GSTN UPDATES

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E-Invoicing Mandatory from 1st April 2022 for Turnover of more than Rs.20 Crore

E-Invoicing is now mandatory for Turnover of more than Rs 20 cr from 1st April 2022 as per notification Notification Number 01/2022 dated 24th Feb 2022 issued by Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs [CBIC]. 

Currently, the limit for generating the E-Invoice is Rs 50 Cr and more which has been put into effect from 1st April 2021, while for companies having turnover more than Rs 100 crore was made effective from 1st Jan 2021 and turnover more than Rs 500 Cr was made effective from 1st October 2020.

26th GST Council Meet: Following Major Decisions Were Taken

Press Release regarding E-way Bill The GST Council has recommended the introduction of e-way bill for inter-State movement of goods across the country from 1st April 2018. For intra-State movement of goods, e-way bill system will be introduced w.e.f. a date to be announced in a phased manner but not later than 1st June 2018.
Major improvements over the last set of rules. as approved by the Council now. are as follows:

  • E-way bill is required to be generated only where the value of the consignment exceeds Rs. 50000/, For smaller value consignments, no e-way bill is required
  • The provisions a sub-rule (7) a Rule 138 will be notified from a later date. Therefore, at present there is no requirement to generate e-way bill where an individual consignment value is less than Rs. 50.000/, even if the transporter is carrying goods of more than Rs. 50,000/- in a single conveyance.
  • Value of exempted goods has been excluded from value of the consignment, for the purpose of e-way bill generation.
  • Public conveyance has also been included as a mode of transport and the responsibility of generating e-way bill in case of movement of goods by public transport would be that of the consignor or consignee.
  • Railways has been exempted from generation and carrying of e-way bill with the condition that without the production of e-way bill, railways will not deliver the goods to the recipient. But railways are required to carry invoice or delivery chalIan etc.
  • Time period for the recipient to communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment would be the validity period of the concerned e-way bill or 72 hours, whichever is earlier.
  • In case of movement of goods on account of job-work, the registered job worker can also generate e-way bill.
  • Consignor can authorize the transporter, courier agency and e-commerce operator to fill PART-A of e-way bill on his behalf.
  • Movement of goods from the place of consignor to the place of transporter up to a distance of 50 Km (increased from 10 km) does not require filling of PART-B of e-way bill.They have to generate PART-A of e-way bill.
  • Extra validity period has been provided for Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC).

Return filing deferred: The present system of filing GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 is extended for three months till June 2018 till the new return system is finalized. A new model was discussed extensively and group of ministers on IT has been tasked to finalise the same.

Tax exemptions for exporters extended: Available tax exemptions on imported goods have been extended for a further six months beyond March 31. Now, exporters availing various export promotion schemes can continue to avail such exemptions on their imports upto October 1. By that time, e-wallet scheme is expected to be in place to continue the benefits in future.

E-Way Bill From April 1: The electronic way or e-way bill for movement of goods between states will be implemented from April 1. However, for intra-state movement, the e-way bill would be rolled out in a phased manner starting April 15, and will cover all the states by June 1.

Reverse charge mechanism deferred: The liability to pay tax on reverse charge has been deferred till June 30. Meanwhile, a group of ministers will look into the modalities of its implementations to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the trade and industry.

Deduction of TDS/TCS deferred: The Provision for deduction of tax at source (TDS) under section 51 of the CGST Act and collection of tax at source under section 52 of the CGST Act shall remain suspended till June 30.In the meantime, the modalities of linking state and central governments accounting system with GSTN will be worked out so that seamless credit is available to the registered traders whose tax is deducted or collected at source.

For redressing grievances: GST implementation committee has been tasked with the work of redressing the grievances caused to the taxpayers arising out of IT glitches.
In the 23rd GST council meeting, it was decided that filing of GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 forms would stop and only the filing of GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B would continue.
According to the recommendation made by Nilekani, instead of supplying invoices to be uploaded, a module can be formed where supplying invoice details can be posted, and based on the invoice data fed by the supplier, the system by itself generates the return.

GSTR-3B Return: Due Dates For February And March
Due date of filing GSTR-3B return is 20th of the next month. For instance, the 3B return for the month of March can be filed anytime before April 20, and similarly, the 3B return for the month of February can be filed anytime before March 20.

GSTR-1 Return: Due Dates For February And March
Taxpayers with an annual turnover that amounts to Rs. 1.5 crore or less are obligated to file their GSTR-1 returns quarterly. The due date for such taxpayers is 30th of the month following the end of respective quarter. For the March (Jan 1 to March 31) quarter, for instance, the deadline would be 30th of April.
Those with a turnover of Rs. 1.5 crore and above are meant to file monthly returns of GSTR-1. The deadline for monthly return is 10th of the month that comes two months after the end of respective month. For instance, the GSTR-1 return for the month of January can be filed by March 10. Likewise, returns for the months of February and March can be filed by April 10 and May 10.

Latest Update from govt towards the GSTR 1 filing:
  • All businesses to file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B till March 2018.
  • GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 filing dates for July 2017 to March 2018 will be worked out later by a Committee of Officers
  • Turnover under Rs 1.5 Cr to file quarterly GSTR-1
  • Turnover above Rs 1.5 Cr to file monthly GSTR-1
  • All businesses to file GSTR-3B by 20th of next month till March 2018.

Extension of GSTR-1 filing Due Dates:
For business with turnover upto Rs 1.5 cr

Return Period (Quarterly) Due dates
July- Sept 10th Jan 2018
Oct- Dec 15th Feb 2018
Jan- Mar 30th April 2018

For turnover of more than Rs 1.5 cr

Return Period (Monthly) Dates
July to Nov 2017 10th Jan 2018
Dec 2017 10th Feb 2018
Jan 2018 10th Mar 2018
Feb 2018 10th Apr 2018

Disclaimers:
Reference Link: Click here

Posted on: December 29, 2017
Date: December 16, 2017 (24th GST Council Meeting Updates - Implementation of E-way bill)

The discussion mainly pointed toward the implementation of E-way bill system in the country. After having Discussion with all the states GST council took following decisions regarding applicability of E-way Bill system:

  • Nationwide E-way Bill system will be ready latest upto 16 January, 2018 on trial basis. Trade and transporters can use this system voluntary basis from 16 January, 2018.
  • E-way Bill Rules for Implementation on National Level for Interstate movement of goods will be effective by 1st of February, 2018. It will bring uniformity in Inter-state movement of goods issues of Traders and Transporters.
  • Government will Ready E-way bill system for Nationwide latest upto 16 January 2018 for Inter-State and Intra-State movement of goods. States have option to choose their own timings to apply E-way bill in Intra-state Movement of goods on any date before 01st June 2018. There are certain states which already have E-way bill system for Inter-State and Intra-State movement of goods. By 01st of June 2018, the uniformity of E-way bill will be implemented across the country.

What is way bill?
A way bill is a receipt or a document issued by a carrier giving details and instructions relating to the shipment of a consignment of goods and the details include the name of consignor, consignee, the point of origin of the consignment, its destination, and route.


What is E-Way bill?
Electronic Way Bill (E-Way Bill) is basically a compliance mechanism wherein by way of a digital interface the person causing the movement of goods uploads the relevant information prior to the commencement of movement of goods and generates e-way bill on the GST portal.


Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017 provides for the e-way bill mechanism and in this context it is important to note that “information is to be furnished prior to the commencement of movement of goods” and “is to be issued whether the movement is in relation to a supply or for reasons other than supply”.


E-Way Bill under GST
E-way bill is an electronic document generated on the GST portal evidencing movement of goods. It has two Components:

  • Part A comprising of details of GSTIN of recipient, place of delivery (PIN Code), invoice or challan number and date, value of goods, HSN code, transport document number (Goods Receipt Number or Railway Receipt Number or Airway Bill Number or Bill of Lading Number) and reasons for transportation
  • Part B comprising of transporter details (Vehicle number). As per Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017, every registered person who causes movement of goods (which may not necessarily be on account of supply) of consignment value more than Rs. 50000/- is required to furnish above mentioned information in part A of e-way bill. The part B containing transport details helps in generation of e-way bill.

Who should generate the e-way bill and why?
E-way bill is to be generated by the consignor or consignee himself if the transportation is being done in own/hired conveyance or by railways by air or by Vessel. If the goods are handed over to a transporter for transportation by road, E-way bill is to be generated by the transporter. Where neither the consignor nor consignee generates the e-way bill and the value of goods is more than Rs.50,000/-. It shall be the responsibility of the transporter to generate it.


Further, it has been provided that where goods are sent by a principal located in one State to a job worker located in any other State, the e-way bill shall be generated by the principal irrespective of the value of the consignment.


Also, where handicraft goods are transported from one State to another by a person who has been exempted from the requirement of obtaining registration, the e-way bill shall be generated by the said person irrespective of the value of the consignment.


How to Generate e-way bill?
To generate an e-way bill, the supplier and transporter will have to upload details on the GST Network portal, after which a unique e-way bill number(EBN) will be made available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter on the common portal.


Purpose of E-Way Bill
E-way bill is a mechanism to ensure that goods being transported comply with the GST Law and is an effective tool to track movement of goods and check tax evasion.


Validity
The validity of e-way bill depends on the distance to be travelled by the goods.

  • Upto 100 km the validity is 1 Day from the date & time the bill is generated.
  • For every 100 km and thereafter, additional 1 Day from the relevant date.

Cancellation of E-Way Bill
Where an e-way bill has been generated under this rule, but goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the e-way bill may be cancelled electronically on the common portal within 24 hours of generation of the e-way bill.


Note: An e-way bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138B of the CGST Rules, 2017.


Exceptions to e-way bill requirement
No e-way bill is required to be generated in the following cases:

  • Transport of goods as specified in Annexure to Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017
  • Goods being transported by a non-motorised conveyance
  • Goods being transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs
  • In respect of movement of goods within such areas as are notified under rule 138(14) (d) of the SGST Rules, 2017 of the concerned State Consignment value less than Rs. 50,000/

Physical verification during transit

  • A summary report of every inspection of goods in transit shall be recorded online by the proper officer in Part A of FORM GST EWB-03 within 24hrs of inspection.
  • The final report in Part B of FORM GST EWB-03 shall be recorded within 3 days of such inspection.
  • If physical verification of goods has been done during transit at one place within the State or in any other State, no further physical verification of the said conveyance shall be carried out again in the State, unless a specific information relating to evasion of tax is made available subsequently.

Note: Where a vehicle has been intercepted and detained for a period exceeding 30 minutes, the transporter may upload the said information in FORM GST EWB-04 on the common portal.

Consequences of non-conformance to E-way bill rules
If e-way bills, wherever required, are not issued in accordance with the provisions contained in Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017, the same will be considered as contravention of rules. As per Section 122 of the CGST Act, 2017, a taxable person who transports any taxable goods without the cover of specified documents (e-way bill is one of the specified documents) shall be liable to a penalty of Rs.10,000/- or tax sought to be evaded (wherever applicable) whichever is greater. As per Section 129 of CGST Act, 2017, where any person transports any goods or stores any goods while they are in transit in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, all such goods and conveyance used as a means of transport for carrying the said goods and documents relating to such goods and conveyance shall be liable to detention or seizure.


Disclaimers:
Reference Link: Click here
Form GST EWB-01: Click here

Posted on: December 17, 2017
Date: December 07, 2017
  • Functionality for applying for refund of Excess amount in their Electronic cash ledger has been made available in the GST portal. It can be accessed in the GST portal. Login --> Refund Menu --> Refund of Excess Balance in Electronic Cash ledger.
  • Late fees for Filing of Form GSTR 3B has been reduced to 50/- .
  • Circular issued for manual filing and processing of refund claims in respect of zero-rated supplies
  • Revision to Form GST TRAN-01. Facility to revise Form GST TRAN-1 has been enabled for Taxpayers who had already filed it.
  • On the GST portal , Taxpayer has been provided with facility to file their export data, Table 6A of Form GSTR 1, from the month of August, 2017 onwards, to enable validation and sanction of refund. Exports data can be saved to Table 6A
  • Notification for waiving late fee on delayed filing of FORM GSTR-3B for Aug & Sep, 2017 issued
  • GSTR1 for July 2017 has been opened for filing again. Those who missed filing GSTR1, may file it now.
Posted on: December 11, 2017
Date: November 10, 2017 (GST 23rd Council Meeting Updates)

Changes to Composition Scheme
There have been many important updates to the Composition Scheme. These are detailed below:

  • Eligibility for composition scheme has been extended to Rs 1.5crore (max limit of Rs 2 crore under the law)
  • There will be a single rate of tax of 1% for both manufacturers and traders.
  • Turnover of exempted goods will be excluded when calculating turnover for GST payments.
  • Supply of services by Composition Dealers has been allowed up to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh per annum

**Notifications and suitable amendments for the above are awaited.

GST Important Dates:
a) Taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover up to INR 1.5 crore are required to file GSTR1 on a quarterly basis as follows:

Quarter Due Dates
July-Sep 2017 31 December 2017
Oct-Dec 2017 15 February 2018
Jan-Mar 2018 30 April 2018

b) Taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover exceeding INR 1.5 crore are required to file GSTR1 on a monthly basis as follows:

Months Due Dates
July, Aug, Sept. and Oct 2017 31 December 2017
November 2017 10 January 2018
December 2017 10 February 2018
January 2018 10 March 2018
February 2018 10 April 2018
March 2018 10 May 2018

The time period for filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 for the months of July, 2017 to March 2018 would be worked out by a Committee of Officers. However, filing of GSTR-1 will continue for the entire period without requiring filing of GSTR-2 & GSTR-3 for the previous month / period.

The Council decided to extend the due dates for furnishing various other returns as well. The revised due dates are as mentioned below:

Return type Tax period Revised due date
GST ITC-04 (Details of goods/ capital goods sent to job worker and received back) Jul-Sep 2017 31 December 2017
GSTR 4 (Composition Return) Jul-Sep 2017 24 December 2017
GSTR 5 (Non-resident foreign taxpayers) July 2017 11 December 2017
GSTR 5A (OIDAR return by foreign taxable person) July 2017 15 December 2017
GSTR 6 (ISD Return) July 2017 31 December 2017
TRAN-1 (Transitional credit etc.) NA 31 December 2017
GST 23rd Council Meeting Updates
  • Based on the suggestions of the rate fitment committee, the GST Council has proposed to rationalize the rate of tax on various goods & services effective 15 November 2017.
  • The luxury items / sin goods on which compensation cess is leviable and other parts of aircrafts, vessels or automotive sector along with cement and paint from the construction sector have been retained in the 28% tax slab. Some of the significant changes include:
    • 178 entries shifted from 28% rate slab to 18% rate slab
    • 2 entries shifted from 28% rate slab to 12% rate slab
    • 13 entries shifted from 18% rate slab to 12% rate slab
    • 6 entries shifted from 18% rate slab to 5% rate slab
    • 8 entries shifted from 12% rate slab to 5% rate slab
    • 6 entries shifted from 5% rate slab to exempt category
  • Some of the key goods where tax reduction has been proposed are listed below:
Description Existing Rate Proposed Rate
Wire, cables, insulated conductors, electrical insulators, electrical plugs, switches, sockets, fuses, relays, electrical connectors 28% 18%
Furniture, mattress, bedding and similar furnishing 28% 18%
Electrical boards, panels, consoles, cabinets etc for electric control or distribution 28% 18%
Trunk, suitcase, vanity cases, brief cases, travelling bags and other hand bags, cases 28% 18%
Detergents, washing and cleansing preparations; Liquid or cream for washing the skin 28% 18%
Shampoos; Hair cream, Hair dyes (natural, herbal or synthetic) and similar other goods 28% 18%
Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, room deodorisers including razor and razor blades 28% 18%
Perfumes and toilet waters; Beauty or make-up preparations 28% 18%
Fans, pumps, compressors; Lamp and light fitting, primary cell and primary batteries 28% 18%
Sanitary ware and parts thereof of all kind 28% 18%
Slabs and goods of marble and granite such as tiles; Ceramic tiles of all kinds 28% 18%
Multi-functional printers, cartridges office or desk equipment; door, windows made of aluminum; wallpaper and wall covering 28% 18%
All musical instruments and their parts; Cinematographic cameras and projectors, image projector, 28% 18%
Articles of plaster, cement, asphalt or mica 28% 18%
Particle/fibre boards and ply wood. Article of wood, wooden frame, paving block 28% 18%
Chocolates, Chewing gum / bubble gum; Waffles and wafers coated with chocolate or containing chocolate 28% 18%
Wet grinders consisting of stone; tanks and armored fighting vehicles 28% 12%
Glass of all kinds and articles thereof such as mirror, safety glass, sheets, glassware 28% 12%
Aircraft engines, tyres and seats 28%, 12% 5%
Fork lifts, lifting and handling equipment, bull dozers, excavators, loaders, road rollers, earth moving and levelling machinery, escalators, cooling towers, pressure vessels, reactors 28% 12%
Electrical apparatus for radio and television broadcasting, sound recording or reproducing apparatus, signaling, safety or traffic control equipment for transports 28% 12%
Condensed milk; Pasta; mayonnaise and salad dressings, mixed condiments and mixed seasoning; Diabetic food 18% 12%
Printing ink 18% 12%
Hand bags of jute and cotton; Furniture of bamboo or cane 18% 12%
Puffed rice chikki, peanut chikki, sesame chikki, revdi, tilrevdi, chutney powder, etc. 18% 5%
Fly ash 18% 5%
Idli, dosa batter 12% 5%
Guar meal; unworked coconut shell 5% Nil
Bangles of lac/ shellac 3% Nil
  • Exemption from IGST has been granted on import of lifesaving medicine supplied free of cost by foreign supplier for patients, subject to obtaining specified certificate and fulfilment of certain conditions
  • Exemption from IGST has been granted to import of goods under a lease agreement if IGST is paid on the lease amount. However, this exemption will not apply on import of motor vehicles.
  • Inter-state movement of goods such as rigs, tools, spares and goods on wheel such as cranes, not in the course of furtherance of supply of such goods, will not constitute a supply. This will benefit the transactions involving movement of such goods in the course of providing services to the customers or when such movement is for carrying out repair, refurbishment or self-use.
  • Supply of e-waste will be liable to tax at 5% only if it is supplied by a consumer / bulk consumer
  • Admission to ‘protected monuments’ is proposed to be exempted.
  • Rate of tax on job work services in relation to manufacture of handicraft goods in respect of which the casual taxable person has been exempted from obtaining registration, to be reduced to 5% with full input tax credit.

Changes relating to Restaurant Services

  • The structure of GST rate in respect of restaurants is proposed to be revised as follows:
    • Stand-alone restaurants (i.e. restaurants not attached to a hotel), whether or not air-conditioned: liable to GST at 5%, without availability of input tax credit
    • Restaurants in starred hotels where the room tariff is INR 7,500 per unit per day or higher: to continue to be liable to GST at 18%, with availability of input tax credit
    • Restaurants in starred hotels where the room tariff is less than INR 7,500 per unit per day: liable to GST at 5%, without availability of input tax credit
  • Food parcels / takeaways will be leviable to tax at 5%, without availability of input tax credit.
  • Tax on outdoor catering will continue to be levied at 18% with availability of input tax credit.

Relief under the Composition scheme

  • It is proposed to increase the threshold for eligibility to composition limit to INR 2 crore. The amount will subsequently be revised to INR 1.5 crore.
  • A uniform tax rate of 1% has been proposed for composition scheme for both traders and manufacturers. For traders, the tax will be applied only on the turnover of the taxable goods and not on total turnover. However, in order to decide the eligibility under the composition scheme, total turnover would have to be considered. There is no change in the composition rate for restaurants.
  • Further, a relaxation has been given to composition dealers who provide some services as well. In addition to the supply of goods, if the service turnover of the dealers is upto INR 500,000, such taxpayers would still qualify under the composition scheme and the amount of services up to INR 500,000 will be exempt from GST.
Posted on: December 11, 2017