Plain answers to the questions mutual fund distributors ask most about GST on trail commission: which month's CAMS or KFIN invoice to raise, the GST rate, the SAC code, and how filing works. One place for all of it.
It is a tax invoice a GST-registered distributor raises to each fund house (AMC) for the brokerage or trail commission earned that month. The fund house pays the 18% GST back only after this invoice is uploaded through CAMS or KFIN. SAC code 997152 goes on every one of these invoices.
Only if you are registered for GST. Trail commission is paid net of GST, and the 18% is reimbursed only once a valid tax invoice is raised and uploaded. If you are not GST-registered, no invoice is needed, but see the registration question below, since it may still be worth registering.
18%. If the fund house is registered in the same state as you, it is split as 9% CGST plus 9% SGST. If the fund house is in a different state, it is 18% IGST. The rate itself never changes, only the split.
SAC 997152, on every invoice, to every fund house, on both CAMS and KFIN.
CAMS asks for the payment month on its GST Invoice Download screen. This is the month CAMS actually paid the brokerage to you, the same month, not the month before. Choose the month shown on that payment, not the month the underlying AUM relates to. The upload screen later asks for the month as per date of invoice, and that points at the same month's brokerage too.
KFIN goes by the trail month, the month selected when downloading the invoice file and generating the Excel template on the GST Invoice Management screen. Pick the month that matches the trail commission being invoiced.
A separate invoice for every fund house, every month, on both CAMS and KFIN. A distributor who works with 15 AMCs raises 15 invoices that month, one per AMC.
The GST on that month's brokerage is not reimbursed until a valid signed invoice is uploaded. It does not disappear, but it waits until the invoice goes in, so a missed month means a delay in getting that 18% back.
GST registration becomes compulsory once total taxable turnover crosses 20 lakh rupees a year in most states, or 10 lakh rupees a year in a few special category states. Below that, registration is optional. Speak to your CA about your own situation before deciding.
No. Raising and uploading the invoice to CAMS or KFIN is one step. GSTR-1 is the monthly or quarterly GST return where those same invoices are reported to the GST department. Both are needed, and they are two separate steps.
It depends on the scheme in use. Regular monthly filers file GSTR-1 every month. Distributors on the QRMP scheme file GSTR-1 once a quarter, but still upload invoice details every month through IFF. Your CA can confirm which applies to you.
The most common causes are the wrong SAC code, the wrong CGST/SGST versus IGST split, a missing or wrong ARN, an invoice number that is not sequential, or the wrong fund house GSTIN. Checking these five things before upload avoids most rejections.
CAMS and KFintech are the two registrars that handle GST invoice upload and reimbursement for almost all AMCs in India, so covering both covers nearly every fund house a distributor works with.
Yes. Once the GSTIN, the SAC code and the correct tax split are known, raising the invoice itself does not need an accountant. Filing GSTR-1 and any tax advice specific to your situation is best done with your CA.
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