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E-invoicing
What is E-invoicing?

What is E-invoicing?

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E-invoicing

E-invoicing refers to a method in which the entire B2B invoices that are generated by the accounting software, are electronically authenticated by GSTN (Goods and Service Tax Network) for any further use such as generating E-way bills, preparing returns, and the like. In fact, E-invoice does not involve generating or creating invoices from the common portal or the tax department; rather, it includes the submission of invoices already generated from the respective accounting software at the central GST portal.

However, the GST system fails to recognize the invoice formats generated by the different accounting/ billing software. In this scenario, there arises the need for a standard invoice format (schema) which could be easily uploaded on the GST portal. This standard schema needs to be followed by the entire accounting/ billing software in order to generate the JSON of every invoice in that format so as to make the uploading process on the GST portal easy. The E-invoice schema provided by the GST system has mandatory as well as non-mandatory fields which could be used by all types of businesses.

The E-invoice mechanism is likely to be rolled out in different phases starting from January 1st 2020, upon a voluntary basis. In the beginning, it will be applicable only for those taxpayers who are above a particular turnover or an invoice value, and also for volunteers. Later on, it will be implemented for the entire taxpayers in a step-by-step manner.

What do you mean by E-invoicing?

If an invoice is generated by a software on the computer or Point of Sales (PoS) machine then does it become an e-invoice? Is e-invoice as a system where taxpayers can generate the invoices centrally? Many such questions are raised when e-invoice gets discussed.

E-invoice does not mean generation of invoices from a central portal of tax department, as any such centralization will bring unnecessary restriction on the way trade is conducted. In fact, taxpayers have different requirements and expectation, which can’t be met from one software generating e-invoices from a portal for the whole country. Invoice generated by each software may look more or less same, however, they can’t be understood by another computer system even though business users understand them fully. For example, an Invoice generated by SAP system cannot be read by a machine which is using ‘Tally’ system. Likewise there are hundreds of accounting/billing software which generate invoices but they all use their own formats to store information electronically and data on such invoices can’t be understood by the GST System if reported in their respective formats. Hence a need was felt to standardize the format in which electronic data of an Invoice will be shared with others to ensure there is interoperability of the data. The adoption of standards will in no way impact the way user would see the physical (printed) invoice or electronic (ex pdf version) invoice. All these software would adopt the new e-Invoice standard wherein they would re-align their data access and retrieval in the standard format. However, users of the software would not find any change since they would continue to see the physical or electronic (PDF/Excel) output of the invoices in the same manner as it existed before incorporation of e-Invoice standard in the software. Thus the taxpayer would continue to use his accounting system/ERP or excel based tools or any such tool for creating the electronic invoice as s/he is using today.

To help small taxpayers adopt e-invoice system, GSTN has empaneled eight accounting & billing software which provide basic accounting and billing system free of cost to small taxpayers. Those small taxpayers who do not have accounting software today, can use one of the empaneled software products, which come in both flavors, online (cloud based) as well as offline (installed on the computer system of the user).

E-Invoicing Under GST

The GST Council has approved introduction of ‘E-invoicing’ or ‘electronic invoicing’ in a phased manner for reporting of business to business (B2B) invoices to GST System, starting from 1st January 2020 on voluntary basis. Since there was no standard for e-invoice existing in the country, standard for the same has been finalized after consultation with trade/industry bodies as well as ICAI after keeping the draft in public place. Having a standard is a must to ensure complete inter-operability of e-invoices across the entire GST eco-system so that e-invoices generated by one software can be read by any other software, thereby eliminating the need of fresh data entry – which is a norm and standard expectation today. The machine readability and uniform interpretation is the key objective. This is also important for reporting the details to GST System as part of Return. Apart from the GST System, adoption of a standard will also ensure that an e-invoice shared by a seller with his buyer or bank or agent or any other player in the whole business eco-system can be read by machines and obviate and hence eliminate data entry errors.

The GST Council approved the standard of e-invoice in its 37th meeting held on 20th Sept 2019 and the same along with schema has been published on GST portal. Standards are generally abstruse and thus an explanation document is required to present the same in common man’s language. Also, there are lot of myth or misconception about e-Invoice. The present document is an attempt to explain the concept of e-invoice, how it operates and basics of standards. It also contains FAQs which answer the questions raised by people who responded to the draft e-invoice standard used for public consultation. It is expected that the document will also be useful for the taxpayers, tax consultants and the software companies to adopt the designed standard.

GST
Fin min urged to abolish GST reverse charge mechanism

Fin min urged to abolish GST reverse charge mechanism

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The Tamil Nadu Foodgrains merchants’ association has urged the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to abolish the reverse charge mechanism way of taxation or extend the implementation date by a year from Sept 30, 2019.

According to a press release, president of the association, S P Jeyaprakasam has said that it has almost been two and a quarter year since the Goods and Service Tax act was implemented in the country. It is only now that the authorities are coming to know the hardship faced by traders and manufacturers.

The reserve charge mechanism was there in the country when GST was implemented. For example, expenses for coffee, tea and unregistered tiffin to customers, products purchased, services utilized from unregistered dealers by the registered stakeholders are levied under the reverse charge mechanism. Small manufacturers and traders are immensely affected by this way of taxation. After many representations were made the authorities by section 9(4) deferred the reverse charge mechanism way of taxation till Sept 30, 2019.

With the deadline nearing, all the expenditures and services under section 9(4) will be levied under the reverse charge mechanism. This should either be abolished, or the last date should be extended by another year, he said.

Source: Times-of-India

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e-way bill
Traders demand govt to fix E-way bill threshold to Rs 1L

Traders demand govt to fix E-way bill threshold to Rs 1L

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In a shocker for businessmen, the Punjab government’s amendment to double the E-way bill exemption limit from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for inter-state transactions expired on September 13.

This amendment was valid for one year which was issued last year on September 13 after a lot of hue and cry was raised by the businessmen who claimed that the exemption limit of Rs 50,000 was not sufficient.

Meanwhile, ever since the expiry of the amendment limit, businessmen are up in arms against the government as they are of the view that the limit of Rs 1, 00, 000 should be made permanent as reversing the limit back to Rs 50,000 is not viable for them.

Sunil Mehra, state general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM), said: “The notification doubling the exemption limit under the E-way bill for within the state transactions from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 has expired on September 13. This notification was done last year after intervention of the chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, when the PPBM apprised him of difficulties being faced by the business community of Punjab due to low exemption limit of Rs 50,000 under the e-way bill system. But unfortunately, no one paid attention to the fact that the notification was valid only till September 13. This is nothing less than a setback for us as we have been maintaining our accounting records as per the new notification only. Not only we will have to go back to the old system, but this will also put an additional burden on us as even a normal transaction these days is for Rs 50,000 and above. Therefore, we request the state government to do something immediately. Rather than extending the notification, the government should make it permanent for within the state transactions.”

Speaking to TOI Rajkumar Singla, president of the Fastener Supplier Association, Ludhiana, said: “If the exemption limit of Rs 1,00,000 from the E-way bill is halved, it will again lead to harassment of businessmen. The state government has failed to fulfil its promises to the business community of Punjab. We are contemplating to campaign and stand up for our rights. Regardless of our repeated representations to the government, no concrete solution has been taken so far, be it costly power, rising cost of the raw material and labour etc. State finance minister Manpreet Badal has been making false promises that limit is being revised again to Rs 1,00,000, but nothing has been done by the government even after four days.”

Kulpreet Malhotra, a senior member of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association, said: “It is unfortunate that on one hand the industry is undergoing recession and on the other, the exemption limit for interstate E-way bill has been again revised to Rs 50,000. We had to fight a big battle with the state government last year as well. We are now geared up to do anything to get the exemption limit for the E-way bill to Rs 1,00,000 again.”

Notably, the amendment to double the exemption limit for the inter-state (within Punjab) E-way bill was done on September 13, 2018, by the Punjab government.
At that time, a lot of drama was witnessed as the Central GST department (CGST) had opposed the decision of the state government for the amendment and later 11 items were kept in negative list by the state government on which amendment did not apply.

Source: Times-Of-India.

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  • Manage your GST and E-WayBill Software anytime anywhere using multiple devices

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GST
Seven indirect taxation-related laws being amended: FM Nirmala Sitharaman 

Seven indirect taxation-related laws being amended: FM Nirmala Sitharaman 

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday said seven legislations under indirect taxation are being amended to ensure greater simplicity, as she moved the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha. She told the Lower House that amendments to laws are being made through the Finance Bill in five major categories, including in the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Apart from seven Acts related to indirect taxation being amended, the government would also be bringing changes to seven laws related to direct taxation. The changes would ensure that indirect taxation-related matter would have greater simplicity and be effective, she said. About proposed amendments to direct taxation-related laws, Sitharaman said those are being done for furthering the agenda of Make in India, adding the country needs a lot more manufacturing activities.

The GST alone has five different amendments that would also make compliance easier for the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector, she added. According to her, eight Acts pertaining to financial markets, including Sebi Act, are being amended. RSP member N K Premachandran objected to the Finance Bill having the provisions to amend a number of laws, including Benami Act, Sebi Act and PMLA Act, and urged Speaker Om Birla to disallow it.

A Finance Bill can only have taxation proposals, Premachandran said, soon after the finance minister stood up to move the bill for consideration and passage.

He also accused the government of bypassing Parliament to avoid discussion and scrutiny for amending existing laws by including them in the bill.

Sitharaman said rules and constitutional provisions cited by Premchandran do not rule out non-taxation proposals for inclusion in the Finance Bill but only say that it should be done only when imperative.

“The government considers it very imperative,” she asserted.

Birla, in his ruling, disallowed Premachandran’s objections and said there have been occasions earlier as well when non-taxation proposals were included in the Finance Bill.

Source: Economic-Times.

GST – Eway bill: All you need to know and experiences

GST – Eway bill: All you need to know and experiences

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India has just announced the launch of another major reform under the GST regime. E-Way Bill : GSTAfter an aborted attempt in February, the government has finally managed to successfully roll out the E-way bill system for tracking goods movement under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2018.

Eway bill is not a new phenomenon. It was prevalent in most states under the erstwhile VAT regime in the name of road permit, Eway bill, etc. It was used to monitor the movement of goods to/ from a state in order to check tax evasion. An eway bill is typically required to accompany goods on their movement from consignor to consignee.

Earlier, way bills were subject to state-specific rules and had to be generated through different state-specific portals.

Under GST, E-way bill is governed by a uniform set of rules applicable throughout the country. It is generated electronically on the e-way bill portal.

The e-way bill system creates a facility for transporters to raise complaints, in case a vehicle is detained for more than 30 minutes.

Read More: All you need to know about E-Way Bill System

However, some features of the new E-way bill vis-à-vis VAT way bill such as mentioning HSN on the E-way bill, limited validity etc. are not welcomed by businesses.

know about eway bill

The government, while proposing the idea of incorporating E-way bill under GST, had the intention of creating an effective tool for tracking movement of goods and ensure various benefits to the industry.

The steps included:

  • Abolition of check-posts
  • Seamless movement of goods within a state and across different state borders
  • Boost to India’s logistics ecosystem resulting in lesser traffic on major transportation routes
  • Reduction in transportation costs and lead time by replacing physical check posts with mobile squads

For every shipment of goods of the value of more than Rs 50,000 whether inter-state or intra-state, an E-way bill must be generated through an online portal, before the goods are shipped, and it should include specified details of goods, their consignors, recipients, and transporters.

The government is looking forward to implementing the E-way bill system across India in a phased manner latest by June 1, 2018, for both inter- and intra-state movement of goods.

E-way bill for inter-state movement of goods was implemented from April 1, 2018. Subsequently, E-way bill for intra-state movement of goods have also been introduced in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Uttarakhand.

While relatively smooth, there have been few challenges and concerns in the journey so far. For example, lack of functionality to update the details mentioned and acceptance of E-way bill by the recipient.

Extension of validity of E-way bill results in the generation of multiple Eway bill numbers against a single invoice, which could lead to duplication.

Further, the timeline provided for the extension, i.e. 4 hours before and after the expiry of validity, seems short. There is also no mechanism to track delivery and closure of transportation of goods on the portal.

The government has been working tirelessly to iron out the wrinkles in the process of implementation of the E-way bill system. In order to address these issues, the system should provide forthe modification of details entered in the E-way bill, an extension of validity without generation of new E-way bill number, facility to track the status, closure, and acceptance by the recipient of E-way bill and a reasonable time limit for extension of Eway bill.

For businesses with operations across the country, the system is likely to pose a fresh set of compliance challenges. Businesses having multiple movements of goods on a daily basis would need a software solution to generate the E-way bill in a timely manner and also enable reconciliation of E-way bill with the turnover.

The said solution should also enable tracking the E-way bills generated by suppliers of businesses so as to enable reconciliation of purchases with E-way bill. The same would ensure assistance during department audits and investigations.

E-way bill has already started gaining attention at the high courts in India. Recently, the Allahabad High Court held that seizure of the consignment of goods merely because the details of vehicles or the transport company were provided in handwriting after downloading of the e-way bill from the online portal is not tenable.

Also Read: Digital copy of E-way bill enough to give transporters right of way

The court also contended that since the invoices and the goods receipts issued by the transport company clearly indicate the details of the tax charged, the seizure is liable to be squashed. The importance was laid on the fulfillment of mandatory requirements provided under GST laws, and not on mere procedural lapses.

In another case, goods were moving locally between two offices of the same assessee without the state way-bill and were detained during transportation by the revenue officer. As soon as the assessee was informed of the non-compliance, assessee raised the Eway bill and submitted the same to the revenue officer.

On the filing of a writ petition by the assessee, the Kerala High Court held that detention of goods merely for infraction of the procedural rules in transactions, which do not amount to taxable supply, is without jurisdiction.

Both the aforesaid judgments show the clear intent of the high courts to protect the assessee from procedural non-compliances wherein government revenue is not impacted.

It will be interesting to see whether the state authorities will approach the apex court against the aforesaid orders.

An effective user-friendly E-way bill system has the potential to suppress the black marketing and check tax evasion. With the proposed daily capacity of 75 lakh E-way bills on the portal, businesses are hopeful that as more and more States are being brought under the ambit of intra-state E-way bill, the portal will have minimum downtime.


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Source: ET
GST: 5 more States to implement E-way Bill from 25th April, 2018

GST: 5 more States to implement E-way Bill from 25th April, 2018

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Four more states, including Madhya Pradesh, and Union Territory of Puducherry will roll out the e-way bill for intra-state movement of goods from 25 April.

GST: Four states, Puducherry to roll-out intra-state e-way bill from 25 April

From 1 April, the government had launched the electronic way or e-way bill system for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to another.

The same for intra or within the state movement has been rolled out from 15 April. So far 12 states have made e-way bill mandatory for intra-state movement of goods.

“Four more states — Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Meghalaya — and union territory of Puducherry will roll out intra-state eway bill from 25 April,” GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar told PTI in an interview.

The electronic way or e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods valued over Rs 50,000 was rolled out on 1 April. Karnataka was the sole state to start intra-state e-way bill on the same day.

The GST council had decided on a staggered rollout of intra-state e-way bill starting from 15 April with 5 states — Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala.

Thereafter 6 more states — Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tripura — joined in from 20 April.

Also Read: How Eway bill fared in the first 15 days

Since the roll out of e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods from 1 April and intra-state from 15 April, more than 1.84 crore such bills have been generated till Sunday.

Kumar said the maximum number of e-way bills are generated on the portal in the second half of the day, particularly between 1600-1900 hours — accounting for one-third of the total generation of such bills during the day.

The maximum number of e-way bills (both inter and intra state) generated has touched 12 lakh on 21 April.

“So far the e-way bill portal is going on smoothly. The system has been designed to take load of generation of 75 lakh e-way bills during a day. The system has lot more capacity to take load that what is being generated as of date,” Kumar said.

Touted as an anti-evasion measure and would help boost tax collections by clamping down on trade that currently happens on cash basis, the e-way bill provision of the goods and services tax (GST) was first introduced on 1 February.

However, its implementation was put on hold after the system developed glitches in generating permits. With several states also starting to generate intra-state e-way bills on the portal, the system developed a snag.

Since then, the platform has been made more robust so that it can handle load of as many as 75 lakh inter-state e-way bills daily without any glitch.

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Source: TOI
E-way Bill for Intra-State Supplies in Maharashtra from May 1st

E-way Bill for Intra-State Supplies in Maharashtra from May 1st

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The Commissioner of State Tax, Maharashtra has issued a notification amending an earlier notification which stated that on or after the 1st April 2018, no e-way bill shall be required to be generated, for the intra-State movement that commences and terminates within the State of Maharashtra, in respect of any goods of any value. As per clause 2 of the earlier notification, the notification shall be in force until further orders are issued.

E-Way Bill

The new notification has amended clause 2 and has fixed an expiry date for the Notification, i.e. 30th April 2018.

This would mean that from 1st May onwards e-way bill will become a requirement for the intra-State movement that commences and terminates within the State of Maharashtra. Already six States-Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh has implemented e-way bill system for intra-state movement of goods.

E-way bills will be mandatory for intra-State trade in respect of these six more states- Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Uttarakhand -from April 20.

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