GSTR-7: The TDS Return Under GST, Explained

GSTR-7 is the return a GST tax deductor files every month. When a government department, local authority or other notified body pays a supplier under a large contract, it withholds part of the payment as GST TDS, pays it to the government, and reports it in GSTR-7. That return is what moves the money into the supplier's ledger. This guide covers who files GSTR-7, what goes into it, the GSTR-7 due date and late fee, the GSTR-7A certificate, and what the supplier on the other end has to do to use the credit.

What GSTR-7 is

GST TDS is one of two collection-at-source mechanisms in the CGST Act. The other, TCS by e-commerce operators under Section 52, is reported in GSTR-8. Both are explained side by side in our guide to TDS and TCS under GST. GSTR-7 is the TDS side: a monthly statement of every deduction the deductor made, against which supplier, and how much tax under each head.

It is a narrow return. An ordinary taxpayer never sees it, and a deductor files nothing else in its capacity as a deductor. Where it sits in the wider family of forms is in our list of GST return types.

Who has to file GSTR-7

Section 51 applies only to the recipients it names, not to businesses in general:

• a department or establishment of the Central Government or a State Government;
• a local authority;
• a governmental agency;
• such other persons or categories of persons as the government notifies, which is how certain public sector undertakings and bodies established or controlled by government were brought in.

The notified list has changed over time, so the current notification on the CBIC GST site is the place to confirm whether a particular board, society or PSU is a deductor. A private company buying from a private vendor never deducts GST TDS, whatever the contract value.

When TDS is deducted, and at what rate

Deduction is required where the total value of supply under a contract exceeds ₹2,50,000, excluding the GST and cess shown on the invoice. The test is on the contract, not on each invoice, so a ₹6 lakh contract billed in four instalments of ₹1.5 lakh is above the threshold for every payment.

The base is always the taxable value. On ₹5,00,000 of services at 18%, the invoice total is ₹5,90,000, but TDS is computed on ₹5,00,000. No deduction is made where the location of the supplier and the place of supply are both in a State different from the deductor's State of registration, nor on supplies from unregistered suppliers, exempt supplies, or supplies where the recipient pays tax under reverse charge.

Registering as a TDS deductor

Before it can file GSTR-7, a deductor needs a GST registration in that capacity. It is a compulsory registration that does not depend on turnover, applied for on the GST portal in Form GST REG-07. A government department that has no PAN can register on the strength of its TAN. The result is a separate GSTIN for each State in which the deductor deducts, with a registration type that differs from an ordinary taxpayer's.

For suppliers, that GSTIN matters: the deductor's GSTIN appears against each TDS entry on the supplier's portal. Our taxpayer types guide explains how the different registration categories show up on a GSTIN record.

What goes into GSTR-7

The return is short and mechanical. Its main parts are:

• Details of TDS deducted: the deductee's GSTIN, the amount paid, and the TDS under CGST, SGST/UTGST or IGST. The portal now asks for this at invoice level rather than as one figure per supplier, so the credit can be traced to the exact bill.
• Amendments to entries reported in earlier months (see corrections below).
• Tax deducted and payable, worked out by the portal from the entries.
• Interest and late fee, if the return or payment is late.
• Payment of the tax from the deductor's electronic cash ledger. TDS cannot be paid from input tax credit; the deductor deposits it in cash through a challan first.

The filing itself follows the usual pattern: enter or upload the entries, deposit the tax with a PMT-06 challan, preview, and file with DSC or EVC. A government office will typically file with the DSC of the drawing and disbursing officer or other authorised signatory.

GSTR-7 due date, late fee and interest

The GSTR-7 due date is the 10th of the following month. Tax deducted in September 2026 must be paid and reported by 10 October 2026. The 10th sits ahead of the GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B dates, which is deliberate: suppliers can see the TDS before they file their own returns. Every monthly date is laid out in our GST return due dates for 2026.

The return is due every month once the deductor is registered. In a month with no deductions, a nil GSTR-7 is filed.

The late fee is commonly quoted as ₹100 per day of delay (₹50 CGST plus ₹50 SGST), subject to a maximum. The government has since reduced both the per-day fee and the cap for GSTR-7 by notification, so the figure the portal charges may be lower than the one in older guides. Check the current waiver before working out an exposure, or let the portal compute it when you file. The general rules are in our guide to GST late fee and interest.

GSTR-7A: the TDS certificate

GSTR-7A is the TDS certificate under GST. Nobody types it up. Once GSTR-7 is filed, the portal generates the certificate and makes it available to the deductee. It shows the deductor's GSTIN, the deductee's GSTIN, the tax period, the value on which tax was deducted, and the amount deducted under each head.

When a supplier asks a government office for its "GST TDS certificate", the practical answer is to file GSTR-7 for that month. If the certificate is not there, the return almost always has not been filed.

How the deductee claims the credit

For the supplier, GST TDS is tax already paid on its behalf. It is not input tax credit, so it goes to the electronic cash ledger, not the credit ledger. Getting it there takes one step on the supplier's side:

1. The deductor files GSTR-7 naming the supplier's GSTIN.
2. The entry appears in the supplier's TDS and TCS credit received section on the GST portal.
3. The supplier accepts each entry that matches its records, or rejects one that does not, and files that section.
4. Accepted amounts are credited to the electronic cash ledger under CGST, SGST/UTGST or IGST, as deducted.
5. The supplier uses that balance to pay its GST in GSTR-3B, or claims a refund of an unused balance.

How the two ledgers differ, and what each can be used for, is covered in our guide to the electronic credit and cash ledger. Suppliers working for government buyers should reconcile payment advices against these credits every month. If a deductor withholds 2% and never files GSTR-7, the money has left the supplier's bank account but never reaches its ledger.

Correcting a mistake in GSTR-7

A filed GSTR-7 cannot be revised. Mistakes are corrected in a later month's GSTR-7, through the amendment section, by selecting the original entry and reporting the corrected GSTIN or amounts. Two situations usually lead to an amendment:

• The deductee rejected the entry because the amount or GSTIN was wrong. A rejected entry goes back to the deductor to amend in a subsequent return.
• The deductor found the error first, for example a payment reported against the wrong supplier or under the wrong tax head.

The most avoidable error is a wrong or inactive GSTIN. A deduction reported against a mistyped, cancelled or suspended registration does not reach the real supplier, and fixing it takes an amendment plus a month of follow-up. Checking each supplier's GSTIN before it goes into the payment master prevents this. The GSTIN verification API returns the legal name, status and registration details for a GSTIN in one call.

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