October 1 has been notified as the date for implementing the tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collected at source (TCS) provisions under GST (goods and service tax) law by the government. Under the Central GST (CGST) Act, the notified entities are required to collect TDS at the rate of 1 percent on payment to goods or services suppliers in excess of Rs 2.5 lakh. States will also levy 1 percent TDS under state laws.

The e-commerce companies will now be required to collect up to 1 percent TCS while making any payment to their suppliers under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). SGST also allows up to 1 percent TCS from States.

A PTI report said the government has notified operation of TDS provisions on payments made by government agencies and TCS provisions for specified e-commerce operators which will be effective from 1 October 2018.

The move was taken to further penetrate the tax authorities in the economy, and reduce widespread tax evasion of direct as well as indirect taxes.

Since its launch on 1 July 2018, GST has subsumed over a dozen local taxes. TDS/TCS provisions of GST laws were, however, not included so as to make it simpler for businesses to adapt in the initial months of the rollout. The provision was deferred to 30 June and later to 30 September.