What your mutual fund distributor client should give you each month

Written for the CA or accountant who handles the GST of a mutual fund distributor. If you are the distributor, send this page to your CA once and you will not have to explain the cycle again.

Print this page or send the link. It is one page, it is free, and it needs no account. This is general information, not tax advice.

The four things that arrive each month

A GST registered mutual fund distributor raises one invoice per fund house per month, so a distributor working with 18 fund houses produces 18 invoices, not one.

The signed invoices. One PDF per fund house, each carrying the distributor's ARN, GSTIN, invoice number, taxable brokerage, tax split and signature.
A summary sheet. One row per fund house with the taxable value and the tax, so the month can be totalled without opening every PDF.
The GSTR-1 file. The same invoices in the portal's own import format, so nothing has to be re-keyed into the return.
Any credit notes. Clawbacks from earlier months, handled as credit notes rather than as reductions inside a fresh invoice.

What the numbers are

Item	What it means
Supply	Distribution and related services provided by the distributor to the asset management company. A B2B supply.
Recipient	The mutual fund entity, not the registrar. KFIN and CAMS are registrars and transfer agents, they process the paperwork and the payment, they are not the buyer.
SAC	997152 is the code generally used for the distributor's commission invoice to the fund house.
Rate	18%, split as CGST and SGST within the state, or IGST across states.
Place of supply	Follows the fund house's registration, not the distributor's location. So the same distributor issues a mix of intra state and inter state invoices in the same month.
Serial numbers	One unbroken series for the financial year, within 16 characters, for example MFD/2627/0011. Gaps and repeats do not show up at upload. They show up later, at filing.
Clawback	A credit note against the earlier invoice, reported in the credit and debit notes section, never a negative line inside a new invoice.

The dates

1st to 5th

The registrar files for the month become available. CAMS emails its set, KFIN publishes its set on the portal.

7th to 15th

The window in which the signed invoices must be uploaded to KFIN and CAMS. After the 15th the GST portion moves to the next cycle.

11th

GSTR-1 for monthly filers. Quarterly filers under QRMP can push the B2B invoices using IFF by the 13th.

20th

GSTR-3B, or as notified under QRMP.

Month end

The registrars release the GST portion against the invoices that were accepted.

One point to watch. KFIN works on the trail month and CAMS works on the payment month. Two sets that arrive in the same week can relate to different periods, so read the period on the invoice rather than assuming they match.

What to check before filing

Every fund house the distributor was empanelled with last month is present this month. A fund house that quietly disappears is usually a mapping problem, not a month with no brokerage.
The recipient GSTIN on each invoice belongs to the mutual fund entity and passes its own check digit.
The tax split matches the place of supply, invoice by invoice.
The series runs in order with no gaps, across both registrars, for the whole financial year.
Every clawback has a credit note against the right original invoice.
The totals in GSTR-1 match what was uploaded to the registrar. A one rupee rounding difference is enough to cause a query.

Where these documents come from. {BRAND} takes the unsigned invoice ZIP and the Excel template the distributor downloads from KFIN or CAMS, signs and numbers every invoice, fills the template, and produces the summary sheet and the GSTR-1 file from the same run. The figures are carried through from the registrar's own file, so there is nothing re-typed for you to check against a source. See it run on a real file.

If you are the distributor reading this

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Common questions

What does a mutual fund distributor actually sell?

The distributor provides distribution and related services to the asset management company. The commission, usually called brokerage or trail, is the consideration for that service. It is a B2B supply to the AMC, taxable at 18% GST, and the SAC generally used is 997152.

Who raises the invoice, the distributor or the AMC?

The distributor raises it. The AMC computes the brokerage and the registrar, KFIN or CAMS, publishes the figures, but the tax invoice is the distributor's own document, issued from the distributor's own serial series and carrying the distributor's signature.

Why is there a 15th of the month deadline?

The registrars accept the signed invoices in a window that runs from the 7th to the 15th of each month. If the invoice is uploaded after the 15th, the GST portion of that month's commission is released in the following cycle instead.

Why do the KFIN and CAMS sets cover different months?

KFIN works on the trail month and CAMS works on the payment month, so the two sets your client hands you in the same week can relate to different periods. Check the period stated on each invoice rather than assuming they match.

What about a negative or clawback line?

A clawback is not a reduction typed into the invoice. It is handled as a credit note against the earlier invoice and reported in the credit and debit notes section of GSTR-1.

Does the distributor need a GSTIN at all?

Registration depends on turnover and on the distributor's own position. What changed in April 2026 is the consequence: an unregistered distributor receives base commission only, while the GST portion goes to registered distributors who raise a valid invoice.