Thursday 27 December 2018

Recommendations made during 31 Meeting of the GST Council

The GST Council in its 31 meeting held today at New Delhi made the following policy recommendations: 

1. There would be a single cash ledger for each tax head. The modalities for implementation would be finalized in consultation with GSTN and the Accounting authorities.

2. A scheme of single authority for disbursement of the refund amount sanctioned by either the Centre or the State tax authorities would be implemented on pilot basis. The modalities for the same shall be finalized shortly.

3. The new return filing system shall be introduced on a trial basis from 01.04.2019 and on mandatory basis from 01.07.2019.


4. The due date for furnishing the annual returns in FORM GSTR-9, FORM GSTR-9A and reconciliation statement in FORM GSTR-9C for the Financial Year 2017 – 2018 shall be further extended till 30.06.2019.

5. The following clarificatory changes, inter-alia, shall be carried out in the formats/instructions according to which the annual return / reconciliation statement is to be submitted by the taxpayers:

i. Amendment of headings in the forms to specify that the return in FORM GSTR-9 &FORM GSTR-9A would be in respect of supplies etc. ‘made during the year’ and not ‘as declared in returns filed during the year’;
ii. All returns in FORM GSTR-1&FORM GSTR-3B have to be filed before filing of FORM GSTR-9&FORM GSTR-9C;
iii. All returns in FORM GSTR-4 have to be filed before filing of FORM GSTR-9A;
iv. HSN code may be declared only for those inward supplies whose value independently accounts for 10% or more of the total value of inward supplies;
v. Additional payments, if any, required to be paid can be done through FORM GST DRC-03 only in cash;
vi. ITC cannot be availed through FORM GSTR-9 &FORM GSTR-9C;
vii. All invoices pertaining to previous FY (irrespective of month in which such invoice is reported in FORM GSTR-1) would be auto-populated in Table 8A of FORM GSTR-9;
viii. Value of “non-GST supply” shall also include the value of “no supply” and may be reported in Table 5D, 5E and 5F of FORM GSTR-9;
x. Verification by taxpayer who is uploading reconciliation statement would be included in FORM GSTR-9C.

6. The due date for furnishing FORM GSTR-8 by e-commerce operators for the months of October, November and December, 2018 shall be extended till 31.01.2019.

7. The due date for submitting FORM GST ITC-04 for the period July 2017 to December 2018 shall be extended till 31.03.2019.

8. ITC in relation to invoices issued by the supplier during FY 2017-18 may be availed by the recipient till the due date for furnishing of FORM GSTR-3B for the month of March, 2019, subject to specified conditions.

9. All the supporting documents/invoices in relation to a claim for refund in FORM GST RFD01A shall be uploaded electronically on the common portal at the time of filing of the refund application itself, thereby obviating the need for a taxpayer to physically visit a tax office for submission of a refund application. GSTN will enable this functionality on the common portal shortly.

10. The following types of refunds shall also be made available through FORM GST RFD-01A: i. Refund on account of Assessment/Provisional Assessment/Appeal/Any Other Order; ii. Tax paid on an intra-State supply which is subsequently held to be inter-State supply and vice-versa; iii. Excess payment of Tax; and iv. Any other refund.

11. In case of applications for refund in FORM GST RFD-01A(except those relating to refund of excess balance in the cash ledger)which are generated on the common portal before the roll out of the functionality described in point (10) above, and which have not been submitted in the jurisdictional tax office within 60 days of the generation of ARN, the claimants shall be sent communications on their registered email ids containing information on where to submit the said refund applications. If the applications are not submitted within 15 days of the date of the email, the said refund applications shall be summarily rejected, and the debited amount, if any, shall be re-credited to the electronic credit ledger of the claimant.

12. One more window for completion of migration process is being allowed. The due date for the taxpayers who did not file the complete FORM GST REG-26 but received only a Provisional ID (PID) till 31.12.2017 for furnishing the requisite details to the jurisdictional nodal officer shall be extended till 31.01.2019. Also, the due date for furnishing FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-1 for the period July, 2017 to February, 2019/quarters July, 2017 to December, 2018 by such taxpayers shall be extended till 31.03.2019.

13. Late fee shall be completely waived for all taxpayers in case FORM GSTR-1, FORM GSTR3B &FORM GSTR-4 for the months / quarters July, 2017 to September, 2018, are furnished after 22.12.2018 but on or before 31.03.2019.

14. Taxpayers who have not filed the returns for two consecutive tax periods shall be restricted from generating e-way bills. This provision shall be made effective once GSTN/NIC make available the required functionality.

15. Clarifications shall be issued on certain refund related matters like refund of ITC accumulated on account of inverted duty structure, disbursal of refunds within the stipulated time, time allowed for availment of ITC on invoices, refund of accumulated ITC of compensation cess etc.

16. Changes made by CGST (Amendment) Act, 2018, IGST (Amendment) Act, 2018, UTGST (Amendment) Act, 2018 and GST (Compensation to States) Amendment Act, 2018 and the corresponding changes in SGST Acts would be notified w.e.f. 01.02.2019.

 The requisite Notifications/Circulars for implementing the above recommendations of the GST Council shall be issued shortly. 

Monday 26 November 2018

Is your consultant Not providing you userID and password of GST? Here is the solution!!



Complaints are being received from taxpayers that the intermediaries who were authorized by them to apply for registration on their behalf had used their own email and mobile number during the process. They are now not sharing the user credentials with the taxpayer on whose behalf they had done the registration in the first place and the taxpayer is at their mercy.



With a view to address this difficulty of the taxpayer, a functionality to update email and mobile number of the authorized signatory is available in the GST System. The email and mobile number can be updated by the concerned Jurisdictional tax authority of the taxpayer as per the following procedure:


Steps to be followed:-


Taxpayer is required to approach the concerned jurisdictional Tax Officer to get the password for the GSTIN allotted to the business.


https://www.gst.gov.in
,>. Allotted jurisdiction is displayed in red text>


Taxpayer would be required to provide valid documents to the tax officer as proof of his/her identity and to validate the business details related to his GSTIN.


Tax officer will check if the said person is added as a Stakeholder or Authorized Signatory for that GSTIN in the system.


Tax officer will upload necessary proof on the GST Portal in support to authenticate the activity.


Tax officer will enter the new email address and mobile phone number provided by the Taxpayer.


After upload of document, Tax officer will reset the password for the GSTIN in the system.




[PIB Release ID 179956 dated 14th June, 2018]

Friday 26 October 2018

You can now claim your refund online on excess GST. Want to know How?

The facility to upload statement 4 for refund on account of supplies made to SEZ unit/ SEZ Developer, with payment of tax, and the facility for amendment in Registration of Core fields have been introduced. Facility to claim refund on account of excess payment of tax has been enabled on GST Portal for the taxpayers," the entity announced today. GSTN is a non-profit, non-government company that provides IT infrastructure and services to taxpayers, the Central and State Governments and other stakeholders for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.






So who is eligible to file refund applications on grounds of excess payment of tax? According to the portal, normal and casual taxpayers filing Form GSTR-3B, composite taxpayers filing Form GSTR-4 and Non-Resident taxpayers filing Form GSTR-5 can file refund applications for amounts of Rs 1,000 or more under the newly-introduced facility.

The user manual on the portal outlines how taxpayers can file an application for refund on account of excess payment of tax. Here's what you need to do:
1. Visit the official GST site
2. On the GST home page, click the Services > Refunds > Application for the refund command
3. When the 'select the refund type' page is displayed, pick the 'excess payment of tax' option
4. Select the financial year and month for which application has to be filed from the drop-down lists and click the 'create' button
5. The GST RFD-01A - Excess payment of tax page will be displayed. Fill in the relevant tax details and submit your bank account details then click the 'save' option.
6. Click the 'preview' button to download the form in PDF format.
7. Tick the Undertaking and Self-Declaration checkboxes and click on the 'proceed' button
8. Click the 'File with DSC' or 'File with EVC' buttons. If you pick the former, just click on 'proceed', select the certificate and click the 'sign' button. 

The Application Reference Number (ARN) receipt will be displayed. Else, in the case of EVC, enter the OTP sent to the email address and mobile number of the Authorized Signatory registered at the GST Portal and click the 'verify' button. The success message is displayed and status is changed to 'submitted'. The ARN receipt is then downloaded and a copy is sent to your registered email address and mobile phone number.

Once the ARN is generated, the refund application would be assigned to Jurisdictional Refund Processing Officers for scrutiny following which the refund will be disbursed. Taxpayers can track the status of refund application using track status functionality.

It is advisable to take benefit of this facility. 

CA Anand Muth


Friday 14 September 2018

GST Audit Report and Reconciliation Statement Format notified

The CBIC has notified the has notified Form GSTR-9C for Audit Report and Reconciliation Statement vide Central GST (Tenth Amendment) Rules, 2018





                                            Click here to Download GSTR-9C

Wednesday 5 September 2018

GST Annual Return Form notified GSTR-9

The Government has notified wide notification no. 38/20018 CGST as Central GST (Eighth Amendment) Rules, 2018 wherein it has notified Form GSTR-9 of Annual Return and Form GSTR-9A of Annual Return for composition taxpayers.

Click here to download the notification 

Monday 23 July 2018

GST rate on Services and Rate cut on several Goods

The GST Council in its 28 meeting held here today under the Chairmanship of Shri Piyush Goyal , Union Minister for Railways , Coal , Finance & Corporate Affairs took following decisions relating to exemptions / changes in GST rates / ITC eligibility criteria, rationalization of rates / exemptions and clarification on levy of GST on services. The decisions of the GST Council enclosed as annexure has been presented in simple language for ease of understanding which would be given effect to through Gazette notifications/ circulars which shall have force of law.

It would be noted that multiple reliefs from GST taxation have been provided to following categories of services –
(i) Agriculture, farming and food processing industry,
(ii) Education, training and skill development,
(iii) Pension, social security and old age support

Hotel industry has been given major relief by providing that the rate of tax on accommodation service shall be based on transaction value instead of declared tariff.

Services provided in sectors like banking, IT have been provided relief by exempting services supplied by an establishment of a person in India to any establishment of that person outside India [related party]

As a green initiative, GST on supply of e-books has been reduced from 18 to 5%. For details of major decisions on services, annexure to this press note may be referred. It is proposed to issue notifications giving effect to these recommendations of the Council with effect from27 July , 2018.


ANNEXURE - EXEMPTIONS / CHANGES IN GST RATES AND SERVICES

Sector –Farmers/ Agriculture/ Food Processing
1. Exempt services by way of artificial insemination of livestock (other than horses).
2. Exempt warehousing of minor forest produce in line with exemptions provided to the agricultural produce.
3. Exempt the works of installation and commissioning undertaken by DISCOMS/ electricity distribution companies for extending electricity distribution network upto the tube well of the farmer/ agriculturalist for agricultural use.
4. Exempt services provided by FSSAI to food business operators.

Education/ Training/ Skill Development

5. Reduce rate of GST from 18% to 5% on supply only of e-books for which print version exist.

Social Security/ Pension Security/ Senior Citizens

6. Exempt services provided by Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisationto the PF subscribers from the applicability of GST on the lines of EPFO.

7. Exempt supply of services by an old age home run by State / Central Government or by a body registered under 12AA of Income Tax Act) to its residents (aged 60 years or more) against consideration upto Rupees Twenty Five Thousand per month per member provided consideration is inclusive of charges for boarding, lodging and maintenance.

8. Exempt GST on the administrative fee collected by National Pension System Trust.

9. Exempt services provided by an unincorporated body or a non-profit entity registered under any law for the time being in force, engaged in activities relating to the welfare of industrial or agricultural labour or farmer; or for the promotion of trade, commerce, industry, agriculture, art, science, literature, culture, sports, education, social welfare, charitable activities and protection of environment, to own members against consideration in the form of membership fee up to an amount of one thousand rupees per member per year.

Banking/ Finance/ Insurance

10. Exempt Reinsurance Services provided to specified Insurance Schemessuch as Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Mission (PMRSSM) (Ayushman Bharat), funded by Government.

Government Services

11. Exempt services provided by Government to ERCC by way of assigning the right to collect royalty, DMFT etc. from the mining lease holders.

12. Exempt the guarantees given by Central/State Government/UT administration to their undertakings/PSUs.

Miscellaneous
13. ExemptGST on import of services by Foreign Diplomatic Missions/ UN & other International Organizations based on reciprocity.

14. Exempt services supplied by an establishment of a person in India to any establishment of that person outside India, which are treated as establishments of distinct persons in accordance with Explanation I in section 8 of the IGST Act provided the place of supply is outside the taxable territory of India in accordance with section 13 of IGST Act

15. Prescribe GST rate slabs on accommodation service based on transaction value instead of declared tariff which is likely to provide major relief to the hotel industry.

16. Prescribe GST rate of 12% with full ITC under forward charge for composite supply of multimodal transportation.

17. Rationalize thenotificationentry prescribing reduced GST rate on composite supply of works contract received by the Government or a local authority in the course of their sovereign functions.

18. Rationalize entry relating to composite supply of food and drinks in restaurant, mess, canteen, eating joints and such supplies to institutions (educational, office, factory, hospital) on contractual basis at GST rate of 5%; and making it clear that the scope of outdoor catering under 7(v) is restricted to supplies in case of outdoor/indoor functions that are event based and occasional in nature.

 Clarifications

19. Supply of services provided by State and Central educational boards to students for conduct of examination will be clarified to be exempt.

20. To clarify that the courses run by private ITIs for designated trades are exempt under GST whereas non-designated courses are taxable.

21. To clarify that GST on premium paid by the Governments for implementing PradhanMantri Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Mission (PMRSSM) (Ayushman Bharat) is exempt from GST.

22. To provide clarification on applicability of Service Tax / GST on services rendered by an Indian Architect- Consultant in relation to immovable property located outside India to Indian Diplomatic Missions/Posts abroad.

23. To clarify to Auroville foundation that‘maintenance’ paid by it to Auroviliansis not liable to GST.

24. To insert an explanation in notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax(Rate) to define the term renting of immovable property.

25. To clarify that certain services such as “deposit works(expenses for providing electric line/plant)” related to distribution of electricity provided by DISCOM, attract GST.

Export / other trade facilitation measures

26. Extend the exemption granted on outward transportation of all goods by air and sea by another one year i.e. upto 30th September, 2019 as relief to the exporter of goods.

27. Place liability to pay GST on services provided by individual DSAs to banks/NBFCs under reverse charge on the buying banks/NBFCs. However, services by non-individual NBFCs (corporate, partnership firms) to banks/NBFCs would continue under forward charge, as at present.

 RECOMMENDS GST RATES REDUCTION ON SEVERAL GOODS &for specified handicraft items

GST rates have been recommended to be brought down to Nil on Sanitary Napkins &Rakhi& more Goods 

 Recommends for allowing refund to fabrics on account of inverted duty structure Rate change made in respect of footwear

      I. GST rates reduction on 28% items:

     A. 28% to 18%

  • Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) 
  • Glaziers’ putty, grafting putty, resin cements
  • Refrigerators, freezers and other refrigerating or freezing equipment including water cooler, milk coolers, refrigerating equipment for leather industry, ice cream freezer etc.
  • Washing machines.
  • Lithium-ion batteries
  • Vacuum cleaners
  • Domestic electrical appliances such as food grinders and mixers & food or vegetable juice extractor, shaver, hair clippers etc
  • Storage water heaters and immersion heaters, hair dryers, hand dryers, electric smoothing irons etc
  • Televisions upto the size of 68 cm
  • Special purpose motor vehicles. e.g., crane lorries, fire fighting vehicle, concrete mixer lorries, spraying lorries
  • Works trucks [self-propelled, not fitted with lifting or handling equipment] of the type used in factories, warehouses, dock areas or airports for short transport of goods.
  • Trailers and semi-trailers.
  • Miscellaneous articles such as scent sprays and similar toilet sprays, powder-puffs and pads for the application of cosmetics or toilet preparations.
     
      B. 28% to 12% 



  •  Fuel Cell Vehicle. Further, Compensation cess shall also be exempted on fuel cell vehicle. 
         

      II. Refund of accumulated credit on account of inverted duty structure to fabric manufacturers:Fabrics attract GST at the rate of 5% subject to the condition that refund of accumulated ITC on account of inversion will not be allowed. However, considering the difficulty faced by the Fabric sector on account of this condition, the GST Council has recommended for allowing refund to fabrics on account of inverted duty structure. The refund of accumulated ITC shall be allowed only with the prospective effect on the purchases made after the notification is issued.

     III. GST rates have been recommended to be brought down from,-


     A. 18%12%/5% to Nil:

     

  • Stone/Marble/Wood Deities      
  • Rakhi [other than that of precious or semi-precious material of chapter 71] 
  • Sanitary Napkins, 
  • Coir pith compost 
  • Sal Leaves siali leaves and their products and Sabai Rope 
  • PhoolBhariJhadoo [Raw material for Jhadoo] 
  • Khali dona. 
  • Circulation and commemorative coins, sold by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd [SPMCIL] to Ministry of Finance.
      B. 12% to 5%:

  • Chenille fabrics and other fabrics under heading 5801 
  • Handloom dari 
  • Phosphoric acid (fertilizer grade only). 
  • Knitted cap/topi having retail sale value not exceeding Rs 1000
      C. 18% to 12%:

  •  Bamboo flooring.
  • Brass Kerosene Pressure Stove. 
  • Hand Operated Rubber Roller.
  • Zip and Slide Fasteners.
      D. 18% to 5%:

  • Ethanol for sale to Oil Marketing Companies for blending with fuel.
  • Solid bio fuel pellets 
     IV. Rate change made in respect of footwear

  • 5% GST is being extended to footwear having a retail sale price up to Rs. 1000 per pair 
  • Footwear having a retail sale price exceeding Rs. 1000 per pair will continue to attract 18% 
      V. GST rates have been recommended to be brought down for specified handicraft items              [as per the definition of handicraft, as approved by the GST -

      
      A. 18% to 12%:
     
  • Handbags including pouches and purses; jewellery box.
  •  Wooden frames for painting, photographs, mirrors etc.
  •  Art ware of cork [including articles of sholapith] 
  • Stone art ware, stone inlay work 
  • Ornamental framed mirrors
  •  Glass statues [other than those of crystal] 
  • Glass art ware [ incl. pots, jars, votive, cask, cake cover, tulip bottle, vase ] 
  • Art ware of iron Art ware of brass, copper/ copper alloys, electro plated with nickel/silver 
  • Aluminium art ware.
  • Handcrafted lamps (including panchloga lamp).
  • Worked vegetable or mineral carving, articles thereof, articles of wax, of stearin, of natural gums or natural resins or of modelling pastes etc, (including articles of lac, shellac)
  • Ganjifa card

     B. 12% to 5%:
  • Handmade carpets and other handmade textile floor coverings (including namda/gabba) 
  • Handmade lace 
  • Hand-woven tapestries 
  • Hand-made braids and ornamental trimming in the piece
  • Toran
    VI. Miscellaneous Change relating to valuation of a supply:

  • IGST @5% on Pool Issue Price (PIP) of Urea imported on Govt. account for direct agriculture use, instead of assessable value plus custom duty.
  • Exemption from Compensation cess to Coal rejects from washery [arising out of cess paid coal on which ITC has not been taken]. 

    VII. Clarifications/amendments as regards applicability of GST rate in respect of certain                    goods recommended by GST Council which inter-alia includes:

   
      v. Milk enriched with vitamins or minerals salt (fortified milk) is classifiable under HS code                    0401 as milk and exempt from GST. 
      v. 5% GST on both treated (modified) tamarind kernel powder and plain (unmodified) tamarind              kernel powder. 
      v. Beet and cane sugar, including refined beet and cane sugar, (falling under heading 1701)                      attracts 5% GST rate. 
      v. Water supplied for public purposes (other than in sealed containers) does not attract GST. 
      v. Marine engine (falling under sub-heading 8408 10 93) attracts 5% GST rate. 
      v. Kota stone and similar stones [ other than marble and granite] other than polished will attracts             5% GST, while ready to use polished Kota stoneand similar stones will attracts 18%. 
      v. Certain other miscellaneous clarification as regards classification/rate have been recommended

    
[This note presents the decision of the GST Council in simple language for ease of understanding which would be given effect to through Gazette notifications/circulars which shall have force of law.]




















GST council approves Simplified GST Return

The GST Council in its 28 meeting held here today under the Chairmanship of Shri PiyushGoyal , Union Minister for Railways , Coal , Finance & Corporate Affairs has approved the new return formats and associated changes in law. It may be recalled that in the 27 meeting held on 4 of May, 2018 the Council had approved the basic principles of GST return design and directed the law committee to finalize the return formats and changes in law. The formats and business process approved today were in line with the basic principles with one major change i.ethe option of filing quarterly return with monthly payment of tax in a simplified return format by the small tax payers. 

All taxpayers excluding small taxpayers and a few exceptions like ISD etc. shall file one monthly return. The return is simple with two main tables. One for reporting outward supplies and one for availing input tax credit based on invoices uploaded by the supplier. Invoices can be uploaded continuously by the seller and can be continuously viewed and locked by the buyer for availing input tax credit. This process would ensure that very large part of the return is automatically filled based on the invoices uploaded by the buyer and the seller. Simply put, the process would be “UPLOAD – LOCK – PAY” for most tax payers. 
Image result for gst return
Taxpayers would have facility to create his profile based on nature of supplies made and received. The fields of information which a taxpayer would be shown and would be required to fill in the return would depend on his profile. 

NIL return filers (no purchase and no sale) shall be given facility to file return by sending SMS. 

The Council approved quarterly filing of return for the small taxpayers having turnover below Rs. 5 Cr as an optional facility. Quarterly return shall be similar to main return with monthly payment facility but for two kinds of registered persons – small traders making only B2C supply or making B2B + B2C supply. For such taxpayers, simplified returns have been designed called Sahaj and Sugam. In these returns details of information required to be filled is lesser than that in the regular return. 

The new return design provides facility for amendment of invoice and also other details filed in the return. Amendment shall be carried out by filing of a return called amendment return. Payment would be allowed to be made through the amendment return as it will help save interest liability for the taxpayers. 93% of the taxpayers have a turnover of less than Rs 5 Cr and these taxpayers would benefit substantially from the simplification measures proposed improving their ease of doing business. Even the large taxpayers would find the design of new return quite user friendly.  

Recommendations made during the 28thmeeting of the GST Council

The GST Council in its 28 meeting held here today has recommended certain amendments in the CGST Act, IGST Act, UTGST Act and the GST (Compensation to States) Act. 

The major recommendations are as detailed below:
1. Upper limit of turnover for opting for composition scheme to be raised from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 1.5 crore. Present limit of turnover can now be raised on the recommendations of the Council.
2. Composition dealers to be allowed to supply services (other than restaurant services), for upto a value not exceeding 10% of turnover in the preceding financial year, or Rs. 5 lakhs, whichever is higher.
3. Levy of GST on reverse charge mechanism on receipt of supplies from unregistered suppliers, to be applicable to only specified goods in case of certain notified classes of registered persons, on the recommendations of the GST Council.
4. The threshold exemption limit for registration in the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya,Sikkim and Uttarakhandto be increased to Rs. 20 Lakhs from Rs. 10 Lakhs.
5. Taxpayers may opt for multiple registrations within a State/Union territory in respect of multiple places of business located within the same State/Union territory.
6. Mandatory registration is required for only those e-commerce operators who are required to collect tax at source.
7. Registration to remain temporarily suspended while cancellation of registration is under process, so that the taxpayer is relieved of continued compliance under the law.
8. The following transactions to be treated as no supply (no tax payable) under Schedule III:
     a. Supply of goods from a place in the non-taxable territory to another place in the non-taxable territory without such goods entering into India;
     b. Supply of warehoused goods to any person before clearance for home consumption; and
     c. Supply of goods in case of high sea sales.
9. Scope of input tax credit is being widened, and it would now be made available in respect of the following:
      a. Most of the activities or transactions specified in Schedule III;
      b. Motor vehicles for transportation of persons having seating capacity of more than thirteen (including driver), vessels and aircraft;
      c. Motor vehicles for transportation of money for or by a banking company or financial institution;
      d. Services of general insurance, repair and maintenance in respect of motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft on which credit is available; and
      e. Goods or services which are obligatory for an employer to provide to its employees, under any law for the time being in force.
10. In case the recipient fails to pay the due amount to the supplier within 180 days from the date of issue of invoice, the input tax credit availed by the recipient will be reversed, but liability to pay interest is being done away with.
11. Registered persons may issue consolidated credit/debit notes in respect of multiple invoices issued in a Financial Year.
12. Amount of pre-deposit payable for filing of appeal before the Appellate Authority and the Appellate Tribunal to be capped at Rs. 25 Crores and Rs. 50 Crores, respectively.
13. Commissioner to be empowered to extend the time limit for return of inputs and capital sent on job work, upto a period of one year and two years, respectively.
14. Supply of services to qualify as exports, even if payment is received in Indian Rupees, where permitted by the RBI.
15. Place of supply in case of job work of any treatment or process done on goods temporarily imported into India and then exported without putting them to any other use in India, to be outside India.
16. Recovery can be made from distinct persons, even if present in different State/Union territories. 17. The order of cross-utilisation of input tax credit is being rationalised.

These amendments will now be placed before the Parliament and the legislature of State and Union territories with legislatures for carrying out the amendments in the respective GST Acts.

Friday 29 June 2018

KYC of all Directors

ALL COMPANY DIRECTORS HAVE TO FILE DIR-3 KYC on or before 31st August,2018 WITH MCA.

DIR-3 KYC

As part of updating its registry, MCA would be conducting KYC of all Directors of all companies annually through a new eform viz. DIR-3 KYC to be notified and deployed shortly.

ALL DIRECTORS HAVE TO FILE MANDATORILY DIR-3 KYC

Accordingly, every Director who has been allotted DIN on or before 31st March, 2018 and whose DIN is in ‘Approved’ status, would be mandatorily required to file form DIR-3 KYC on or before 31st August,2018.

Mobile Number and E-mail id is to be registered compulsorily.

While filing the form,the Unique Personal Mobile Number and Personal Email ID would have to be mandatorily indicated and would be duly verified by One Time Password(OTP). 


Active and Disqualified Directors have to file DIR-3 KYC compulsorily.

The form should be filed by every Director using his own DSC and should be duly certified by a practicing professional (CA/CS/CMA). Filing of DIR-3 KYC would be mandatory for Disqualified Directors also.

DIN WILL BE DEACTIVATED IF DIR-3 KYC IS NOT FILED

After expiry of the due date by which the KYC form is to be filed,the MCA21 system will mark all approved DINs (allotted on or before 31st March 2018) against which DIR-3 KYC form has not been filed as ‘Deactivated’ with reason as ‘Non-filing of DIR-3 KYC’.

REACTIVATION OF DIN WITH PENALTY

After the due date filing of DIR-3 KYC in respect of such deactivated DINs shall be allowed upon payment of a specified fee only, without prejudice to any other action that may be taken.

Sunday 6 May 2018

Key Takeaways from 27th GST Council Meeting




GST Council today in its 27th meeting approved principles for filing of new return design based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers on IT simplification. The key elements of the new return design are as follows –

i. Onemonthly Return:All taxpayers excluding a few exceptions like composition dealer shall file one monthly return. Return filing dates shall be staggered based on the turnover of the registered person to manage load on the IT system. Composition dealers and dealers having nil transaction shall have facility to file quarterly return.

ii. Unidirectional Flow of invoices: There shall be unidirectional flow of invoices uploaded by the seller on anytime basis during the month which would be the valid document to avail input tax credit by the buyer. Buyer would also be able to continuously see the uploaded invoices during the month.There shall not be any need to upload the purchase invoices also. Invoices for B2B transaction shall need to use HSN at four digit level or more to achieve uniformity in the reporting system.

iii. Simple Return design and easy IT interface: The B2Bdealers will have to fill invoice-wise details of the outward supply made by them, based on which the system will automatically calculate his tax liability. The input tax credit will be calculated automatically by the system based on invoices uploaded by his sellers. Taxpayer shall be also given user friendly IT interface and offline IT tool to upload the invoices.

iv. No automatic reversal of credit: There shall not be any automatic reversal of input tax credit from buyer on non-payment of tax by the seller. In case of default in payment of tax by the seller, recovery shall be made from the seller however reversal of credit from buyer shall also be an option available with the revenue authorities to address exceptional situations like missing dealer, closure of business by supplier or supplier not having adequate assets etc.

v. Due process for recovery and reversal: Recovery of tax or reversal of input tax credit shall be through a due process of issuing notice and order. The process would be online and automated to reduce the human interface.

vi. Supplier side control: Unloading of invoices by the seller to pass input tax credit who has defaulted in payment of tax above a threshold amount shall be blocked to control misuse of input tax credit facility. Similar safeguards would be built with regard to newly registered dealers also. Analytical tools would be used to identify such transactions at the earliest and prevent loss of revenue.

vii. Transition: There will be a three stage transition to the new system. Stage I shall be the present system of filing of return GSTR 3B and GSTR 1. GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 shall continue to remain suspended. Stage I will continue for a period not exceeding 6 months by which time new return software would be ready. In stage 2, the new return will have facility for invoice-wise data upload and also facility for claiming input tax credit on self declaration basis, as in case of GSTR 3B now.

During this stage 2, the dealer will be constantly fed with information about gap between credit available to them as per invoices uploaded by their sellers and the provisional credit being claimed by them. After 6 months of this phase 2, the facility of provisional credit will get withdrawn and input tax credit will only be limited to the invoices uploaded by the sellers from whom the dealer has purchased goods.

Content of the return and implementation: Return shall be simplified also by reducing the content/information required to be filled in the return. The details of the design of the return form, business process and legal changes would be worked out by the law committee based on these principles. Government is keen to introduce the simplified return design at the earliest to reduce the compliance burden on the trade in keeping with the philosophy of ease of doing business.



Saturday 7 April 2018

Income Tax Rates for FY 2018-2019 for Individual / HUF and Companies

Income Tax Slab for Individual Tax Payers & HUF (Less Than 60 Years Old) for FY 2018-19 – Part I

Income Tax SlabTax RateSec 80C Investments
Income up to Rs 2,50,000*No tax
Income from Rs 2,50,000 – Rs 5,00,0005%Save Rs 7,500 in taxes. 
Income from Rs 5,00,000 – 10,00,00020%Save Rs 30,000 in taxes.
Income more than Rs 10,00,00030%Save Rs 45,000 in taxes. 
Surcharge: 10% of income tax, where total income exceeds Rs.50 lakh up to Rs.1 crore.
Surcharge: 15% of income tax, where the total income exceeds Rs.1 crore.
Health & Education Cess: 4% of Income Tax.
*Income tax exemption limit for FY 2018-19 is up to Rs. 2,50,000 for individual & HUF other than those covered in Part(II) or (III)

Income Tax Slab for Senior Citizens (60 Years Old Or More but Less than 80 Years Old) for FY 2018-19 – Part II

Income Tax SlabTax RateSec 80C Investments
Income up to Rs 3,00,000*No tax
Income from Rs 3,00,000 – Rs 5,00,0005%Save Rs 7,500 in taxes. 
Income from Rs 5,00,000 – 10,00,00020%Save Rs 30,000 in taxes. 
Income more than Rs 10,00,00030%Save Rs 45,000 in taxes. 
Surcharge: 10% of income tax, where total income exceeds Rs.50 lakh up to Rs.1 crore.
Surcharge: 15% of income tax, where the total income exceeds Rs.1 crore.
Health & Education Cess: 4% of Income Tax.
*Income tax exemption limit for FY 2018-19 is up to Rs. 3,00,000 other than those covered in Part(I) or (III)

Income Tax Slab for Senior Citizens(80 Years Old Or More) for FY 2018-19 – Part III

Income Tax SlabTax RateSec 80C Investments
Income up to Rs 5,00,000*No tax
Income from Rs 5,00,000 – 10,00,00020%Save Rs 30,000 in taxes. 
Income more than Rs 10,00,00030%Save Rs 45,000 in taxes. 
Surcharge: 10% of income tax, where total income exceeds Rs.50 lakh up to Rs.1 crore.
Surcharge: 15% of income tax, where the total income exceeds Rs.1 crore.
Health & Education Cess: 4% of Income Tax.
*Income tax exemption limit for FY 2018-19 is up to Rs. 5,00,000 other than those covered in Part(I) or (II)

Income Tax Slab for Domestic Companies for FY 2018-19 – Part IV

Turnover ParticularsTax Rate
Gross turnover upto 250 Cr. in the previous year25%
Gross turnover exceeding 250 Cr. in the previous year29%
In addition cess and surcharge is levied as follows:
Cess: 4% of corporate tax
Surcharge: Taxable income is more than 1Cr. but less than 10Cr.: 7%
Taxable income is more than 10Cr. :12%

TDS TCS Due dates for FY 2017-2018

TDS Last Dates of FY 2017-18 for Return Filing

QuarterPeriodLast Date of Filing
1st Quarter1st April to 30th June31st July 2017
2nd Quarter1st July to 30th September31st Oct 2017
3rd Quarter1st October to 31st December31st Jan 2018
4th Quarter1st January to 31st March31st May 2018
Note: TDS Deducted under section 194IA on the transaction in the month of March, has to be deposited on or before 30th April of 2018.

TCS Last Dates of  FY 2017-18 for Return Filing

QuarterPeriodLast Date of Filing
1st Quarter1st April to 30th June15th July 2017
2nd Quarter1st July to 30th September15th Oct 2017
3rd Quarter1st October to 31st December15th Jan 2018
4th Quarter1st January to 31st March15th May 2018
Note:
  • The due date for non-government deductor of depositing TDS/TCS is 7th of next month except March.
  • Deposit date of TDS Deducted in March is 30th April (other than Government), TCS Deducted in March for other than Government and TDS for government deductees due date is 7th April.
  • Quarterly TDS/TCS Certificate: After uploading quarterly TDS return you can generate TDS/TCS certificate within 15 days of uploading your return.

Due Dates for Deposit/Filing TDS/TCS in April 2018

  • Deposit date of TDS/TCS deducted in March is 30th April (Non-Government/Government)
  • Deposit date of TDS/TCS deducted in March is 7th April (Government)
  • File Quarterly Return of TDS (Quarterly Month – 1st January to 31st March) – 31st May 2018
  • File Quarterly Return of TCS (Quarterly Month – 1st January to 31st March) – 15th May 2018

Due Date of 15G/15H Form

The due date for quarterly furnishing of 15G/15H declaration received by the payer from 1/04/2017 onwards and the manner for dealing with from 15G/15H received by payer during the period from 01/10/2015 to 31/03/2016 has been specified in Notification No. 09/2016 dated 9th June 2016 wide F.No.DGIT(S)/CPC(TDS)/DCIT/15GH/2016-17/4539.
Taking into account the need of the stakeholders the due dates for uploading of Form 15G/15H are hereby extended as under:
S.No.ScenariosOriginal Due DateExtended Due Date
1For 15G/H Received during from 1/04/2017 to 30/06/201715/07/2017
2For 15G/H Received during from 01/07/2017 to 30/09/201715/10/2017
3For 15G/H Received during from 01/10/2017 to 30/12/201715/01/2018
4For 15G/H Received during from 01/01/2018 to 31/03/201830/04/2018

TDS on Sale of Immovable Property

  • Time limit for TDS deposition on the transfer of immovable property is the 30th day of the following month in which the property is transferred. For Example: if the property is sold in the month of June than TDS can be deposited by 30th July.

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