AN UPDATER ON RECENT CHANGES IN GST

[Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal]

With general elections in the country slated to be in May, 2019 will have interim budget only before the Lok Sabha elections.  According to convention, the Budget speeches immediately preceding a Lok Sabha election do not have a distinct Part B, and only a very limited number of tax related announcements are made. So far as indirect taxes are concerned, there may not be much in the coming Budget as it is the GST Council who makes the final recommendations to be carried out by the Parliament or by way of delegated legislation.

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on performance of GST is likely to be tabled before Parliament in the ensuing winter session thereof, which begins on 11^th December, 2018. The CAG is in process of auditing the functioning of GST since its inception on 1^st July, 2017. It would include aspects like registration, refund, transition credit, input tax credit, ease in payment of taxes and impact of GST on economic activities. In this performance based audit, CAG would examine programmes, systems etc vis-à-vis economy and will not look into revenue collections but on implementation issues.

Following are the major updates on GST front :

GST Practitioners

• Result of Examination of GST Practitioners held on 31.10.2018 declared by NACIN
• Due to Assembly elections on 7th December, 2018, the examination of GST Practitioners to be held on 7th December, 2018 postponed to 17th December, 2018 due to Assembly elections on 7th December, 2018.

E-way bills

Following improvements have been made in implementation of e-way bill system effective from 16.11.2018:

• Checking of duplicate generation of e-way bills based on same invoice number: Generation of only one e-way bill on single invoice shall be allowed.
• Clarification in relation to CKD/SKD/Lots for movement of Export/Import consignment has been made.
• For Export supply type, the ‘Bill To’ Party will be URP or GSTIN of SEZ Unit with state as ‘Other Country’ and shipping address and PIN code will be of the location (airport/shipping yard/border check post) from where the consignment is moving out from the country.
• For Import supply, the ‘Bill From’ Party will be URP or GSTIN of SEZ Unit with state as ‘Other Country’ and dispatching address and PIN code will be of the location (airport/shipping yard/border check post) from where the consignment is entered the country
• Enhancement in ‘Bill To – Ship To’ transactions: EWB generation is now categorized to four types now Regular and Bill to Ship to, Bill from Dispatch from & combination of both.
• Facility of EWB generation through the Bulk Generation Tool has been enhanced.

GSTN Portal Updates

Provisional Assessment

Following forms have been made available on GST Portal:    

• Form GST ASMT 01 for provisional assessment by taxpayers who are not able to determine, either the value or tax rates, for the goods and /or services supplied by them.
• Form GST ASMT-03 to file online reply to notice issued for clarification.
• Form GST- ASMT-05 for furnishing of security /bond after provisional assessment order.

      Scrutiny of Returns

• Taxpayers can now file, an online application on GST portal, for withdrawal of summary assessment order issued against them.
• Facility to file Form GST ASMT 11 to furnish an explanation for the discrepancy, is available on portal.

GSTR 9A- Annual Return for Composition Dealers

• Annual return (GSTR-9A) form for Composition Dealers under section 44 of GST law, which is to be filed by  31st December, 2018, has now been released by CBIC.
• GSTR-9A is divided into 5 parts and sub-divided into total 17-row heads as follows:-

• Part I which requires basic details of taxpayer such as GSTIN, Legal Name, trade name is auto-populated.
• Part II requires details of outward and inward supplies as declared in GSTR-4 filed during the financial year.
• Part III requires details of tax paid as declared in returns filed during the financial year.
• Part IV consists of summary of amendments/corrections relating to entries of previous FY.
• Part V requires other information such as particulars of demand and refunds & details relating to late fees payable and paid.

Extension in due dates of returns

• CBIC has extended the last date for filing FORM GSTR-3B for the month of September, 2018 and October, 2018 for registered persons whose principal place of business is in Srikakulam district in the State of Andhra Pradesh to 30th November, 2018 and has also extended the last date for filing FORM GSTR-3B for the month of October, 2018 for registered persons whose principal place of business is in 11 districts of Tamil Nadu* to 20^th December, 2018.

• CBIC has extended the due date for filing FORM GSTR-1 for the month of September, 2018 and October, 2018 for registered persons whose principal place of business is in Srikakulam district in the State of Andhra Pradesh to 30th November, 2018, and has also extended the due date for filing FORM GSTR-1 for the month of October, 2018 for registered persons whose principal place of business is in 11 districts of Tamil Nadu*to 20^th December, 2018.

• CBIC has extended the due date for filing FORM GSTR-1 for the quarter from July, 2018 to September, 2018 for registered persons, whose principal place of business is in Srikakulam district in the State of Andhra Pradesh to 30th November, 2018.

• CBIC has also extended the due date for filing FORM GSTR-4 for the quarter July to September, 2018 for the registered person paying tax under the provisions of section 10 of the Act whose principal place of business is in Srikakulam district in the State of Andhra Pradesh, to 30^th November, 2018.

• CBIC has extended the due date for furnishing the return by a registered person required to deduct tax at source under the provisions of section 51 of the Act in FORM GSTR-7 for the months of October, 2018 to December, 2018 to 31st January, 2019.

(*Cuddalore, Thiruvarur, Puddukottai, Dindigul, Nagapatinam, Theni, Thanjavur, Sivagangai, Tiruchirappalli, Karur and Ramanathapura).

(Notification No. 62/2018 – Central Tax dated 29.11.2018, 63/2018 – Central Tax dated 29.11.2018, 64/2018 – Central Tax dated 29.11.2018, 65/2018 – Central Tax dated 29.11.2018, 66/2018 – Central Tax dated 29.11.2018)

GST online registration

GST registrations can now be done online at https://reg.gst.gov.in/registration/  with a provision of deemed approval in 3 days.  This leads to faster and efficient process of Starting a Business