Legal
How Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) apply to a Far Finds trip, what each costs you, and how to claim TCS back.
Rates in force as of September 2026 · General information, not tax advice
This summary is provided for convenience only. The sections below explain each point in full.
| Our prices | Shown per person, before taxes. GST and, for trips outside India, TCS are added at payment and shown as separate lines. |
|---|---|
| GST | 5% of the Trip Price, on every trip, in India or abroad. It is a tax cost and is not refunded to you. |
| TCS | 2% of each payment for a trip outside India. It is your own income tax paid in advance, and you claim it back in your income-tax return. |
| PAN | Required for every trip outside India. Without a valid, operative PAN, the law requires TCS at a higher rate. |
| Documents | A GST tax invoice for each payment, and a TCS certificate after each quarter. |
| Trips in India | GST only. No TCS. |
1.1 Purpose. This page explains the Indian taxes that apply when you book a trip with Far Finds, a trading name of Mantlex Private Limited. It supports clause 5 of our Terms and Conditions.
1.2 The law. GST is levied under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Karnataka Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. TCS is collected under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961 from 1 April 2026.
1.3 Rates change. The rates below are those in force in September 2026. GST rates are set by the GST Council and TCS rates by each Union Budget. The rate that applies to your payment is the one in force on the date of the invoice.
1.4 Not tax advice. This page is general information. For advice on your own tax position, including whether you can claim input tax credit or how TCS affects your return, please consult a chartered accountant.
2.1 Before taxes. Every price on this website is shown per person in Indian Rupees and before taxes, as is usual for travel packages in India.
2.2 On your quote. Your quote and every payment show the Trip Price, the GST and, for trips outside India, the TCS as separate lines, so you can see exactly what each is. We tell you the TCS amount before you pay anything.
3.1 Rate. Our trips are supplied as tour operator services (Services Accounting Code 998552). GST is charged at 5% of the full package value, without input tax credit to us. This is the standard rate and structure for a travel package in India.
3.2 All trips. GST applies to trips in India and trips abroad alike.
3.3 Which GST you pay. The 5% is charged as follows, depending on the state in your billing address:
| Your billing address | GST charged |
|---|---|
| In Karnataka | Central GST (CGST) 2.5% and State GST (SGST) 2.5% |
| In any other state or union territory | Integrated GST (IGST) 5% |
The total is 5% in every case.
3.4 When it is charged. GST is due on each payment we receive, so the Deposit and the Balance each carry their own GST.
3.5 Tax invoice. We issue a GST tax invoice for each payment, showing our GSTIN (29AAVCM5675K1ZD), your name and billing state, the Services Accounting Code and the GST charged.
3.6 Business travel. If a company is paying, please give us its legal name, GSTIN and billing address before the first invoice, so that they appear on it. Whether the company can claim input tax credit depends on its own tax position.
3.7 A cost to you. For an individual traveller, GST is a tax cost. It is paid to the government and is not refunded to you once the trip has taken place.
3.8 Cancellations. If you cancel and a refund is due under our Terms, we issue a credit note, and the GST on the refunded amount is adjusted as the law allows.
4.1 What it is. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, a seller of an overseas tour package must collect a portion of the buyer's income tax at the time of payment and deposit it with the government against the buyer's Permanent Account Number (PAN). TCS is not a fee, a levy or a charge by us. It is your own income tax, paid in advance, and it counts towards your tax for the year.
4.2 Which trips. TCS applies to any trip that includes travel outside India. Trips entirely within India carry no TCS.
4.3 Rate. For payments made on or after 1 April 2026, TCS on an overseas tour package is a flat 2%, from the first rupee, with no threshold. Before that date, the rate was 5% up to ₹7,00,000 a year and 20% above, which is the figure you may still see quoted elsewhere.
4.4 How it is worked out. TCS is collected on each payment you make for the package, on the amount including GST. The Deposit and the Balance therefore each carry their own TCS.
4.5 Your PAN. We need a valid PAN for the person paying before we can accept a payment for a trip outside India. The PAN must be operative (linked with Aadhaar), and the name must match the payer's. Without a valid, operative PAN, the law requires TCS at a higher rate, and the tax cannot be credited to you.
4.6 Whose credit it is. TCS is credited to the PAN of the person who pays. If one person pays for a whole group, the full credit goes to that person. Travellers who want the credit in their own name should each pay their own share, under their own PAN.
4.7 TCS certificate. After the end of each quarter, once we have deposited the tax and filed our quarterly statement, we issue a TCS certificate showing the amount collected against your PAN. Please keep it with your tax records.
4.8 Checking the credit. The TCS appears in your annual tax statement on the income-tax e-filing portal, usually within a few weeks of the quarter's statement being filed.
4.9 Claiming it back. When you file your income-tax return for the financial year, the TCS is counted as tax already paid. It is set off against your total tax for the year, and if you have paid more tax than you owe, the excess is refunded to you by the Income Tax Department.
4.10 If you are salaried. You may declare TCS to your employer so that it is taken into account when tax is deducted from your salary (TDS), instead of waiting for a refund after you file your return.
4.11 If you cancel. TCS that we have already deposited with the government stays credited to your PAN, and you claim it in your income-tax return in the usual way. The rest of any refund due is paid as our Terms describe.
4.12 Items you buy yourself. TCS applies to the package you buy from us. Travel you arrange yourself outside the package, such as flights booked in your own name, is not part of it. Where a trip can reasonably be arranged this way, we will say so; whether it suits you is your choice.
4.13 The real cost of TCS. TCS does not increase the tax you owe for the year. Its only cost is timing: the money is with the government from the date of payment until it is set off or refunded.
Two travellers book a trip outside India at ₹2,51,000 per person, paying the 20% Deposit at booking and the Balance 55 days before departure. Figures are rounded to the nearest rupee.
| Line | Deposit (20%) | Balance (80%) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trip Price | ₹1,00,400 | ₹4,01,600 | ₹5,02,000 |
| GST at 5% | ₹5,020 | ₹20,080 | ₹25,100 |
| TCS at 2% (on the amount including GST) | ₹2,108 | ₹8,434 | ₹10,542 |
| Amount paid | ₹1,07,528 | ₹4,30,114 | ₹5,37,642 |
Of the ₹5,37,642 paid, the ₹10,542 of TCS is credited to the payer's PAN and claimed back in their return. The cost of the trip after that credit is ₹5,27,100: the Trip Price plus GST.
6.1 Local taxes and fees. Some destinations charge their own taxes and fees, such as tourist or city taxes, national park and conservation fees, departure taxes and visa fees. Each trip page lists, under what is in the price and what is not, which of these are included in the Trip Price.
6.2 Money you spend abroad. Money you spend yourself during the trip, by card, forex card or cash, is outside our package. Your bank or foreign exchange provider may apply its own charges, and remittances under the Reserve Bank of India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme may carry TCS under their own rules. Your bank or provider can tell you what applies.
If the law changes a GST or TCS rate after you have booked, the rate in force on the date of each invoice applies. A change in government taxes is one of the limited reasons the Trip Price may change after booking, as clause 5.4 of our Terms and Conditions explains, including the protections it gives you.
For a question about the taxes on your quote or invoice, write to us at contact@farfinds.co. For advice on your own tax position, please consult a chartered accountant.