RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GST

[Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal]

RBI chief had recently stated that Indian economy which is the fastest growing large economy of the world may grow @ 7 percent in FY 2024-25.

The Budget time is round the corner with a bare ten days left. Though India’s growth is good, its debt should be brought down for further improvement. GST appears to have now streamlined and there is growth in direct taxes too. Our tax system remains litigation prone.  The Government will have to address this issue with long term perspective in mind and avoid unproductive costs of litigation and its side - effects. The overall tax structure may have to be revisited to make it further streamlined and efficient. With general elections around, the next government, which is likely to be repeated, must focus as macro level economic growth, infrastructure, health care and lowering of subsides. The interim budget should prescribe measures to address issues of inflation, tax reforms and revival of demand or consumption. It may also address and ensure that GST Tribunal actually start functioning soon.

Interim Budget session of the Parliament is likely to be between 31^st January, 2024 and 9 February, 2024 and it may be the last session before general elections. There will be ‘Vote-on-Account’ on February 1, 2024.

GSTN has been issuing various functionalities and advisories to streamlines the GST procedures and filings some of which have been captured in this article.

Exemption for deposit in Electronic Credit Ledger – Customs

• CBIC has notified extension of deposits into the Electronic Cash Ledger u/s 51A(4) of the Customs Act, 1962 till February 29, 2024.
• The exemption shall apply to the following:

1. Goods imported or exported in customs stations where customs automated systems are not in place.
2. Goods imported or exported in International Courier Terminals.
3. Accompanied baggage.
4. Deposits other than those used for making electronic payments of:

1. Any duty of customs, including cesses and surcharges levied as duties of customs.
2. Integrated tax.
3. Goods and Service Tax Compensation Cess.
4. Interest, penalty, fees, or any other amount payable under the Act or Customs Tariff Act, 1975.

• This exemption has been granted by CBIC in accordance with the authority vested in it under sub-section (4) of section 51A of the Customs Act, 1962.

 

(Source: Notification No. 5/2024-Customs (NT) dated 19.01.2024)

Clarification on manual filing of Appeal – Kerala

• Kerala GST Department has issued clarification and guidelines for filing appeals in absence of the GST Appellate Tribunal.
• As of now, the time limit specified to make application to the appellate tribunal is counted from the date on which the President or the State President enters office.
• In order to address the issue that the appellate process is being kept pending by several Appellate Authorities as the Appellate Tribunal has not been constituted as if no remedy is available against their Appellate Orders, this clarification has been issued.
• As of now, the time limit specified to make an application to the Appellate Tribunal will be counted from the date on which the President of the Appellate Tribunal enters office. The Appellate Authority while passing an order may mention in the preamble that appeal may be made to the Appellate Tribunal within three months from the President of the Appellate Tribunal entering office.
• The Appellate Authorities may dispose of all pending appeals expeditiously without waiting for the constitution and functioning of the Appellate Tribunal.
• For recovery of arrears, taxpayer shall submit a declaration as prescribed before the DC/AC/STO of the arrear recovery wing of the district stating that he is proposing to file an appeal u/s 112(1) of the Kerala SGST Act against the order of Appellate Authority.

[Source: Circular No. 01/2024 dated 11.01.2024 issued by Kerala GST]

Advisory on introduction of new Tables 14 & 15 in GSTR-1

• GSTN has issued an Advisory on introduction of new Tables 14 & 15 in GSTR-1.
• As per Notification No. 26/2022 – Central Tax dated 26th December 2022, two new tables Table 14 and Table 15 were added in GSTR-1 to capture the details of the supplies made through e-commerce operators (ECO) on which e-commerce operators are liable to collect tax under section 52 of the Act or liable to pay tax u/s 9(5).
• These tables have now been made live on the GST common portal and will be available in GSTR-1/IFF from January-2024 tax periods onwards.
• The advisory comprises of:

• Table-wise details
• Steps to report details in Table 14 / 15
• Introduction of new table – Eco documents in GSTR-2B

• Taxpayers can access the Table 14(a) & 14(b) by clicking the Liable to collect tax u/s 52 (TCS) and Liable to pay tax u/s 9(5) respectively available at the top of table 14 page. Similarly, the different section of Table 15 can be accessed using the respective tab available at top of the table 15 page.
• To view the ECO-Documents table, taxpayer can navigate to Returns Dashboard > Selection of Period > Auto- drafted ITC Statement for the month GSTR-2B > View
• Taxable value along with tax liabilities from all the above four sections i.e., B2B, B2C, URP2B and URP2C of table 15 will be auto-populated to table 3.1.1(i) of GSTR-3B. 
• There will be no auto-population of e-invoice in Table -15. E-invoices reported for 9(5) supplies will be populated in FORM GSTR-1 as per existing functionality. E-commerce operator are advised to examine and add such records in table 15 related to 9(5) supplies.

(Source: GSTN Advisory dated 15.01.2024)

Notices & Orders on GST Portal

• GSTN has updated its service in relation to notices and orders as depicted. 

• Following Notices / Orders issued by tax authorities are available under ‘Notices and Orders’:

• Notice / Orders / Intimations pertaining to registration including new registration, amendment, cancellation, revocation and other communications
• Notices issued by System to return defaulters in Form GSTR-3A
• Notices pertaining to Return module comprising GST DRC-01B and GST DRC-01C
• Summary of assessment order issued in Form GST DRC-07 where notices and other proceedings were held offline

• Following Notices / Orders issued by tax authorities are available under ‘Additional Notices and Orders’:

• Notices / Orders pertaining to modules- Advance Ruling, Appeal, Assessment / Adjudication, Audit, Enforcement, Prosecution and Compounding, Recovery, LUT etc.

• Notices / Orders pertaining to Refund module will be shown under case details page of respective ARN of refund. Taxpayers can navigate to ‘Services > User Services > My application’ and select ARN under Application Type as ‘REFUNDS’.

(Source: GSTN Portal)

GST payment by UPI option

• Payment of tax under GST regime goes digital.
• GSTN has launched option to pay GST by using United Payment Interface (UPI) mode in 10 states.
• These ten States and Union Territories are- Assam, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
• This initiative is accessible through all UPIs via Kotak Mahindra Bank, marks a notable step towards digitizing and simplifying the GST payment process.

(Source https://twitter.com/Infosys_GSTN/status/1747852507131339195 dated 19.01.2024)

New Functionality for LUT on GSTN

• GSTN has enabled functionality to furnish Letter of Undertaking (LUT) for Financial Year 2024-25.
• The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has enabled the functionality to furnish a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) for the Financial Year 2024-2025 on the GST Portal.
• The completion for such undertaking is mandatory by March 31, 2024, or before the supply for Exports and Special Economic Zones (SEZ).
• The previous Letter of Undertaking (LUT) shall be valid until March 31, 2024.
• The functionality can be accessed on Dashboard >Services > User Services > Furnish Letter of Undertaking >Select Financial Year and apply for LUT.

(Source: GST Portal dated 19.01.2024)

Advisory on payment of GST

• GSTN has issued an Advisory on Payment through Credit Card (CC)/Debit Card (DC) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
• To facilitate the taxpayer registered under GST with more methods of payment, two new facilities of payment have now been provided under e-payment in addition to net-banking. The two new methods are Cards and Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Cards facility includes Credit Card (CC) and Debit Card (DC) namely Mastercard, Visa, RuPay, Diners(CC only) issued by any Indian bank.
• Payment through CC/DC/UPI can be made through Kotak Mahindra Bank irrespective of CC/DC issued by any Indian bank. Other banks are in the process of integration. At present the facility is available in 10 states and remaining states are expected to join soon.

(Source: GSTN Advisory dated 19.01.2024)

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