To the uninitiated, VAT or Value Added Tax is a state tax and therefore levied on all goods which are sold within the state. If my company is in Haryana and I sell my product (say a pen) to a customer who is based out of Haryana, I shall levy a VAT on this sale in accordance with the rules of the state of Haryana. If however I sell this product to a company in Delhi (out of Haryana), I would have to levy the central sales tax (CST)

An eCommerce retailing company operating out of a particular state usually sells pan India. The goods therefore would be billed with either VAT or CST depending upon the location of the customer (within state or without). This brings up multiple questions -

1. How should the eCommerce company show the pricing of the product on its portal, with or without taxes (VAT)?
2. How should this eCommerce company treat C-Forms (a customer from out of state can issue a C Form to the supplier and get the items at a reduced rate of CST)
3. There are certain other forms like H Form through which the customer can claim a VAT exemption. How should that be handled?

If you are working on an eCommerce retailing platform or plan to come up with one, this is something that would interest you.