Say you run a personal finance channel. In FY 2025-26, your AdSense payouts came to ₹14 lakh and three Indian brand deals added ₹9 lakh. You never registered for GST because “most of my money comes from Google, and that’s export”. Then a notice arrives asking why you weren’t registered. Who’s right? Partly both of you, and that’s exactly where creators get caught.
Registration and Paying 18% Are Two Different Questions
GST registration means getting a GSTIN and filing returns. Whether a particular invoice carries GST is a separate question. Creators tend to treat the two as one decision.
- Registration becomes compulsory under Section 22 of the CGST Act once aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh in special category states).
- “Aggregate turnover” under Section 2(6) of the CGST Act includes exports. Zero-rated foreign income still counts towards the ₹20 lakh.
So ₹14 lakh + ₹9 lakh = ₹23 lakh. You crossed the line, even though most of that income carries no GST.
When Your Income Really Is an Export of Services
Under Section 2(6) of the IGST Act, a service counts as exported only if you’re in India, the recipient and place of supply are outside India, and you’re paid in convertible foreign exchange. Exports are zero-rated under Section 16 of the IGST Act. File a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) in Form GST RFD-11 and you invoice at 0%.
Where it forks:
- AdSense paid by Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Singapore: usually an export.
- Payment from an Indian entity (Google India, or an Indian agency acting for a foreign brand): a domestic supply at 18%.
- Indian brand deals and affiliate commissions: 18%.
- All income is genuine export and below ₹20 lakh: Notification 10/2017-Integrated Tax exempts you from registration.
Why “I Didn’t Know” Doesn’t Hold Up
In 2019, CBDT and GSTN signed an MoU (14 May 2019) to exchange taxpayer data. Brand deals with TDS appear in your 26AS and AIS, and foreign receipts arrive with purpose codes. If AIS shows ₹23 lakh of receipts and no GSTIN sits against your PAN, the gap is visible.
In July 2025, Karnataka’s Commercial Taxes Department issued thousands of notices to unregistered traders whose UPI receipts crossed ₹20 lakh (services) or ₹40 lakh (goods). Creators fit the same pattern.
Practical Guidance: The Numbers
| Income stream | Amount | GST treatment |
|---|---|---|
| AdSense (Google Asia Pacific, Singapore) | ₹14,00,000 | Zero-rated with LUT |
| Indian brand deals | ₹9,00,000 | 18% = ₹1,62,000 |
Register late, and the department computes 18% on domestic receipts from the date liability arose, plus 18% annual interest under Section 50. On the export portion, you’ll need FIRAs and invoices to defend the zero rating. Some High Courts have held that a missing LUT alone doesn’t remove export status, but you’d be arguing it, not relying on it.
What to do:
- Apply for registration within 30 days of crossing the threshold (Section 25(1)).
- File the LUT before your first zero-rated invoice, and renew it every financial year.
- Raise export invoices with the LUT declaration, and 18% invoices for Indian brands.
- Report exports in Table 6A of GSTR-1 and keep the bank advice for every foreign payout.
At Tax Vic, we register creators under GST, file the LUT and split income into export and domestic invoices, so your GSTR-1 and ITR tell the same story.
My view: if you’re at ₹15 lakh and growing, register voluntarily. You’ll recover the 18% input credit on cameras, software and studio rent. The trade-off is regular returns and the discipline they demand. Our GST guide for freelancers covers the return calendar.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming foreign income doesn’t count towards ₹20 lakh.
- Charging 18% on AdSense without an LUT, then never claiming the refund.
- Treating free products as gifts. They’re consideration, and perks above ₹20,000 a year attract TDS (Section 194R of the 1961 Act, now within Section 393 of the 2025 Act). Our influencer taxation guide covers this.
- Filing an ITR whose receipts don’t match GSTR-1.
Grey area: Super Chats and memberships. Check which Google entity your payment advice names before deciding the treatment.
Key Takeaways
- The ₹20 lakh threshold includes export receipts.
- Zero-rating needs all export conditions plus an LUT in RFD-11, filed before the year’s first invoice.
- Indian brand deals and Indian-paid platform income attract 18%.
- Register within 30 days of crossing the threshold.
- Reconcile AIS, 26AS, GSTR-1 and your ITR before filing.
Got a GST notice, or crossed ₹20 lakh without a GSTIN? Tax Vic will review the notice, register you, file your LUT and set up separate export and domestic invoices for your platform and brand income. Write to info@taxvic.com or call/WhatsApp +91-9311070842.
Author: CA Reetu Bhandari
Published: 4 November 2026
Last Reviewed: 2 November 2026
