Amazon.in, along with ClearTax, powers sellers to become GST ready

Amazon.in has announced its partnership with ClearTax to launch ClearTax Biz and ClearTax Biz+ that aim to help sellers on its marketplace file and reconcile their tax returns conveniently in accordance with the upcoming GST rollout. ClearTax Biz and Cleartax Biz+ will be available for free for the sellers for the first two months after they sign up to use the product. The software will be subsequently provided at a preferential price with 30% discount for sellers registered with Amazon India.

With GST coming into effect from July 1, 2017, there will be major changes in the way businesses need to file their tax returns and sellers will have to adapt to these changes rapidly. Sellers will now need to file GSTR1, GSTR2, and GSTR3 forms every month, as opposed to once a quarter in the pre-GST regime, and will have just a 5-day window for reconciliation. This makes maintaining accuracy and timeliness of filing, and hence compliance ratings, a challenge for sellers. The ClearTax solution offers a near one-click solution for a seller to file his/her returns from all different channels. The product also helps them manage reconciliations and mismatches with no manual effort and provides an early warning system to minimize seller’s interest and penalties. Sellers can create GST-compliant sales and purchase invoices from day 1 of the GST regime, reconcile and file their GSTR forms with 100% accuracy, and have access to dashboards that help in better cash flow management, enabling them to maintain their compliance ratings. The product also allows sellers to communicate and resolve mismatches real time with their vendors and tax professionals, effectively increasing the 5-day reconciliation window. In addition, live product training sessions and webinars are made available as many as five times a day along with educational videos to ensure full understanding of the product’s nuances and its various applications across Amazon’s seller community.

Gopal Pillai, Director & GM, Seller Services, Amazon India, said, “Through regular interactions with our sellers, we observed that a lot of them were concerned and unaware about various nuances of GST. We thus decided to partner with ClearTax and introduce this solution to help them file and reconcile their tax returns conveniently and transition seamlessly through GST. We look forward to supporting our sellers in every way possible through comprehensive training, technology solutions and collaboration with subject experts. Our primary focus is to ensure that our sellers are ready to transition to GST seamlessly.”

Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, ClearTax, commented, "We are very excited to partner with Amazon in making India GST ready. Businesses selling online have an increased burden with GST. They have to claim TCS, Tax Collected at Source and input tax credit properly on time. Delay in GST actions poses significant risk to working capital of these sellers. The ClearTax GST software for Amazon sellers solves these problems in a simple 3-step process unlocking working capital and reducing risk in their business."

Amazon India has recently launched “A-Z GST Guide” programme that has trained and enabled thousands of sellers on the marketplace till date to get ready for GST. The online portal provides resources in the form of tutorials, blogs and free online training sessions. In addition, it also provides sellers on the marketplace with access to paid professional support and expert advice from third-party service providers. Through engagement activities like surveys, the initiative receives real-time feedback from sellers which helps Amazon.in customize support services related to GST.

Tags: Amazon.in, ClearTax, powers sellers, GST, ClearTax Biz, ClearTax Biz+, A-Z GST Guide, Amazon India, Gopal Pillai Amazon India, Archit Gupta ClearTax, ClearTax GST software