WHAT IS GST?

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a uniform indirect tax levied on goods and services across the country. GST, as an umbrella tax, replaced central taxes like central excise, service tax, additional duties of excise & customs, special additional duty of customs, besides cesses and surcharges, on supply of goods and services.

GST ( goods and services tax) is an Indirect Tax which replaced many Indirect Taxes in India. The good and services tax act was passed in 2017 and has been implemented since then. GST is an indirect tax for the whole nation, which makes India one unified common market. It is a single tax on the supply of goods and services. It is the biggest indirect tax reform in India.

Before GST, taxes such as service taxes, state vats, entry taxes, luxury taxes were applied on goods. These taxes have been absorbed under GST. Similarly, Service tax, entertainment tax were levied on services. Now there is only a single tax, that is, GST. Under GST, tax is levied directly at every point of sale.

JOURNEY OF GST IN INDIA

So exactly what is GST in India? The journey of GST began in 2000 when a committee was set up to draft the law. It took 17 years after that for the law to evolve into what it is today. In 2017, the GST bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. On 1st July 2017, the GST law was implemented.

WHAT TAXES WILL BE LEVIED UNDER GST?

India is a federal country, so the central government and the state government both have the power to levy taxes. Under the GST bill, both central and state government has the power to levy GST. Therefore, GST in India is divided into two parts:

CGST is levied by the Central government and SGST is levied by the State government. Another type of GST is Integrated GST ( IGST). IGST is levied on inter-state transactions. It can be confusing in case of transactions between two people from different states and this, IGST will be levied only by the Central government. The central government distributes the state’s portion of GST from the IGST to the relevant state.

KEY FEATURES OF GST

ELIGIBILITY FOR GST RETURN FILING

All business dealers and entrepreneurs who are registered under the GST mechanism have to mandatorily file the GST returns in the relevant GST form either in online mode or offline.

The types and number of GST return to be filed depends on the taxpayer’s type like a regular taxpayer, TDS deductor, composition dealer, Distributor(ISD), e-commerce operator, non-resident taxpayer, Input Service provider and so on. In general, the two monthly returns viz. GSTR-1, GSTR-3B has to be filed by a regular taxpayer along with an annual return (GSTR-9/9C) for each GST registration individually, thereby summing up a total of 25 GSTR to be filed in a year.

HOW HAS GST RETURNS?

All GST registered irrespective of turnover (i.e If you have registered the exemption limit of 20 Lakhs Does not apply, even NIL turnover needs to be disclosed), have to the file prescribed return within the Due date, the majority of traders/service providers need to file GSTR 3B within 20th of the subsequent month declaring their summary turnover and summary Input.

GSTR-3B FILINGS (GST RETURN FILINGS)

GSTR-3B is a simplified summary return and the purpose of the return is for taxpayers to declare their summary GST liabilities for the tax period and the discharge of these liabilities in a timely manner. A normal taxpayer is required to file GSTR-3B returns for every tax period.

DUE DATE TO FILE GST RETURNS GSTR 3B

The due dates for filings GSTR 3B are 20th of the subsequent month, that is the sales and purchase of the month April need to filed within 20th May The tax filers from 15 states/UTs -- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh -- will now be having the last date of filing GSTR-3B returns as 22nd of the month without late fees 22 States/UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha having annual turnover below Rs 5 crore in previous financial year the last date will be 24th.

WILL THERE BE ANY INVOICE MATCHING IN GSTR-3B?

No, all the details in GSTR-3B will be self-declared in summary manner and the taxes will be paid based on table 6 of GSTR-3B (refer to the Rules as available on the GST Council or CBEC website, applicable for GSTR-3B Form). But you need unsure the that you match it GSTR 2A and not more than 10% for unlisted items can be claimed, that means you can claim only 110% of the amount reflected in GSTR 2A

IS FILING OF GSTR-3 MANDATORY EVEN IF THERE IS NO BUSINESS IN THE PARTICULAR TAX PERIOD?

GSTR-3B is also mandatory to be filed by all normal and casual tax payers, even if there is no business in the particular tax period.

GSTR-1 (GST RETURN FILINGS)

WHAT IS GSTR-1? (Form used in GST RETURN FILINGS)

GSTR-1 is a monthly/Quarterly Statement of Outward Supplies to be furnished by all normal and casual registered taxpayers making outward supplies of goods and services or both and contains details of outward supplies of goods and services. Every registered taxable person, other than an input service distributor/compounding taxpayer/TDS Deductor/TCS Collector is required to file GSTR-1, the details of outward supplies of goods and/or services during a tax period, electronically on the GST Portal.

IS GSTR-1 FILING MANDATORY?(Form used in GST RETURN FILINGS)