GST - LATEST

GST – ELECTRONIC WAY BILL

The GST Council deciding to advance the date for implementing the e-way bill - an electronic way of tracking movement of goods -- system. Now, trial runs can be conducted from January 16, and the full implementation will take place from February 1. The originally scheduled date was June 1.

The logic behind the e-Way bill is to track the movement of goods above Rs 50,000 within the state, and from one state to another. It is supposed to check GST evasion and put to rest the worries of different states that they were losing out on GST revenues. The central government was equally keen to shorten the mismatches and delays in matching invoices that is taking place at the moment.

But the current form of the e-way Bill, despite the promises of technology like RFID that it promises to apply, is quite regressive and puts onerous conditions of compliance. Any good worth Rs 50,000 or above needs an e-way bill if it has to go beyond 10 K.M.s. Any person or firm registered under GST will can generate the e-way bill - including the transporter. The e-way bill needs to be generated before the good is moved, and it has a limited validity period based on the distance covered. For up to 100 K.M.s, an e-way bill is valid for 1 day. For 200 K.M.s, it is valid for 2 days and so on.

If the good fails to be shipped on the date of generation, the e-way bill can be cancelled within 24 hours. If a mode of transport is changed, a fresh e-way bill needs to be generated. If some goods are sent back by the receiver, another e-way bill needs to be generated.

All these are likely to only delay the smooth movement of goods from one state to another. It could also unleash exactly the kind of border check posts the GST had promised to remove. And finally, it can create problems galore for everyone ranging from physical dealers to e-commerce firms. For example, suppose a high end television or audio set that costs over Rs 50,000 is shipped by a truck from the factory to the dealer, and then sent on further by the dealer to the customer's house, it will need two separate e-way bills. If the customer in the meantime, cancels the order before it reaches him, another e-way bill will have to be generated.

All these e-way bills will then also have to be matched with the invoices. In general, it adds a layer of complexity to the whole process of shipping goods from one state to another. It adds also to the burden of the GST Network (GSTN), which is already facing multiple problems in matching invoices.

GST – Q AND A

Q. I am a small businessman with annual turnover about Rs.20 lacs,  I am into installation of fountains, which includes complete fitting on turnkey basis, it includes providing of material and labour whatever required for completion, what are my tax liabilities? My materials include electrical panel, pumps, sanitary fittings lights, electrical and so on I work for local bodies too I mean municipalities, besides private small contracts,  these contracts may be in different states

A. Your work will be considered as Work Contract and you need to register as a normal registered person u/s 22 of GST Act. Since Work Contract is treated as service you cannot opt for composition scheme. Works Contract is a mixture of goods and services but it is neither a composite supply nor a mixed supply as it has been defined as per Sec. 2(119) of CGST Act. Schedule II ( Entry 6(a)) which states that such composite supplies which includes labour and material both shall be treated as a supply of services namely  Works contract under S. 2(119)”.

Q. We are supplying goods to various Government agencies like Railways & Defense, PSUs and private sector industries on payment of GST. If any materials gets rejected and needs to be rectified /replaced, we have to get back the materials but the Govt. Agencies and PSUs are not issuing GST Invoice for return of goods on the ground that they have not accepted & accounted for the goods (GRN not issued) and not taken any ITC credit of GST. How to get back the rejected GST paid goods and replace without paying GST twice. Can we issue Credit Note against our invoice and take back the credit of GST paid and issue fresh GST Invoice while replacing the goods. In any case, customer will have nothing to do with GST portal till GSTR-2 is not operative.

A. 1. The customer has informed that they have not accounted and not taken ITC.

2. Ask them to send (return) the goods on a Delivery Challan (returning the goods is not a supply)

3. Issue Credit Note to reduce your tax liability and your accounting.

4. After receipt of the material and issuance of credit note, supply the replacement on a new Invoice.

Q. We are manufacturers of automobile parts supplying to OEM. The finished goods are supplied to them through transport agency. We have an understanding with an intermediate service provider who will receive the transport agency invoices in his name with GST 5% and he will pay to the transport agency and GST to the government. After that he will raise invoice on us for this transport service along with his service and claim GST. Whether GST paid and claimed by the intermediate service provider is eligible for GST credit by us?

A. Yes the credit is eligible. The intermediary is a service provider. He needs to charge GST on his invoice to you. The GST so paid can be claimed as credit by you. One of the condition for input tax credit is that the supplier of service should file GST return. And that the invoice uploaded by him should match with your uploaded detail. So please make him aware of the importance of filing return with correct information.  You can take credit for payment to intermediary (including amount paid to GTA) for his agency services and your intermediary can take credit for amount paid to GTA. As per section 24(vii) of CGST Act, registration is mandatory for agents, so intermediary is supposed to be registered and eligible to get credit for GTA payment. You should not be concerned for GTA credit eligibility clause. ITC is eligible on intermediary services and GTA part not to be considered as services of intermediary is charged to 18% in this case.

Q.We are having different opinion for admissibility of ITC on                                             1. Hotel Bills - Our sales & marketing team is mostly on tour (domestic & foreign) and taking services of hotels and paying applicable GST. What are the legal provisions preventing us to avail credit on SGST & CGST paid? 

2. GTA Services - Most of GTA service providers are raising invoices without charging any GST and we are paying GST @ 5% under RCM. If ITC for the same is admissible if not, specify the ruling/ notification issued by authority.                                                     A. 1. The hotel bills would show the intra state GST and this would not help in availing the credit. Foreign Tour no GST under the Indian law. In other words, ITC not available. Please refer to FAQ also in this Regard.                                                                  2. GTA - ITC eligible.

Section 17(5)(b) disallows credit for Food and beverages, hence any inclusion of said amount in Hotel Bill is ineligible for ITC. However Room Rent is eligible for ITC.

Now conditions for admissibility and Non-Admissibility

If your POS and Hotel is situated in same state, then ITC is eligible for CGST/SGST.

In case your POS and Hotel is situated in different states, then also CGST/SGST is applicable as per Place of Supply Rules.(Section 12 of IGST Act) and ITC is not eligible, reason being is stated below.

Suppose your POS and Hotel is in different state, then Hotel Business will show POS in his GSTR-1 return as his state. The same entry will not reflect in your GSTR-2 as POS is not your state, which makes you ineligible for credit.

ITC on CGST charged in hotel bills will available. In a recent example, one of our client's customer (inter-state) has insisted for charging SGST & CGST which was charged and posted on GST portal. It was accepted and accounted for accordingly for total GST payable for the month.

जीसटी – इलेक्ट्रॉनिक वाहतूक बील

इलेक्ट्रॉनिक वाहतूक बील

जीसटीच्या २४ व्या बैठकीच्या निर्णयाप्रमाणे १६ जानेवारी २०१८ पासून चाचणी आधारावर ई-वे बीलच्या तरतुदी राष्ट्रव्यापी लागू करण्यात येतील.  व्यापारी आणि वाहतूकदार हे दिनाक १६ जानेवारी २०१८ पासून ऐच्छिक तत्वावर ही प्रणाली वापरणे सुरु करू शकतात.  आंतरराज्यीय वस्तूंच्या वाहतूकीसाठी राष्ट्रव्यापी अंमलबजावणीचे हे धोरण अनिवार्य तत्वावर १ फेबुवारी २०१८ पासून अधिसूचित केले जातील.  त्यामुळे वस्तूंच्या आंतरराज्यीय अंखंड हालचाली मध्ये एकसारखेपणा येईल. 

इलेक्ट्रॉनिक वाहतूक बील हे वस्तूंच्या हालचालीचा पुरावा देणारे, जीसटी पोर्टलवर निर्माण झालेले इलेक्ट्रॉनिक दस्तऐवज आहे.  यात दोन घटक असतात.  भाग “ अ “ मध्ये प्राप्तकर्त्याचा जीसटीआयएन, पिनकोड पावती क्रमांक आणि दिनांक, वस्तूंचे मूल्य, एचएसएन कोड, वाहतूक दस्तऐवज क्रमांक, वाहतूकीचे कारण इत्यादी तपशील द्यावा.  भाग “ ब “ मध्ये वाहतूकदारांचा तपशील द्यावा लागेल.

सीजीएसटी नियमानुसार, जर कनसाईनमेन्टचे मूल्य ५०००० रुपयापेंक्षा जास्त असेल तर नोंदणीकृत व्यापाऱ्याला ई-वे बीलाच्या भाग “ अ “ मध्ये तपशील दाखल करणे आवश्यक आहे. 

वाहतूक जर स्वत:च्या किंवा भाड्याने घेतलेल्या वाहनांमधून होत असेल तर कनसाईनर किंवा कनसाईनी यांनी स्वत: ई-वे बील निर्माण करावे.  जर वस्तूं वाहतूकीसाठी वाहतूकदारांकडे पाठवल्या तर वाहतूकदारांने ई-वे बील निर्माण करावे.  जिथे कनसाईनर किंवा कनसाईनी दोघेही ई-वे बील निर्माण करत नसतील आणि वस्तूंचे मूल्य हे ५०००० रुपयांपेक्षा जास्त असेल तिथे ई-वे बील निर्माण करण्याची जबाबदारी ही वाहतूकदारांची असते. 

ई-वे बीलाची वैधता ही वस्तूंच्या वाहतूकीच्या अंतरावर अवलंबून आहे.

१. १०० कि.मी. पेक्षा कमी अंतर असेल तर ई-वे बील हे संबधित तारखेपासून एका   

   दिवसासाठी वैध असेल.                                                

२. त्यानंतर प्रत्येक १०० कि.मी. साठी संबधित तारखेपासून एका दिवसासाठी वैध          असेल. 

      संबधित तारीख म्हणजे ई-वे बील निर्माण केल्याची तारीख होय.  आणि एक दिवस म्हणजे चोवीस तास होय.

GST - LATEST & E-WAY BILL

Implementation of the electronic way bill, seen as a crucial piece of legislation for India’s road transport and logistics industry, seems to characterize the pitfalls in the ambitious GST regime. Never more than now, as India’s truckers and goods transporters continue to struggle with state enforcement machineries like in the pre-GST days, even as they complain about high input cost structure and under-the-radar goods’ transportation continues unabated.        Under the e-way bill facility, it was proposed that movement of goods worth more than Rs 50,000 by a registered entity will require prior online registration of the consignment on the GST portal and securing this e-way bill. This was meant to be a change from the present system where no electronic invoice is required and checks instead happen through border check posts or inspectors at each state. The entity carrying the goods was to be mandated to carry the e-way bill along with invoice/bill of supply/delivery challan. But sheer under preparedness of the GSTN network has thwarted the government and from initial implementation deadline of October; the deadline for e-way bill has now been pushed to June next year.    In a statement after the meeting of GST Council last Saturday, the Finance Ministry spoke of its decision on the e-way bill:                        1) Nationwide e-way Bill system will be ready to be rolled out on a trial basis latest by 16th January, 2018. Trade and transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis from 16th January, 2018.  2) Rules for implementation of nationwide e-way Bill system for Inter-State movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from 1st February, 2018. States may choose their own timings for implementation of e-way Bill for intra-State movement of goods on any date before 1st June, 2018.                                                  3) A Uniform System of e-way Bill for inter-State as well as intra-State movement will be implemented across the country by 1st June, 2018.                                                                                                                What it failed to do, however, is check tax evasion and increased corruption regarding inter-state movement of goods post-GST. Instead of check posts, state government inspectors now have mobile vans for inspections of inter-state goods movement, which traders and truckers say has increased bribe payments etc. manifold. Some allege anywhere up to 100 trucks are stranded outside states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as haggling over value of consignments continues between truckers and inspectors. Obviously, this has also slowed down the movement of goods, further costing the transporters.                                                                                            So were check posts, with varying levies across states and as any different tax formats ideal and should they make a comeback? Far from it. What transport experts had been pushing for was a two-step process, central to which was the E-Way Bill:                                          1) Get every consignment valued above a certain benchmark figure (Rs 50,000 to start with) for inter-state movement registered on the GST Network via an e-bill. This will generate an E-Bill Number (EBN) on the trucker’s mobile phone and act as an e-way bill for goods’ transit.                                                                                                  2) Over some time, ensure GPS is installed on all trucks and vehicles used for inter-state truck movement so that goods’ movement can be tracked and appropriate tax levied.                                                             When GST came into effect from July this year, traders had stopped booking freight since they feared crackdowns but once they realized there was no digital billing, they came right back and continued old ways of tax evasion by under invoicing. This is what an e-waybill system will prevent in future. Under this process, the consignee has to book the consignment on the GSTN network, get an OTP (e-way bill no or EBN).                                                                                                If there are 20 consignments on a truck, each over Rs 20,000 in value and traders who have booked have lodged invoices on GSTN, then the EBN number thus generated will be on driver mobile phone. He will also carry paper invoices for consignments. This helps tax compliance. Government has earlier said that about 1% of consignments will be checked randomly and if any discrepancy found, the fine will be 10 times the value of the consignment.

GST - LATEST

Q. For an under-construction where the transaction was initiated post 1st July, how would anyone know if the builder has revised the pricing accordingly to the ITC claimed? What stops him from earning profit out of this?

A. The builder needs to adjust his price (without taxes) to the extent of ITC available to him.

GTA- In case of 5% Supplier - No ITC Recipient - ITC available in case of 12% ITC available for both

Q. अगर में क्रेडिट कार्ड पे लोन लिया था और बैंक हर महीने इंट्रेस्ट पे १८% जी.एस.टी. जुलाई २०१७ से चार्ज किया है. जबकि जी.एस.टी. नियम के तहत इंट्रेस्ट रिसीव& लोन पे इंट्रेस्ट देना टैक्स फ्री है जहा तक मेरी जानकारी में है.

A. Credit card लोन के इंट्रेस्ट पर GST लागू होता है, पहले सर्विस टैक्स चार्ज होता था

GST - LATEST

If a taxpayer opts to file quarterly returns if their annual turnover is less than Rs 1.5 Cr (on basis of turnover in previous financial year or this financial year ), then GSTR 1 of Aug, 2017 is disabled and he can file details for Aug and Sep, 2017 in GSTR 1 of September, 2017 and so on.

Taxpayer has now been provided with Table 9 of Form GSTR 1, to give amendment details of invoices/ credit or debit notes etc. of previous period.

Kindly Note: while filing Quarterly return only Aug & Sep data to be mentioned July Return to be filed separately.

Kindly select the appropriate option while filing the GSTR-1. Once option is selected, it can’t be changed. Quarterly return is not compulsory, you have choice to select. (for T/0 below 1.5Cr) Once you select Quarterly return mode, you have to follow this scheme for whole year.