GST Portfolio

GST Registration

CONCEPT

Goods and Services Tax is a consolidated indirect tax policy that encompasses VAT, CST, Service Tax, Central Excise duty, Entertainment Tax, etc and is valid all over India with effect from 1st July 2017

When to register for GST?

Mandatory to register under GST when annual turnover exceeds INR 40/20 lakh or supply goods and services inter-state or through e-commerce platform.

What are the GST tax rates?

Tax rates vary from 0% to 28% depends on the type of goods & nature of the services you are selling.

Input Tax Credit Availment

Only business unit registered under GST can avail credit of tax paid at the time of purchase while filing GST returns.

Return Filing & Payment

Every GST registrant requires to file three monthly/quarterly returns and One annual return. Requires paying tax every month.

Composition Scheme

Business Unit having an annual turnover less than INR1.5 crore may opt the scheme. Requires to pay subsidize tax ranges from 1% to 5% & file quarterly return.

GST Invocing

If you are a GST registered business, you need to provide GST-complaint invoices to your clients for sale of good and/or services.

Your GST registered vendors will provide GST-compliant purchase invoices to you.

GST Invoice Reconciliation

Reconciliation under GST although seems to be a simple process due to automation but still consumes lot of time and resources, as taxpayers are required to continuously communicate with vendors for making amendments in the returns filed by them or even to track. It would not tasking for businesses having a handful of transactions to monitor. However, in case you have thousands of invoices in a month, then even a single digit percentile will be a significant volume. Therefore, one must reconcile the returns data on regular basis under GST.

We at Figal help you smoothen the process by providing you with updated and reconciled data at all times. Our teams use a combination of Human Intervention and Tools to create a smooth and robust system for your organization in harmony with your individual company needs.

GST Return Filing

A return is a document containing details of income which a taxpayer is required to file with the tax administrative authorities. This is used by tax authorities to calculate tax liability.

Under GST, a registered dealer has to file GST returns that include:

Purchases
Sales
Output GST (On sales)
Input tax credit (GST paid on purchases)
Reporting of Ineligible Input under GSTR 3B

To file GST returns or GST filing, GST compliant sales and purchase invoices are required.

GST Compliances

Goods and Service Tax (GST) is structured for efficient tax collection, reduction in corruption, easy inter-state movement of goods and a lot more.

The GST Law provides for self-assessment to facilitate easy compliance and payment of taxes. It also explains the notices, the demand and recovery provisions when the taxes are unpaid, short paid and/or returns are not filed.

Audits

Audit under GST is the examination of records maintained by a registered dealer. The aim is to verify the correctness of information declared, taxes paid and to assess the compliance with GST.

a. Audit by Registered Dealer Every registered dealer whose turnover during a financial year exceeds the Rs 2 crore has to get his accounts audited by a CA or a CMA.

b. Audit by GST Tax Authorities General Audit: The commissioner or on his orders an officer may conduct an audit of any registered dealer.

Special Audit: The department may conduct a special audit due to the complexity of the case and considering the interest of revenue. The CA or a CMA will be appointed to conduct the audit.

Assessment

Assessment under GST means the determination of tax liability under GST. Assessment under GST has been divided into 5 types:.

a. Self Assessment.
Under GST, every registered taxable person shall assess the taxes payable by them on their own, and furnish a return for each tax period. This is called self-assessment.

b. Provisional Assessment
A registered dealer can request the officer for provisional assessment if he is unable to determine the value of goods or rate of tax. The proper officer can allow the assessee to pay tax on a provisional basis at a rate or a value specified by him.

c. Scrutiny Assessment
A GST officer can scrutinize the return to verify its correctness. The officer will ask for explanations on any discrepancies noticed in the returns.

d. Summary Assessment
Summary Assessment is done when the assessing officer comes across sufficient grounds to believe any delay in showing a tax liability can harm the interest of the revenue. To protect the interest of the revenue, he can pass the summary assessment with the prior permission of the additional/joint commissioner.

e. Best Judgement Assessment
1. Assessment of non-filers of returns If a registered taxable person does not file his return even after getting a notice, the proper officer will assess the tax liability to the best of his judgment using the available relevant material.
2. Assessment of unregistered persons This assessment is done when a taxable person fails to obtain registration even though he is liable to do so.The officer will assess the tax liability of such persons to the best of his judgement. The taxable person will receive a show cause notice and an opportunity of being heard.

Demand and Recovery

Demand and recovery provisions are applicable when a registered dealer has paid tax incorrectly or not paid tax at all. It is also applicable when an incorrect refund or ITC is claimed by the dealer.

The proper officer will issue a show cause notice along with a demand for payment of tax and penalty in case of fraud.

Demands can arise in the following cases: .

1. Unpaid or short paid tax or wrong refund
2. Tax collected but not deposited with the Central or a State Government
3. CGST/SGST paid when IGST was payable and vice versa.

If demand is not paid, the GST authority starts recovery proceedings

Advance Ruling

Advance Ruling under GST means seeking clarifications from GST authority on certain tax matters before starting the proposed activity. This helps to reduce costly litigation.

An advance ruling is a written decision given by the tax authority to an applicant on queries related to the supply of goods/services.

gst portfolio