Goods and Services Tax is the new unified, multi-stage and consumption based tax levied on manufacture, sale and consumption of Goods and Services at national level to replace all the existing national and state tax systems like VAT, Service Tax, Excise Duty, etc. It is expected to remove the cascading effect of tax-on-tax which is prevalent presently. It is applicable to you if you are into Manufacturing, Trade, E-commerce or Services.
From 1st July, 2017 Goods and Services Tax will replace Central and State level indirect taxes like VAT, Service tax, Excise etc. Businesses that are registered under VAT or Service Tax need to migrate to Goods & Services tax as per the enrolment plan of State Governments. It is applicable to you if your annual turnover is Rs. 20 lakh or above. In case of North Eastern states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura) and hilly regions i.e. Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Sikkim, the threshold limit is Rs. 10 lakh.
What are the Benefits of Goods & Services Tax?
- Cascading tax effect (meaning tax on tax) will no longer exist
- Input Tax Credit will be easier to avail
- Returns and compliances will be consolidated
- Increased efficiency in Logistics
- Subsumes variety of Indirect Taxes
- Higher threshold for Registration
- Composition scheme for smaller businesses
- Online simpler procedure
- Regulating the unorganised sector
Is Input Tax Credit Available under Goods and Services Tax?
Input credit means at the time of paying tax on output, you can reduce the tax you have already paid on inputs. One of the fundamental features of Goods & Services Tax is the seamless flow of input credit across the chain (from the manufacture of goods till it is consumed) and across the country.
Which all taxes will GST replace?
It will replace all the taxes currently levied and collected by the Centre (such as Central Excise Duty and CVD) and by the State (such as VAT and CST), on businesses.
What is Composition Scheme?
Small businesses and taxpayers having a turnover less than Rs. 75 lakhs can opt for Composition scheme where they will be taxed at a nominal rate of 0.5% or 1% (for manufacturers) CGST and SGST each (rates as per the latest proposed changes in the Goods and Services Tax bills). Composition levy is available to only small businesses dealing in goods. It is not available to interstate sellers, e-commerce traders and operators, and service providers.
1. What is GST Return?
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)
To file GST returns, GST compliant sales and purchase invoicesare required.
2. Who should file GST Returns?
In the GST regime, any regular business has to file two monthly returns and one annual return. This amounts to 26 returns in a year.
The beauty of the system is that one has to manually enter details of one monthly return – GSTR-1. The other return GSTR 3B will get auto-populated by deriving information from GSTR-1 filed by you and your vendors.
There are separate returns required to be filed by special cases such as composition dealers.
3. What are the different types of GST Returns?
Here is a list of all the returns to be filed as prescribed under the GST Law along with the due dates.
As per the CGST Act subject to changes by CBIC Notifications
| Return Form | Particulars | Frequency | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSTR-1 | Details of outward supplies of taxable goods and/or services affected | Monthly | 11th* of the next month with effect from October 2018 *Previously, the due date was 10th |
| GSTR-2 Suspended | Details of inward supplies of taxable goods and/or services affected claiming the input tax credit. | Monthly | 15th of the next month |
| GSTR-3 Suspended | Monthly return on the basis of finalization of details of outward supplies and inward supplies along with the payment of tax. | Monthly | 20th of the next month |
| GSTR-3B | Simple Return in which summary of outward supplies along with Input Tax Credit is declared and payment of tax is affected by taxpayer | Monthly | 20th of the next month |
| GSTR-4 | Return for a taxpayer registered under the composition levy | Quarterly | 18th of the month succeeding quarter |
| GSTR-5 | Return for a Non-Resident foreign taxable person | Monthly | 20th of the next month |
| GSTR-6 | Return for an Input Service Distributor | Monthly | 13th of the next month |
| GSTR-7 | Return for authorities deducting tax at source. | Monthly | 10th of the next month |
| GSTR-8 | Details of supplies effected through e-commerce operator and the amount of tax collected | Monthly | 10th of the next month |
| GSTR-9 | Annual Return for a Normal Taxpayer | Annually | 31st December of next financial year* |
| GSTR-9A | Annual Return a taxpayer registered under the composition levy anytime during the year | Annually | 31st December of next financial year* |
| GSTR-10 | Final Return | Once, when GST Registration is cancelled or surrendered | Within three months of the date of cancellation or date of cancellation order, whichever is later. |
| GSTR-11 | Details of inward supplies to be furnished by a person having UIN and claiming a refund | Monthly | 28th of the month following the month for which statement is filed |
4. Late Fees for not Filing Return on Time
If GST Returns are not filed within time, you will be liable to pay interest and a late fee.
Interest is 18% per annum. It has to be calculated by the taxpayer on the amount of outstanding tax to be paid. The time period will be from the next day of filing to the date of payment.
Late fees is Rs. 100 per day per Act. So it is 100 under CGST & 100 under SGST. Total will be Rs. 200/day. Maximum is Rs. 5,000. There is no late fee on IGST.
Procedure to get GST number in digitalcenter portal with 4 easy steps
- Step1. login to digitalcenter.co.in
- Step2. click on add new GST Registration fill up the all details and upload all essential documents with self attested then click on submit button
- Step3. Once form has submitted , Our Team will get in touch with customer for getting email and mobile verification and some information regarding GST .
- Step4. After verification , Your GST Registration will be processed
Procedure to file GST Returns in digitalcenter portal with 4 easy steps
- Step1. login to digitalcenter.co.in
- Step2. click on add new GST Retun fill up the all details and upload all essential documents with self attested then click on submit button
- Step3. Once form has submitted , Our Team will get in touch with customer for getting email and mobile verification and some information regarding GST return.
- Step4. After verification , Your GST Return will be processed within 2 days