GST - Discussion on all Aspects

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Yagnasri
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Yagnasri »

Sure. But the looting is largely contained. We can aim for perfection but we all know that it is very difficult to achieve. Most of the paths are now closed. But Baboons will find new paths in time.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by SBajwa »

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab ... 56139.html

The man behind the multi-crore fake GST bills scam, Manish Aggarwal, a small-time accountant, has been nabbed by the Ludhiana police. The accused also had a role in the VAT refund scam in Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana two years ago.

He has been booked for cheating, fraud and criminal conspiracy as well as under the Goods and Services Act.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

According to the police, Aggarwal worked hand in glove with a clerk (under suspension) in the Excise and Taxation Department, Rajiv Kumar, who is yet to be traced. “They set up fake firms, registered these under GST and purchased bills from small retailers which they sold to exporters and large manufacturers in Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh,” SHO Jatinder Singh told The Tribune.

The firms bought GST bills at 2-7 per cent of the GST levy on goods sold from retailers. They then sold these bills at 5-14 per cent to exporters and large manufacturers, who took input tax credit by submitting these bills while there was no actual sale/export of goods. Aggarwal was tracked through the IP address of a computer used by him to register a company.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by SBajwa »

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab ... 52109.html

Modus operandi
*The companies were buying GST bills from retailers of paints, hardware goods and cement amongst others at just 2-7 per cent of the GST levied on these (the GST levy is 5-28 per cent on the items).

*They were then selling these bills to other large manufacturers and exporters.

*They, in turn, were taking input tax credit (ITC) by submitting these bills when actually no sale of goods was taking place by them.

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 1
In the first major action against the "organised gang" involved in the Rs 100 crore fake GST billing scam, the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department has got police complaints registered against 134 persons associated with 70 companies/ firms in the state.

Those booked in the fake billing scam are mostly registered as either iron and steel or yarn traders and manufacturers. But investigation, so far, has shown that most of these companies did not exist at the registered address.

These companies were buying GST bills from retailers of paints, hardware goods and cement amongst others at just 2-7 per cent of the GST levied on these (the GST levy is 5-28 per cent on the items).

They were then selling these bills to other large manufacturers and exporters, who in turn were taking input tax credit (ITC) by submitting these bills when actually no sale of goods was taking place by them.

As soon as the case was registered in Ludhiana yesterday, joint teams of Excise and Police started conducting raids against the companies and their functionaries.

Even today, raids were conducted on two big yarn manufacturers in Ludhiana, informed sources.

While the GST on cotton yarn is 5 per cent and on polyester yarn is 12 per cent, most of the trade in yarn takes place without any bills being cut.

The bills that the polyester yarn manufacturers cut are sold to exporters at just 4-5 per cent of the GST rate of 12 per cent, so the exporters claim ITC on these.

Other than conducting raids on these people, the Excise and Taxation Department has also moved the case for cancelling the GST registration of these 70 companies.

Vivek Pratap Singh, Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab, told The Tribune that it was physical verification of some of these companies as well as data mining by the department that helped unearth the multi-crore scandal. He maintains that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Interestingly, official sources say that most of these companies against which the FIR has been registered had even filed their GST returns.

Since the companies or traders are required to mention the details of their bank accounts while registering under GST, their accounts remained dormant.

They used other bank accounts (not registered) to get the credit of the amount mentioned in the bills from the manufacturers/exporters through RTGS and would then withdraw the money and refund them the amount.

"Investigations have shown cash withdrawals from these accounts worth several crores,” said Vivek Pratap Singh.
JayS
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by JayS »

Suraj wrote:All these idiots fudging with a tax system that depends on a paper trail with at least two counterparties, need to realize they'll ultimately end up being caught because of ... the paper trail. You can only hide when there's no trail . Once an anomaly is detected, it's simply a matter of reading off the names of those involved and sending pulis their way.
Not just the GST trail but GOI now has a good hold on money trail as well. How will one fudge money trail even if let's say GST paper trail can be managed somehow or vice-versa...? There is double trap. When the bills say 100Cr transactions has occurred but actually only <10% of that money has exchanged hands (in selling bills). And vice versa is also true.
Suraj
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

JayS wrote:
Suraj wrote:All these idiots fudging with a tax system that depends on a paper trail with at least two counterparties, need to realize they'll ultimately end up being caught because of ... the paper trail. You can only hide when there's no trail . Once an anomaly is detected, it's simply a matter of reading off the names of those involved and sending pulis their way.
Not just the GST trail but GOI now has a good hold on money trail as well. How will one fudge money trail even if let's say GST paper trail can be managed somehow or vice-versa...? There is double trap. When the bills say 100Cr transactions has occurred but actually only <10% of that money has exchanged hands (in selling bills). And vice versa is also true.
Yes indeed. The formalization of the economy, including monetary system and taxation system, are a great boon in catching all those crooks who for decades were able to get away simply because the rudimentary formal system and the parallel informal system made it easy to siphon off cash to their hearts content. DeMo and GST are simply two of multiple steps this admin has taken towards economic formalization. There are several others, such as the JAM mission (Jan Dhan / Aadhaar / Mobile) , MUDRA scheme, all of which engender formal economic activity, as opposed to dealing with cash, moneylenders, and other informal means prone to abuse.
jaysimha
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by jaysimha »

Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Rules, 2017. This updated version of the Rules as amended upto 13th June, 2018 has been prepared for convenience and easy reference of the trade and industry
https://cbec-gst.gov.in/pdf/13-06-2018-CGST-Rules.pdf
Vips
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Vips »

A year since GST, Maharashtra govt’s coffers fuller by 28%

The criticism be damned, GST has brought in more moolah for the state government. Its coffers have seen an increase of 28.08 per cent since the GST regime was enforced.

In 2016-17, the government earned Rs 90,525 crore through value added tax (VAT). But after GST kicked in on July 1, 2017, its revenues rose to Rs 1,15,940 crore in 2017-18. “One of the major reasons behind this is that the number of traders who are registered with the state GST department has risen from 8.30 lakh to 14.55 l a k h , ” said state GST Commissioner Rajiv Jalota.

From April-June this year, the state’s revenues jumped by 39 per cent — to Rs 39,915 crore — as compared to the corresponding period last year. Maharashtra accounts for nearly 15 per cent of the country’s GST collection.

States have to be compensated by the Centre for the first five years if their revenues fall as compared to the previous VAT regime.
What made a number of traders quickly adopt GST was the realisation that if one buys goods and services from an unregistered dealer, then a registered dealer would have to pay the entire tax and they won’t get any credit for it. This resulted in big traders, manufactures and service providers insisting that vendors register for GST. Besides, in many cases transporters also refused to carry goods without proper e-way bills, which resulted in registration of a large number of vendors, thus widening the tax net.

He said over the past year, data on traders and the returns they have filed have been compiled.

“Now, we plan to scrutinise this data thoroughly. If major violations are found, then the vendor will lose his/her GST registration,” he warned.
Suraj
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

What made a number of traders quickly adopt GST was the realisation that if one buys goods and services from an unregistered dealer, then a registered dealer would have to pay the entire tax and they won’t get any credit for it. This resulted in big traders, manufactures and service providers insisting that vendors register for GST. Besides, in many cases transporters also refused to carry goods without proper e-way bills, which resulted in registration of a large number of vendors, thus widening the tax net.
THIS is why GST works. It is self enforcing, and more critically, it imposes a cost on those who do not participate. Previously, staying out of the formal taxation system was something one could do without being hurt. Not anymore. One HAS to participate in order benefit, otherwise you're penalized not just by the government, but by your network refusing to do business with you.

The article is technically incomplete - it's not merely tax revenues that grew 28%. It's the formal economy that's grown in size by over a third .

The MH data is just spectacular:
2016-17: Rs.90,525cr
2017-18: Rs.1,15,940cr (+28%)
2018-19: Rs.39,916cr (Q1 data only), or approx Rs.1,60,000cr for full year extrapolated.

The current fiscal year extrapolated figure is a 75% gain in tax revenues within two fiscals. It's a good barometer as to the size of the informal economy.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by JohnTitor »

Question..

There was a recent news item about the government planning to abandon the reverse charge mechanism in GST. (Can't find the actual news item anymore but that was the gist)

This was one of the things forcing everyone to formalise and register. Isn't this a step back?
Suraj
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

Err, why not find the article, and explain why you think it's a step back ?

The reason why I ask this is that we'd like to discourage people from asking leading questions with no references or effort to explain their own point of view.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by kittigadu »

https://www.newslaundry.com/2018/07/04/ ... -narrative

Supposedly contrary view on GST. Some numbers do not make sense. If Central GST is falling well short of budgetary estimates, the fiscal deficit will go through the roof. But that is not the case. What gives ?
JohnTitor
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by JohnTitor »

This isn't the exact article, as is states that the mechanism will be deferred rather than scrapped.

https://www.livemint.com/Politics/7pqWc ... r-GST.html
Under the reverse charge mechanism, entities (registered under GST) that purchase goods from small unregistered dealers have to pay a tax on behalf of the latter. This is expected to add to the compliance burden of all involved and discourage purchases from unregistered dealers.

The Narendra Modi government, in the final year of its tenure before elections are held by May, is trying to avoid further upsetting small traders, who have already been affected by the initial chaos following the implementation of GST last year.

The government is of the view that this anti-tax evasion measure will disrupt small businesses, especially those operating in the informal economy, without leading to a significant rise in revenue collections.
Reverse charge as I understand it is charging the buyer rather than the seller tax, if the seller is not registered. Smaller players have inventive to not register to reduce costs. Making buyers pay this would force buyers to buy from only those who are registered. But if this mechanism were not implemented, there would be higher tax evasion because of under invoicing. This is similar to the previous regime.

I understand the political compulsion to not want to implement this but based on my limited understanding of it seems like a step in the wrong direction. No?
Suraj
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

The article itself states that 1% of the companies pay 80% of the taxes under GST . The unregistered small traders fall beneath the 99% who pay the remaining 20%.

If the reverse charge is applied then those who buy from unregistered entities will either demand lower prices in order to pay the tax, or choose registered sellers . However they aren’t going to contribute much in taxes either way .

It’s not clear what you consider a backward move - applying the reverse charge or not applying it . It’s simply not numerically critical and heavy handed tax enforcement is bad optics in an election year . There’s sufficient buoyancy in revenue collections due to formalization of activity, and GST is demonstrably doing its job at being self-enforcing by and large .
Aditya_V
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Aditya_V »

I am run a small firm, if reverse charge is applied it will be a total pain the neck, my cash flows will be totally affected as I will be paying huge GST one month to claim credit next month. Over all it will only bring pain in cash flow and compliance to tax payer but overall will not improve GST tax collections, there will be a one month timing surge. Quite frankly GST should be levied on Lawyers directly and not reverse charge.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by nandakumar »

The 'reverse tax' concept in a value added tax regime is in my view, meaningless. It made sense under the old salestax regime where cascading levies were perfectly acceptable and 'purchase tax' the other name for 'reverse tax' was a more efficient form of tax collection. Consider this case. The government wants to impose a tax on sale of sugar cane but finds it messy to collect from thousands of farmers growing cane. So it imposes a purchase tax on the mills. But the mills would pay tax on the sale of sugar as well. That is because the tax regime accepted the concept of cascading levies. But under GST which is a value added tax regime the tax on output embeds a levy on input even where the input in question or the vendor in question pays no tax. This is because the seller of the output would get no input tax credit as there was no tax paid on the input in the first place.
Abhi_Z
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Abhi_Z »

Respected Readers,
To add more knowledge about the subject. Government of India has introduced to make the whole taxation process hassle free. If we talk about scams they happen always. Not just in India but also in other countries. No society can exist without crime.

<advertisement removed>

Mod Note: This forum is not a place to advertise your business.
JohnTitor
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by JohnTitor »

Interesting, the reverse mechanism and tax on output is a bit confusing, though I've gone through it a few times.

I think I mistook one for the other.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by jaysimha »

SURVEY ON ONE YEAR OF GST 6th July, 2018
http://ficci.in/spdocument/22999/One-Ye ... -ficci.pdf
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Supratik »

X-post

GST on several items reduced.

https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/india/sto ... ssion=true
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by hanumadu »

Image
hanumadu
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by hanumadu »

Image

Also GST on ethanol has been reduced from 18% to 5%.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by A_Gupta »

https://swarajyamag.com/economy/latest- ... n-the-bush
Latest GST Cuts Mark Attitudinal Shift From Bird-In-Hand To Two-In-The-Bush
While it is true that many rates were cut in November 2017 ahead of the Gujarat elections, that move was seen as purely a political concession for Narendra Modi’s constituency. But by repeating the cuts, the GST Council has indicated that it does not intend to keep rates high forever, and is willing to let go of the bird in hand – selectively – to get two in the bush. That is the whole point of GST: letting lower rates increase economic activity first and then collecting higher revenues from higher turnover.

The abandonment of the idea of revenue-neutrality is essentially a move away from defensive thinking and that is good. It means Centre and states are now realising that the tax will deliver.
Suraj
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

Central, State officials can act against GST evaders irrespective of jurisdiction: CBIC
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Custom (CBIC) has made it clear that irrespective of assessees assigned under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, officials from the Centre or State can initiate enforcement action against tax evaders and take it to its logical conclusion.

The directive will remove the ambiguity on initiation of enforcement action by the Central tax officers in case of taxpayers assigned to the State tax authority and vice versa. It is also meant to end jurisdicational disputes.

The move will also help in higher revenue collection which is still in the range of ₹93,960- 1,03,459 crore while the estimate is between ₹1-10 lakh crore. Anita Rastogi, Indirect tax Partner at PwC, said that intelligence-based enforcement action has taken a new importance considering that GST revenue has not really seen the increase as expected by the Government coupled with some sector-specific tax evasions being noticed recently. “Businesses would now need to deal with both Centre and State in specific situations,” she said.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by M_Joshi »

Just recently we've started getting notifications in our GST portal about our vendors who have taken GST amount on invoice from us, but have not filed their GST returns. Most of them are small vendors who have old habits of taking VAT on invoices, but did not file VAT returns, instead gobbled the VAT amount. Now we cannot claim that input GST unless those vendors have filed their returns & paid the GST we've paid them. Few have compiled & others will shortly. This will also increase the GST collections in the coming quarters.
Suraj
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

Thanks for that piece of feedback from the real world!
ramana
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by ramana »

A question for the gurus here.
How much average GST does a person pay in a year? I know it's linked to consumption which is linked to income.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by disha »

ramana wrote:A question for the gurus here.
How much average GST does a person pay in a year? I know it's linked to consumption which is linked to income.
Outside of 'demerit' items and 'luxury'., average person pays <12% GST a year. For low- to middle- middle class it is @8%. For middle- to upper- middle it is @12%.
ramana
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by ramana »

From demographics, India has 300 million poor, 400 million middle class and 100 million rich.
So if your annual income is xx lakhs how much GST do you pay?
5 lakhs - 0% 0
10-20 lakhs 8% pay 80K to 160 k
20-50 lakhs 12%? pay 240 k to 600 k?
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Vips »

Fiscal Deficit target looks closer on high GST mop-up

The goods and services tax (GST) and savings on expenditure may have saved the day for the government, taking it within kissing distance of the fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of GDP, offsetting shortfall in direct tax collections. GST collections touched their highest since the single levy was launched in July 2017, coming in at Rs 1.07 lakh crore in March, data released by the government on Monday showed. Annual GST collections are seen at Rs 11.77 lakh crore, ahead of the revised estimate of Rs 11.47 lakh crore in the February 1 interim budget. This uptick in GST collections comes even as rates were cut on a number of products during the year.

“Growth in GST could have been much higher if we take the tax cuts into account,” said a top government official. The higher collections will help meet the shortfall in direct taxes. In the revised estimate for FY19, the government had raised the direct tax target to Rs 12 lakh crore from Rs 11.5 lakh crore. As taxes trickle in after last-minute efforts by taxmen on both direct and indirect taxes, North Block officials exuded confidence about meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of GDP.

The fiscal deficit had exceeded the full year target for FY19 by 34.2% at the end of February, triggering concern that the target may not be met. The government may have also cut some spending to stay within the budgeted number.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the jump in GST collections was signalled by an expansion in manufacturing and consumption. “The record collection in March 2019 of the GST touching Rs 1,06,577 crore indicates the expansion in both manufacturing and consumption,” Jaitley tweeted on Monday.

GST COLLECTIONS
The monthly average of GST revenue in FY19 was Rs 98,114 crore, 9.2% higher than that in FY18. The total indirect tax collection target, including customs and central excise duty, of Rs 10.32 lakh crore has been met. GST revenue for the last quarter of FY19 was 14.3% higher on-year, thanks to the last month bump. “Collection during March 2019 has been the highest since introduction of GST,” an official statement said. “Revenue in March 2018 was Rs 92,167 crore and revenue during March 2019 is a growth of 15.6% over the revenue in the same month last year.”

NON-TAX REVENUES
Dividends from public sector enterprises and savings on expenditure helped meet the fiscal deficit target. Final data will be available some time after tax collections, which come with a lag due to bank transfers, are frozen. The disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore has been surpassed by Rs 5,000 crore. Economic affairs secretary Subhash Garg has maintained the government will meet the 3.4% fiscal deficit target. Many state-run companies had declared an interim dividend last month, shoring up government revenues.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Vips »

GST in India—the journey so far.

The goods and services tax (GST), introduced in India on 1 July 2017, replaced a host of indirect taxes being levied by the central and state governments, which has changed the taxation landscape. The underlying theme was to have a ‘one nation one tax’ which would improve ease of doing business for taxpayers, bring in transparency, ensure timely compliance and ultimately reduce the tax burden for the common man. The journey since its implementation has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for the taxpayers. As we approach the completion of second year of GST in India, it is a good time to take stock of the significant developments, milestones achieved and the way forward.

The GST Council and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) have played an important role in handholding taxpayers/businesses for smooth transition to this new regime and in addressing their grievances.

The GST Council has till date held 34 meetings wherein important decisions have been taken and recommendations provided to the government on issues like reducing compliance burden for taxpayers, providing sector specific relief measures, etc. Some of the key recommendations given by the GST Council include:

•Rationalization of tax rates: Some commodities which were kept in the high tax bracket (18-28%) were reviewed and the tax rate was reduced considering such items as necessities and not luxuries. At present, only few items remain in the highest tax rate of 28%.

•Compliances have been simplified for a section of taxpayers by extending the due dates, for filling annual returns and reconciliation statements, introduction of simplified return filing system, introduction of nationwide e-way bill, etc.

•Relief measures for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME Sector) by way of increase in registration threshold limit, introducing composition schemes, extending composition scheme to service providers have been welcomed by taxpayers.

•Providing a boost to real estate sector by recommending a reduced rate of GST for under-construction properties @1% (for affordable housing) and 5% (for non-affordable segment).

The GST Council has also recommended the formation of Group of Ministers (GoM) to study the revenue trend, analyze the reasons for structural patterns affecting the revenue collection in some of the states, to examine the tax rate and issues in specific sectors such real estate, lottery, and other issues related to GST.

The CBIC, on the other hand, has played an active role in giving effect to GST Council’s recommendations, providing various suo-moto reliefs to the taxpayers in terms of extending the due dates for various return filings, providing waivers from interest and penalty, etc. Further, CBIC has issued various clarifications and FAQs to address the business concerns and sector-specific issues. Some of the key clarifications issued by the CBIC during the past year include:

•Non-inclusion of tax collected at source (TCS) for the purpose of determination of value of supply under GST as it is an interim levy not having the character of tax;

•Clarification on tax implications/treatment and input tax credit in respect of various sales promotion activities offered by companies such as distribution of gifts or free samples, buy one get one free offers, treatment for primary and secondary discounts, etc.;

•Tax implications under reverse charge basis in case of import of the outsourced services;

•Doing away with the requirement of physical submission of documents in case of export refunds.

The clarifications issued by CBIC during the initial years of implementation of GST will play an important role in guiding taxpayers on interpretation of tax provisions and also mitigate potential litigation.

In addition to the above measures, the CBIC has also introduced the facility for ‘IT grievance redressal mechanism’ along with a helpdesk facility to resolve the difficulties faced by the taxpayers owing to technical glitches on the GST portal.

Besides the GST Council and CBIC, the Authority for Advance ruling (AAR) established in various states have over the last year pronounced important rulings providing clarity on issues such as classification of good/services for determining the GST rate, determining the time and value of supply of goods/services, registration requirements, etc. An advance ruling brings certainty in determining the tax liability, as the AAR’s ruling is binding on the applicant as well as tax authorities. Further, it helps in avoiding long drawn and expensive litigation at a later date. The AAR’s ruling can be appealed before an Appellate AAR. Such rulings even though applicable only to the applicant, have a persuasive value for other taxpayers undertaking similar transactions. Keeping in view the conflicting rulings of AAR on some of the critical issues and representations made by the tax payers, the government has recently notified creation of a National Bench for Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal which will further help in bringing in certainty and clarity on various GST matters and thus reduce the litigation.

The GST regime also provides for a National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) which ensures that the benefit of reduction in the rate of tax on goods or services or the benefit of the input tax credit is passed on to the customer by way of a commensurate reduction in prices. Over the last year, the NAA has dealt with few cases where penalties have been imposed on a cross section of taxpayers for not passing on the tax benefit to the consumers. In cases where the ultimate customer is not identifiable, the taxpayers have been directed to deposit the amount in the Consumer Welfare Fund. However, application of the anti-profiteering provisions has been fraught with litigation as the current GST provisions do not prescribe any methodology/mechanism for taxpayers to determine the quantum of the benefits to be passed on to the consumers. Appropriate guidance from the government is awaited on this area to reduce unnecessary disputes and litigation.

Stabilization of GST collections over the past one-and-a-half year is evidence of the GST regime overcoming initial teething issues, gaining stability and gradually entering a growth phase. The total GST revenue collections during the financial year 2018-19 was `11.77 crore with a monthly gross average of `98,114 crore. It is expected that the trend of reforms will continue with focus on further simplifying compliances, providing relief measures for the certain industrial sectors which have been adversely impacted after the implementation of GST, ensuring fast-track clearance for pending export refunds, etc. among others.

The government, the administrative machinery, industry associations and businesses deserve kudos for making GST a reality today. There are not many examples in the recent history of a policy change of this scale being implemented successfully in such a short span of time. Hopefully, as the tax rates are further reduced, slab rates are further rationalised and compliances become easier, it will lead to GST to becoming ‘one Nation, one tax’ in a true sense.

FAQs
1. What are the rates of GST applicable to goods and services?
The GST law provides a four-tier structure of GST rates for various categories of goods and services under the slabs of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Essential services and food items are placed in the lower tax brackets while luxury services and products fall under the higher brackets. Besides, there are some goods and services which are exempt from GST, for example, fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, butter milk, curd, fresh meat, newspaper, hotels and lodges with tariff below `1,000, etc.

2. Who can file complaint before NAA?
Any consumer or organization experiencing the non-reduction in the price of the goods or service despite reduction in the rate of GST can file the complaint with proper evidences. Any supplier, trader, wholesaler or retailer, who could not get benefit of input tax credit on account of reduction in the rate of GST, can file the complaint along with evidences to substantiate the non-compliance.

3. What is the consumer welfare fund?
A separate fund has been created by the government under the GST laws which would be utilised for the welfare of the consumers in the country. When the eligible person/ customer does not claim the amount due or the recipient is not identifiable, in such conditions, the amount recovered from the taxpayer is deposited in the consumer welfare fund.
tandav
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by tandav »

I have a unique issue with GST that perhaps affects other businesses too.We are a engineering design consulting + project management firm with projects across India. In most cases clients prefer that Our company should design/engineer the system and also supply install test and commission (SITC) materials (pumps, pipes and other mechanical items) and integrate them on the site to ensure QA/QC and have a single point of contact for all issues. They want to give our company a single work order. Ticket sizes range from Rs 10 Lakhs to Rs 50 Lakhs for consultancy + materials.

The issue comes in Invoicing... when we take up a project outside our state (customers approach us from everywhere and anywhere) we typically procure all required materials from local vendors (same state/city) in order to ensure better after sales service. The materials are delivered for the project site which is within the state of the vendor and vendor states that they can only give SGST+CGST invoice for the same (state of supply being same) however this creates a huge problem for us to take input tax credit (supply or materials from our vendor on day X and our invoice to client is X+6 months also causes problems in taking input credit). Since it is not practical to register in all states where we work ... We intend to raise a IGST invoice to my client and similarly take IGST invoices from my vendors for input credit. Apparently to raise IGST invoice the vendor has to raise waybill to our home State (transport it to Home state) then we need to transport the materials back to project site raising another waybill from us to the eventual client which is economically and chronologically a non starter.

My question is whether we can ask the vendor to issue us IGST bill? If not how can we take input credit for the SGST and CGST invoice for IGST invoicing etc. Are we forced to register in every state? We registered in many states (7+) with this understanding and currently the cost of compliance and risk of non compliance (e.g freezing Bank Accounts for not filing returns in any state is high, got a notice from a local GST official for non filing return and got our banks accounts locked for 3 days which caused us untold misery) in maintaining so many GST registrations is prohibitive. Policy wise GST should make it easy for companies to work anywhere in India, but in the special case of a Works Contract GST is creating obstacles (which granted existed prior to GST in the VAT/Service Tax Regime)
Aditya_V
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Aditya_V »

ITC can be taken for SGST/CGST paid by vendor and set off against IGST payable. No need to get lungis in a twist. You do not need to register in every state 1 registration is enough. I would suggest you cancel the other unessecary GST registrations.
https://www.caclubindia.com/articles/no ... -32841.asp
ravikr
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by ravikr »

tandav wrote:My question is whether we can ask the vendor to issue us IGST bill? If not how can we take input credit for the SGST and CGST invoice for IGST invoicing etc. Are we forced to register in every state? We registered in many states (7+) with this understanding and currently the cost of compliance and risk of non compliance (e.g freezing Bank Accounts for not filing returns in any state is high, got a notice from a local GST official for non filing return and got our banks accounts locked for 3 days which caused us untold misery) in maintaining so many GST registrations is prohibitive. Policy wise GST should make it easy for companies to work anywhere in India, but in the special case of a Works Contract GST is creating obstacles (which granted existed prior to GST in the VAT/Service Tax Regime)
Sir Theere is Specific provision in GST called "Billed To" and " shipped To". Your vendor in your customers state has to Raise a IGST bill on your Company GST and address of your company home state under "Billed to" head, (so that you can claim the ITC on that Invoice) and under "Shipped to" head he has to mention your customer GST no along with address where he has to deliver the material and also raise a Ewaybill on that address.

Thus you have to maintain only one GST in your home state. And when you are raising the Bill to your customer you need not have to raise any ewaybill since you are not transporting any material.

For further details please refer to https://cleartax.in/s/bill-to-ship-to-gst-eway-bill

Hope this helps..
tandav
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by tandav »

ravikr wrote:
tandav wrote:My question is whether we can ask the vendor to issue us IGST bill? I... snipped
Sir There is Specific provision in GST called "Billed To" and " shipped To". Your vendor in your customers state has to Raise a IGST bill on your Company GST and address of your company home state under "Billed to" head, (so that you can claim the ITC on that Invoice) and under "Shipped to" head he has to mention your customer GST no along with address where he has to deliver the material and also raise a Ewaybill on that address.

Thus you have to maintain only one GST in your home state. And when you are raising the Bill to your customer you need not have to raise any ewaybill since you are not transporting any material.

For further details please refer to https://cleartax.in/s/bill-to-ship-to-gst-eway-bill

Hope this helps..
No it does not... the link does not answer the question whether the vendor can issue an IGST invoice to the buyer's non local registered address?
tandav
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by tandav »

Aditya_V wrote:ITC can be taken for SGST/CGST paid by vendor and set off against IGST payable. No need to get lungis in a twist. You do not need to register in every state 1 registration is enough. I would suggest you cancel the other unessecary GST registrations.
https://www.caclubindia.com/articles/no ... -32841.asp
SGST and CGST of purchases in State X cannot be offset against SGST CGST of invoices in State Y as I understand.

https://taxguru.in/goods-and-service-ta ... e-pan.html
ravikr
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by ravikr »

tandav wrote: No it does not... the link does not answer the question whether the vendor can issue an IGST invoice to the buyer's non local registered address?
Sir IGST bills are specifically issued to the buyers of defferent state with that states GST no... I dont understand where the problem is..
tandav
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by tandav »

ravikr wrote:
tandav wrote: No it does not... the link does not answer the question whether the vendor can issue an IGST invoice to the buyer's non local registered address?
Sir IGST bills are specifically issued to the buyers of defferent state with that states GST no... I dont understand where the problem is..
In the area of sales of goods apparently you can only issue IGST when you are physically transporting materials to the outside state. If the delivery is in state you have to issue CGST+SGST. There is confusion on this regard.
ravikr
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by ravikr »

tandav wrote:
ravikr wrote:
Sir IGST bills are specifically issued to the buyers of defferent state with that states GST no... I dont understand where the problem is..
In the area of sales of goods apparently you can only issue IGST when you are physically transporting materials to the outside state. If the delivery is in state you have to issue CGST+SGST. There is confusion on this regard.
Not necessarily Sir, that's exactly where the 'Shipped to' & "Billed to" come into the picture... I will try to explain with an example.

Say your company 'A' is in Maharashtra..
You take a work order from your customer 'C' from Karnataka
For this you are procuring material from your Vendor 'V' from Karnataka aswell..

Now when 'V' is raising invoice he will put A with Maharashtra GST No in 'Billed to' column with IGST Invoice.
and put your customer 'C' with Karnataka GST No in 'Shipped to' Column and raise Ewaybill on 'C's address in Karnataka since he is moving the material.

Now you can utilise that IGST amount and when after completing the work you are raising the IGST invoice again on C with Karnataka GST No. without any Ewaybill since your are not moving any material physically..Thus original GST amount is transferred back to the Original state where it got utilised...

Hope it clears your doubts..I will try to find some relevant links...
Here you go sir..http://icmai.in/TaxationPortal/upload/I ... GST/47.pdf
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Manish_P »

Man held for using fake invoices worth Rs 1 200 cr Delhi GST officers
A man has been arrested here for allegedly using fake invoices worth over Rs 1,200 crore to get tax benefits, an official statement said on Monday.

Daya Shankar Kushwaha, who was arrested by tax officers recently, used a network of 49 shell firms for defrauding the government, it said.

"The officers of anti-evasion wing of central tax, Delhi West Commissionerate have bust a major racket of fake invoicing of Rs 1,200 crore involving fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) of Rs 124 crore, using a network of 49 shell companies with the arrest of Daya Shankar Kushwaha," the statement said. The ITC means claiming the credit against the GST paid on purchase of goods and services.

"Fake invoices were issued to buyers, who avail the fraudulent input tax credit without actually receiving any goods. Daya Shankar Kushwaha also admitted to investigators that no actual movement of goods took place against the invoices, which has been corroborated through data mining on the NIC's e-waybill portal," the statement said.

According to the statement, Kushwaha fraudulently obtained two different PAN cards using photographs which were photoshopped and created 14 firms. The remaining 35 firms were created through identity theft by using KYC documents of poor individuals.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by vinamr_s »

How less regressive wrt to income is India’s GST because of the 5 different tax brackets (0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%)?

Putting household necessities in the lower slab of 5% would have made it less regressive; however, additional cess on top of 28% tax on tobacco would have made it more regressive, i guess. Can anyone point me to any survey which has been conducted to actually estimate its regressiveness wrt income, because it isn’t possible to estimate otherwise.
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