TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
If your 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 transports goods using 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀 —road, rail, or air—do you know the 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲? 🤔
A 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴! 💰
𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: 📦🚛✈️ A startup ships goods 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲:
🚚 𝗕𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 to a railway station.
🚆 𝗕𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 to Bangalore.
🏠 𝗕𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 for final delivery.
⚠️𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸-𝘁𝗼-𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 – Many startups 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼-𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀. However, the startup𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀.
Should GST be charged 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 for road and rail? Or is it a 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆?
🚀 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆:
✅ 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 (𝗦𝗔𝗖 996541) 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 12% 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲.
✅ This was introduced in 2018 to simplify taxation for logistics using multiple transport modes.
📌 In the 28𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 (21.07.2018), it was discussed that:
💡 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆
💡 To𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, a separate 12% 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 was introduced.
💡 This was later notified under:
👉𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗼. 13/2018-𝗖.𝗧. (𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲) & 14/2018-𝗜.𝗧. (𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲) (26.07.2018)
🚨𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀:
⚠️ GST authorities may still argue that 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁
👉 is 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 chargeable to GST at 18%. But the 𝗖𝗕𝗜𝗖 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗡𝗼. 104/7/2008-𝗦.𝗧 clarified that 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲. ✅
👉 is chargeable to GST at 18% as any other service – which can be negated based on the aforementioned clarification on 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀
💡 Why do these matters for your startup? Correct GST classification
✅𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀
✅ensure less or no haircut to your valuation in the next funding round
✅𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
Has GST ever impacted your startup’s operations or funding?
✈️Logistics Businesses: Are you charging the right GST? 🚛🚂
03 Mar 2025 Written by
Multimodal transport services classification clarifies GST treatment for multimode logistics and reduces misclassification risk.
Whether multisegment logistics movements should attract separate taxes for each leg or a single tax depends on classification as Multimodal Transport Services. An explicit GST category for multimodal logistics was introduced in 2018 to remove uncertainty about identifying a dominant transport mode and to simplify taxation for services that combine road, rail and air legs. Startups face compliance risks from potential reclassification as other service types, and adopting the multimodal classification reduces GST exposure and funding friction. (AI Summary)
Whether multisegment logistics movements should attract separate taxes for each leg or a single tax depends on classification as Multimodal Transport Services. An explicit GST category for multimodal logistics was introduced in 2018 to remove uncertainty about identifying a dominant transport mode and to simplify taxation for services that combine road, rail and air legs. Startups face compliance risks from potential reclassification as other service types, and adopting the multimodal classification reduces GST exposure and funding friction. (AI Summary)