than your sales because the marketplace nets off its commission and fees, GST on those fees, income-tax it deducts (TDS) and GST it collects (TCS), returns and any amount it holds back. Most of these lines are expected. The tax lines are not costs at all; they are your own tax paid in advance and you can claim them back.
What are the likely causes?
| Deduction | What it is | Cost or credit? |
|---|---|---|
| Commission or referral fee | Percentage of selling price, by category | Cost |
| Fixed, closing and shipping fees | Per-order fees per the fee schedule | Cost |
| GST on fees | GST charged on the marketplace’s own services, typically 18 percent | Usually claimable as input tax credit |
| TDS (Section 194O) | 0.1 percent of gross sales, from 1 October 2024 | Credit against income tax |
| GST TCS (Section 52, CGST Act) | 0.5 percent of net taxable value, from 10 July 2024 | Credit in GST cash ledger |
| Return and cancellation reversals | Earlier sales reversed | Reduces sales |
| Hold or reserve | Amount not yet released | Still your receivable |
| Timing | Delivered this week, paid next week | Pending |
From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act, and the e-commerce TDS now sits in Section 393 with payment code 1035. The rate is the same.
Which deductions are normal and which should I query?
Fees should match the seller fee schedule for your category and the tax invoice the marketplace issues each month. Query a line when:
- the commission percentage is higher than the schedule for that category;
- a weight or shipping fee is charged at a higher slab than the product’s real weight;
- a return is reversed but the item never came back;
- TDS or TCS is calculated on a wrong base;
- the same fee appears twice for one order.
Keep the order ID with every query. Marketplaces resolve claims order by order.
Why does the dashboard sales figure not match the bank credit for the same week?
Because the dashboard counts orders when placed or shipped, while the payout counts orders that are delivered and past the marketplace’s payment eligibility point. An order delivered on Friday may be paid in the following week’s cycle. Compare a settlement report with its own bank credit, not with the dashboard for the same dates.
A worked example
A seller has ₹1,00,000 of delivered orders in a cycle. The fee figures below are illustrative, not any marketplace’s actual rates.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross sales delivered | ₹1,00,000 |
| Less commission (illustrative 10 percent) | ₹10,000 |
| Less fixed and closing fees | ₹2,000 |
| Less shipping fees | ₹4,000 |
| Less GST at 18 percent on fees of ₹16,000 | ₹2,880 |
| Less TDS at 0.1 percent of gross | ₹100 |
| Less GST TCS at 0.5 percent of net taxable value of ₹90,000 | ₹450 |
| Less reversal of an earlier returned order | ₹5,000 |
| Bank credit | ₹75,570 |
Check: ₹10,000 + ₹2,000 + ₹4,000 + ₹2,880 + ₹100 + ₹450 + ₹5,000 = ₹24,430, and ₹1,00,000 − ₹24,430 = ₹75,570.
Of the ₹24,430, only ₹16,000 is a true selling cost. The ₹2,880 GST on fees is usually recoverable as input tax credit, the ₹100 TDS and ₹450 TCS are tax credits, and the ₹5,000 reversal corrects an earlier sale. The TDS line applies here because this seller is a company; a resident individual with yearly sales up to ₹5 lakh who has given PAN or Aadhaar would not see it.
How do I record it?
Book the sale at ₹1,00,000 against a marketplace receivable. When the payout arrives, debit Bank ₹75,570, Marketplace Fees ₹16,000, Input GST ₹2,880, TDS Receivable ₹100, GST TCS Receivable ₹450, and debit Sales Returns ₹5,000 (the returned order), crediting the marketplace receivable for the total.
What to read next
Check one week by hand, then learn to read the report behind it in marketplace settlement report columns explained. For the order-by-order method see the Flipkart seller settlement walk-through and the marketplace fee audit; for gateway payouts see why a Razorpay payout is less than the sale total. Marketplace settlement reconciliation is on the roadmap for Terra Insight’s payment gateway reconciliation work.
Content authored by practitioners with experience at Amazon India, Intuit QuickBooks, and the Tata Group. Meet the team →