Account Verification, Taxes, and FIRC for sales in India

Verifying your merc‌hant account

To comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s Payment Aggregator Cross Border (PA-CB) regulations, you must verify your merchant account to sell on the Google Play Store and receive payouts.

Google has partnered with BillDesk to facilitate this verification process. BillDesk will email you directly with instructions on how to submit your required documentation.

Look for an email from onboarding@billdesk.com with the subject line: Verification required with BillDesk to receive payments on Google Play.To complete verification, you will need to upload the specific identity and address proof documents required for your account type (such as a PAN card or business registration) directly to BillDesk’s secure portal.

Your verification deadline depends on when you started monetizing on Google Play:

• Existing merchants (Monetizing before December 31, 2025):You must complete your verification by September 15, 2026. Failure to complete verification by this date will result in a sales block, preventing new purchases of your apps and in-app products.
• Aspiring merchants (Monetizing on or after January 1, 2026):You are required to successfully complete KYC verification before your sales can be processed. While you may be able to access monetization tools and configure in-app products or subscriptions, your sales will be blocked until your verification is successfully completed with BillDesk.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a comprehensive, indirect tax applicable on manufacturing and the sale of goods and services in India.

Who pays GST

GST must be paid on Google Play Store apps and games sold to customers in India. Keep the following in mind:

• App or game developers based in India must determine any tax obligation themselves and pay GST as applicable
• Google collects and pays GST on sales of apps and games by developers located outside India

What India-based developers must do under GST law

If you're a developer with a merchant account address in India, you may be responsible for paying GST on the sale of apps and games by customers in India. To determine your GST obligations, we recommend that you work with your tax advisor.

Get or find your GSTIN

We recommend that you work with your tax advisor to determine your GST obligations.

Developers located in India that are required to get a GSTIN must provide it to Google under GST law.

To find or get your GSTIN, register or sign in to the Indian Government GST website and follow the instructions provided. If you need help, contact them.

Provide or update your GSTIN

After you have received your GSTIN, add it along with business contact details to your payments profile. We provide this information to the Indian tax authorities under GST law (where required).

Here's how to enter your GSTIN, your business address and state in your payments profile:

1. Sign in to the Google payments center .
2. Click Settings.
3. Find your payments profile, then India tax info .
4. Click Edit.
5. Enter or update your India business address, state, and GSTIN.
6. Click Save.

Requesting a FIRC

All FIRC (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate) requests are processed by our payment processor, BillDesk, and officially issued by Citibank.

Here is the process for requesting your certificate:

1. Submit your FIRC request to Google.
2. Google notifies BillDesk and provides the relevant reference data.
3. BillDesk coordinates with Citibank, which generates the FIRC certificate and mails a copy directly to you.