Browsed by
Tag: Tax Payers

gst rates
GST reduced tax rates, doubled taxpayer base to 1.24 cr: Finance Ministry

GST reduced tax rates, doubled taxpayer base to 1.24 cr: Finance Ministry

Comments 0 Comment

The Finance Ministry on Monday said GST has reduced the rate at which people have to pay tax, helped increase compliance and doubled taxpayer base to 1.24 crore.

In a series of tweets, on the first death anniversary of former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the ministry said before goods and services tax ( GST), the combination of value-added tax (VAT), excise, sales tax and their cascading effect resulted in high standard rate of tax up to 31 per cent.

“It is now widely acknowledged that GST is both consumer and taxpayer-friendly. While the high tax rates of the pre- GST era acted as a disincentive to paying tax, the lower rates under GST helped to increase tax compliance,” the ministry said.

The number of assessees covered by the GST at the time of its inception were about 65 lakh. Now the assessee base exceeds 1.24 crore.

GST, which subsumed about 17 local levies, was rolled out on July 1, 2017. Jaitley held the finance portfolio in the first term of the Modi government since 2014.

“As we remember Arun Jaitley today, let us acknowledge the key role he played in the implementation of GST, which will go down in history as one of the most fundamental landmark reforms in Indian taxation,” the Ministry tweeted.

The multiple markets across India, with each state charging a different rate of tax, led to huge inefficiencies and costs of compliance.

“ GST has reduced the rate at which people have to pay tax. The revenue neutral rate as per the RNR (Revenue Neutral Rate) Committee was 15.3 per cent. Compared to this, the weighted GST rate at present, according to the RBI, is only 11.6 per cent,” the ministry said.

Businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh are GST exempt. Initially, this limit was Rs 20 lakh. Additionally, those with a turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore can opt for the Composition Scheme and pay only 1 per cent tax.

“Once GST was implemented, the tax rate on a large number of items was brought down. As of now, the 28 per cent rate is almost solely restricted to sin and luxury items. Out of a total of about 230 items in the 28 per cent slab, about 200 items have been shifted to lower slabs,” the ministry said.

Also, the housing sector has been placed in the 5 per cent slab, while GST on affordable housing has been reduced to 1 per cent.

“All processes in GST have been fully automated. Till now 50 crore returns have been filed online and 131 crore e-way bill generated,” the Ministry added.

Source: Economic-Times.

Get Your GST Returns Filed Easily and
Effortlessly!!!

Our GST software enables you to file your GST returns free of any hassle. Get more details by writing to us at gst@xattax.in.

GST Return
CBIC waives off late fee on late GST return filing

CBIC waives off late fee on late GST return filing

Comments 0 Comment

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified waiver of late fee, capping of late fee at Rs 500 in some cases, interest payable on late payments and extension of due dates for businesses to file goods and service tax (GST) returns for the Covid-19 impacted period, till October.

The decisions were taken by the GST Council on June 12.

Taxpayers who do not have any tax liability but were yet to file returns for the period from July 2017 to January 2020 – prior to the Covid period – no late fee will be charged, the notification issued Wednesday said.

For taxpayers having liability but not having filed their returns, they can do so with a late fee of maximum Rs 500, if returns are submitted by July 1, 2020.

Small taxpayers whose aggregate turnover is up to Rs 5 crore will be provided a waiver of late fees and interest if they file the form GSTR-3B for the supplies affected in months of May, June, and July 2020, by September 30, 2020, the notification added.

During Covid period of February, March and April 2020, interest rate on late return filings by small taxpayers with turnover up to Rs 5 crore, will be reduced to 9% from 18%, if returns of inward supplies are filed till September 30.

Taxpayers having aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore in the previous financial year, whose principal place of business is in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, the Union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman, and the Nicobar Islands or Lakshadweep, the returns for August has to be filed by October 1, 2020.

For taxpayers with turnover more than Rs 5 crore, in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand or Odisha, the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh or Delhi, the return for August has to be filed by October 3, 2020.

Source: Economic-Times.

Get Your GST Returns Filed Easily and
Effortlessly!!!

Our GST software enables you to file your GST returns free of any hassle. Get more details by writing to us at gst@xattax.in.

E-Invoicing Under GST – Brief Introduction to E-Invoicing System

E-Invoicing Under GST – Brief Introduction to E-Invoicing System

Comments 0 Comment

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.

1. What is e-invoice?

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).

2. e-Invoice and Tax Department

The e-invoice system being implemented by tax departments across the globe consists of two important parts namely,

     a) Generation of invoice in a standard format so that invoice generated        on one system can be read by another system.

     b) Reporting of e-invoice to a central system.

The basic aim behind adoption of e-invoice system by tax departments is ability to pre-populate the return and to reduce the reconciliation problems. Huge increase in technology sophistication, increased penetration of Internet along with availability of computer systems at reasonable cost has made this journey possible and hence more than 60 countries are in the process of adopting the e-invoice.

GST Council has given the responsibility to design the standard of e-invoice and update the same from time to time to GSTN which is the custodian of Returns and invoices contained in the same. Adoption of e-invoice by GST System is not only part of Tax reform but also a Business reform as it make the e-invoices completely inter-operable eliminating transcription and other errors.

3. Other derived benefits of introduction of e-invoice from GST perspective

 

Objectives

Outcome

Better taxpayer services

• One time reporting on B2B invoice data in the form it is generated to reduce reporting in multiple formats (one for GSTR-1 and the other for e-way bill).

• To generate Sales and purchase register (ANX-1 and ANX-2) from this data to keep the Return (RET-1 etc.) ready for filing under New Return. e-Way bill can also be generated using e-Invoice data

• It will become part of the business process of the taxpayer

• Substantial reduction in input credit verification issues as same data will get reported to tax department as well to buyer in his inward supply (purchase) register.

• On receipt of info thru GST System as buyer can do reconciliation with his Purchase Order and accept/reject in time under New Return

Reduction of tax evasion

• Complete trail of B2B invoices

• System level matching of input credit and output tax

Efficiency in tax administration

• Elimination of fake invoices

Generation of e-invoice will be the responsibility of the taxpayer who will be required to report the same to Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) of GST, which in turn will generate a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and digitally sign the e-invoice and also generate a QR code. The QR Code will contain vital parameters of the e-invoice and return the same to the taxpayer who generated the document in first place. The IRP will also send the signed e-invoice to the recipient of the document on the email provided in the e-invoice.   

Note: To begin with, there will be only one IRP, but more IRPs will be added to provide higher availability, redundancy, speed and a diversified and distributed service to tax payers with a choice.

4. What type of documents are to be reported to GST System?

While the word invoice is used in the name of e-invoice, it covers other documents that will be required to be reported to IRP by the creator of the document:

  • Invoice by Supplier
  • Credit Note by Supplier
  • Debit Note by Supplier
  • Any other document as required by law to be reported by the creator of the document

4. What will be the workflow involved?

The flow of the e-invoice generation, registration and receipt of confirmation can be logically divided into two major parts.  

  1. The first part being the interaction between the business (supplier in case of invoice) and the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP).
  2. The second part is the interaction between the IRP and the GST/E-Way Bill Systems and the Buyer.  

e-invoice

The two parts of the workflow are depicted diagrammatically below and followed up with an explanation of the steps involved. As the process evolves and system matures the same would be intercommunicated between buyer’s software and seller’s software, banking systems etc.

Part A: Flow from Supplier (commonly known as seller) to IRP.  

Step 1 is the generation of the invoice by the seller in his own accounting or billing system (it can be any software utility that generates invoice including those using excel or GSTN’s provided Offline Utility).  The invoice must conform to the e-invoice schema (standards) that is published and have the mandatory parameters.  The optional parameters can be according to the business need of the supplier.  The supplier’s (seller’s) software should be capable to generate a JSON of the final invoice that is ready to be uploaded to the IRP. The IRP will only take JSON of the e-invoice.

e-invoice

Note: Seller should have a utility that will output invoice data in JSON format, either from his accounting or billing software or his ERP or excel/word document or even a mobile app.  Those who do not use any accounting software or IT tool to generate the invoice, will be provided an offline tool to key-in data of invoice and then submit the same. The small and medium size taxpayers (having annual turnover below Rs 1.5 Crores) can avail accounting and billing system being offered by GSTN free of cost. 

 

Step 2 is to generate the unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) (in technical terms hash of 3 parameters using a standard and well known hash generation algorithm e.g. SHA256). This is an optional step. The seller can also generate this and upload along with invoice data. The 3 parameters which will be used to generate IRN (hash) are:

  1. Supplier GSTIN,
  2. Supplier’s invoice number and,
  • Financial year (YYYY-YY).  (The IRN or hash generation algorithm will be prescribed by GSTN in the e-invoice standard).  

Step 3 is to upload the JSON of the e-invoice (along with the hash, if generated) into the IRP by the seller.  The JSON may be uploaded directly on the IRP or through GSPs or through third party provided Apps.    

Step-4: The IRP will also generate the hash and validate the hash of the uploaded json, if uploaded by the supplier. The IRP will check the hash from the Central Registry of GST System to ensure that the same invoice from the same supplier pertaining to same Fin Year is not being uploaded again. On receipt of confirmation from Central Registry, IRP will add its signature on the Invoice Data as well as a QR code to the JSON. The QR code will contain GSTIN of seller and buyer, Invoice number, invoice date, number of line items, HSN of major commodity contained in the invoice as per value, hash etc. The hash computed by IRP will become the IRN (Invoice Reference Number) of the e-invoice.  This shall be unique to each invoice and hence be the unique identity for each invoice for the entire financial year in the entire GST System for a taxpayer. [GST Systems will create a central registry where hash sent by all IRPs will be kept to ensure uniqueness of the same].

Step 5 will involve sharing the uploaded data with GST and e-way bill system. More details are given in Part-B below.

Step 6 will involve returning the digitally signed JSON with IRN back to the seller along with a QR code. The registered invoice will also be sent to the seller and buyer on their mail ids as provided in the invoice.  

Part B: Flow from IRP to GST System/E-Way Bill System & Buyer

e-invoice

The following diagram shows how e-Invoice data would be consumed by GST System for generation of e-way bill or populating relevant parts GST Returns, stated in Step-5 above.

Step 5 (a) will be to share the signed e-invoice data along with IRN (same as that has been returned by the IRP to the seller) to the GST System as well as to E-Way Bill System.

Step 5b The GST System will update the ANX-1 of the seller and ANX-2 of the buyer, which in turn will determine liability and ITC.  

Step 5c E-Way bill system will create Part-A of e-way bill using this data to which only vehicle number will have to be attached in Part-B of the e-way bill.

Note 1: The e-invoice standardized schema has mandatory and optional items.  The e-invoice shall not be accepted in the GST System unless all the mandatory items are present.  The optional items are to be used by the seller and buyer as per their business need to enforce their business obligations or relationships.

Note 2: Seller may send his e-invoice for registration to more than one registrar.  But the GST system and IRP will perform a de-duplication check with central registry to ensure that the IRN that is generated is unique for each invoice.  Therefore, the IRP shall return ONLY ONE registered IRN for each invoice to the seller.  In case of multiple registrars (more than one IRPs) only one IRP will return a valid IRN to the seller. Except one, all other IRPs will reject the request of registration.

Note 3:  The QR code will enable quick view, validation and access of the invoices from the GST system from hand held devices.

6. Direct Invoice Generation on IRP (Invoice Registration Portal)

Many people think that e-invoice will be generated from government’s tax portal. This is a myth and invoices will continue to be generated using an Accounting or a billing software, keeping in view the varied need of item master, buyer master, UQC etc. along with sub-second response from IR Portal (IRP). Thus, direct creation/generation of e-invoice from GST portal or any other government portal is not envisaged/planned.

Small taxpayers can use one of the eight free accounting/billing software currently listed by GSTN. Also, GSTN will provide Offline Tool where data of an invoice, generated on paper can be entered which in turn will create JSON file for uploading on the IRP. Taxpayers can also use one of the commercially available accounting/billing software for this purpose. All accounting and billing software companies are being separately asked to adopt the e-invoice standard so that their users can generate the JSON from the software and upload the same on the IRP.

7. Features of e-invoice system

The Format of Unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN):

The unique IRN will be based on the computation of hash of GSTIN of generator of document (invoice or credit note etc.), Year and Document number like invoice number.  This hash will be as published in the e-invoice standard and unique for this combination. This way hash will always be the same irrespective of the registrar who processes it. The hash could also be generated by the taxpayers based on above algorithm. The providers of accounting and billing software are being separately asked to incorporate this feature in their product.  One can pre-generate and print it on the invoice book, however, the same will not make the invoice valid unless it is registered on the portal along with invoice details.

Note: The hash algorithm that is to be used by the taxpayers has been specified in the e-invoice standard that is published.  The hash will be the IRN.

To ensure deduplication, the registrar will be required to send the hash to Central Registry of GST System to confirm whether the same has been reported already. In case it has been reported by another registrar (as and when more registrars – IRPs – are added) and the Central Registry already has the same IRN, then the registrar will reject the registration and inform the sender. Only unique invoices from a taxpayer will be accepted and registered by the registrar.

Digital Signing by e-Invoice Registration Portal: The invoice data will be uploaded on the IRP (Invoice Registration Portal), which will also generate the hash in order to verify it and then digitally sign it with the private key of the IRP. In case the taxpayer submits hash also along with invoice data, the same will be validated by IRN system. The IRP will sign the e-invoice along with hash and the e-invoice signed by the IRP will be a valid e-invoice and used by GST/E-Way bill system.   

QR Code: The IRP will also generate a QR code containing the unique IRN (hash) along with some important parameters of invoice and digital signature so that it can be verified on the central portal as well as by an Offline App. This will be helpful for tax officers checking the invoice on the roadside where Internet may not be available all the time. The web user will get a printable form with all details including QR code.  The QR code will consist of the following e-invoice parameters:

  1. GSTIN of supplier
  2. GSTIN of Recipient
  3. Invoice number as given by Supplier
  4. Date of generation of invoice
  5. Invoice value (taxable value and gross tax)
  6. Number of line items.
  7. HSN Code of main item (the line item having highest taxable value)
  8. Unique Invoice Reference Number (hash)

The offline app will be provided on the IRP for anyone to download to authenticate the QR code of the invoice offline and its basic details. However, to see the whole invoice, one will have to connect to the portal and verify and see the details online. The facility to download entire invoice will be provided to tax officers, the way it is currently available under E-way bill system.

Note 4:  The facility of QR code verification will be made available only through the GST System and not the IRP.  This is because the IRP will not have the mandate to store invoices for more than 24 hours.  In order to achieve speed and efficiency, the IRP will be a lean and focused portal for providing invoice registration and verification service, IRN and the QR codes.  Hence, storing of the invoices will not be a feature of the IRP.

Multiple Registrar for IRN System: Multiple registrars (IRPs) will be put in place to ensure 24X7 operations without any break. To start with, NIC will be the first Registrar. Based on experience of the trial more registrars will be added.

Standardization of Invoice: A technical group constituted by the GST Council Secretariat has drafted standards for e-invoice after having industry consultation. The e-invoice schema and template, as approved by the GST Council, are available at https://www.gstn.org/e-invoice/.

8.CREATION OF E-INVOICE

Modes for getting invoice registered: Multiple modes will be made available so that taxpayer can use the best mode based on his/her need. The modes given below are envisaged at this stage under the proposed system for e-invoice, through the IRP (Invoice Registration Portal):

  1. Web based,
  2. API based,
  3. SMS based,
  4. mobile app based,
  5. offline tool based and
  6. GSP based.

API mode: Using API mode, the big tax payers and accounting software providers can interface their systems and pull the IRN after passing the relevant invoice information in JSON format. API request will handle one invoice request at time to generate the IRN.  This mode will also be used for bulk requirement (user can pass the request one after the other and get the IRN response within fraction of second) as well. The e-way bill system provides the same methodology.

Printing of Invoice

The taxpayer can continue to print his paper invoice as he is doing today including logo and other information. E-invoice schema only mandates what will be reported in electronic format to IRP.

General Questions on e-invoice system

Generic questions on e-invoice

1. Will businesses now be required to generate e-invoices on the GST portal or the e-invoice portal or the IRN portal?

a. No.  

b. Businesses will continue to generate e-invoices on their internal systems – whether ERP or their accounting / billing systems or any other application.

c. The e-invoicing mechanism only specifies the invoice schema and standard so as to be inter-operable amongst all accounting/billing software and all businesses.

2. Please clarify whether there the current e-invoice schema is for the invoice to be issued by Govt or has to be maintained in the IT system by the tax payer?

a. The invoice schema has to be maintained and invoices generated using this schema by the taxpayer himself.

b. The GST portal or Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) will NOT provide facility to generate invoices. IRP is only to report the invoice data.

c. The ERP or accounting billing software or any other software tool to generate e-invoice of the seller shall only generate invoices.

3. Will there be separate invoice formats required for Traders, Medical Shops, Professionals and Contractors?

a. No.

b. Same e-invoice schema will be used by all kinds of businesses. The schema has mandatory and non-mandatory fields. Mandatory field has to be filled by all taxpayers. Non-mandatory field is for the business to choose. It covers all most all business needs and specific sectors of business may choose to use those non-mandatory field which are needed by them or their eco-system.

4. How long will the e-invoice generated would be available at the Government portal?

a. It is again clarified that the e-invoice will not be generated at the GST portal.

b. It will be generated only at the seller’s system – whether ERP or the accounting/billing system/other software tools of the seller.

c. It will be uploaded into the GST ANX-1 only once it has been validated and registered by the invoice registration system.

d. After it has been validated and is available in the ANX-1, it will be visible to the counter party in his ANX 2.

e. Thereafter it will be visible and available for the entire financial year and archived.

f. As far as data on IRP is concerned, it will be kept there only for 24 hours.

5. While all businesses generate invoice at the same time, how will the server react?

a. The businesses will generate the invoice at their system and hence that will not impact the servers of IRP.

b. The capacity of the system at IRP shall be built so as to handle the envisaged loads of simultaneous upload based on data reported in GSTR1 for last two years.

c. Subsequently, multiple invoice registrars will be made available that will be able to distribute the load for invoice registration.

6. Is it possible to auto populate fields of the e-invoice based on credentials entered?  That way it can minimize data entry errors.

a. Since the invoice generation is to happen at the business end, this can be built into the ERP or invoicing system of the seller. Most of such software provide this facility in the name of item master, supplier master, buyer master etc.

7. Will it be possible to add transporter details as well?

a. No.

b. The transporter details must be entered in the E-Way bill system only.

Contents of e-invoice

1. There are certain fields today which are optional and some mandatory.  How are these to be used?

a. The mandatory fields are those that MUST be there for an invoice to be valid under e-Invoice Standard.

b. The optional ones are those that may be needed for the specific business needs of the seller/business. These have been incorporated in the schema based on current business practices in India.

c. The registration of an e-invoice will only be possible once it has ALL the mandatory fields uploaded into the Invoice registration Portal (IRP).

d. A mandatory field not having any value can be reported with NIL.  

2. What is the maximum Number of line items supported by e-invoice?

a. The maximum number of line items per e-invoice is 100.

3. Does the e-invoice schema provide the maximum length of the various fields in the schema?

a. Yes.

b. Each field specification has been provided with the type of characters that are to be entered and its length as well.

4. What will be the threshold requirement for E-Invoicing applicability?

a. This will be notified by the Government at the time of rollout.

b. As already mentioned above, the rollout of the e-invoice mechanism will be in phases.

5. Will the e-invoice have columns to show invoice currency?

a. Yes, the seller can display the currency.  Default will be INR.

6. Whether the IRN is to be captured in the Supplier’s ERP?

a. The IRN (hash) will be generated by GST System using GSTIN of supplier or document creator, financial year and the unique serial number of the document/invoice. The IRN can also be generated by the seller.

b. The serial number of invoice will be unique for a GSTIN for a Fin Year and the same has to be captured by Supplier’s ERP.

c. Supplier has to keep the IRN against each of its invoice. It will be advisable to keep the same in the ERP as invoice without IRN will not be a legal document.

7. Whether e-invoice generated is also required to be signed again by the taxpayer?

a. Not mandatory. However, if a signed e-invoice is sent to IRP, the same will be accepted.

b. The e-invoice will be digitally signed by the IRP after it has been validated. The signed e-invoice along with QR code will be shared with creator of document as well as the recipient.

c. Once it is registered, it will not be required to be signed by anyone else.

8. Whether the facility of adding discount amount at line item-level would be mandatory in nature?

a. The e-invoice has a provision for capturing discount at line item level.  

b. The discounting at line item level is to be mentioned only when and if it is applicable in the particular transaction.

9. Can the seller place their LOGO in the e-Invoice Template?

a. There will NOT be a place holder provided in the e-invoice schema for the company logo.

b. This is for the software company to provide in the billing/accounting software so that it can be printed on his invoice using his printer. However, the Logo will not be sent to IRP. In other words, it will not be part of JSON file to be uploaded on the IRP.

10. There should be a space provided for the QR code to be placed.

a. The QR code will be provided to the seller once he uploads the invoice into the Invoice Registration system and the same is registered there.

b. Seller can at his option may print the same on Invoice.

11. Will we be able to provide the address and bill-to party and PAN details in the e-invoice?

a. Yes.

b. It will be possible to provide all these details in the placeholders provided in the schema.

12. Would the Supplier be allowed to issue his own invoice and if yes, will the Invoice number and IRN be required to be mentioned?

a. Yes, the supplier will issue his own system’s invoice, in the standard e-invoice schema that has been published. Invoice number is a mandatory item under GST and hence for e-invoice.

b. IRN (Hash) can be provided after the e-invoice has been successfully reported to the IRP. E-Invoice will be valid only if it has IRN.

13. The current e-invoice template provides for total discount for all the products or services. Will this be possible in the e-invoice?

a. Yes.

b. There is a mechanism and placeholders to provide discounting on item level as well as total discounts on the invoice value.

14. Will there be an option for linking multiple invoices in case of debit note/ credit note?

a. Yes, it will be allowed to link the credit/debit notes as hitherto fore.

15. Will the e-invoice schema cater to reverse charge mechanism?

a. Yes.

b. E-invoice system has a reverse charge mechanism reporting as well.

Method of Reporting e-Invoice to GST System

1. In addition to the above, we understand that electronic invoice which will be uploaded on GST portal will be authenticated and IRN will be allocated for each e-invoices generated.

a. Yes, the e-invoice will be authenticated with the digital signature of the IRP (invoice registration portal).

b. IRN (Invoice Reference Number) will be the hash generated by the IRP.  

c. The registered invoice will be valid to be used by the business.

2. Will it be possible for bulk uploading of invoices for e-invoicing as well?

a. Invoices have to be uploaded on IRP one at a time.

b. The IRP will be able to handle a large sequence of invoices for registration and validate them. Essentially bulk upload will be required by large taxpayers who generate large number of invoices. Their ERP or accounting system will have to be designed in such a way that it makes request one by one. For the user, it will not make any difference.

3. Will the requirement for such invoices to be authenticated by the supplier using a digital signature/signature be done away with?

a. The seller will need to upload the e-invoice into the Invoice Registration Portal.

b. The signing of e-invoice by seller is not mandatory.

4. Will there be a time limit for e-invoice uploading for registration?

a. Yes, that will be notified by the Government.  Without registration of e-invoice the same will not be valid. Required changes will be made in the law.

b. Once uploaded to the invoice registration portal (IRP), it will be registered immediately, on real-time basis.

5. Will it be possible to allow invoices that are registered on invoice registration system/portal to be downloaded and/or saved on handheld devices?

a. Yes.

b. IRP System after registering the invoice, will share back digitally signed e-invoice for record of supplier. It will also be sent to the email address of recipient provided in the e-invoice.

6. Will it be possible to print the e-invoice?

a. Yes.

b. It will be possible for both the seller as well as the buyer to print the invoice, using the QR code as well as signed e-invoice returned by the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP).

Amendment/cancellation of e-invoice

1. Whether e-invoices generated through GST system can be partially/fully cancelled?

a. E-Invoice can’t be partially cancelled. It has to be fully cancelled.

b. The e-invoice mechanism enables invoices to be cancelled. This will have to be reported to IRN within 24 hours. Any cancellation after 24hrs could not be possible on IRN, however one can manually cancel the same on GST portal before filing the returns.

2. How would amendments be allowed in e-invoice?

a. Amendments to the e-invoice are allowed on GST portal as per provisions of GST law. All amendments to the e-invoice will be done on GST portal only.

Relationship with e-way bill

1. With the introduction of e-invoices, what are the documents need to be carried during transit of goods?

a. For transportation of goods, the e-way bill will continue to be mandatory, based on invoice value guidelines, as hitherto fore. This aspect will be notified by the Government when this mechanism will be notified.

Export/Import

1. Please clarify whether exports would require e-invoice compliance.

a. Yes.

b. The e-invoice schema also caters to the export invoices as well. The e-invoice schema is based on most common standard, this will help buyer’s system to read the e-invoice.  

2. Does the e-invoice allow the declaration of export invoices/ zero rated supplies?

a. Yes.

b. It allows the declaration of export invoices / zero rated supplies.

Others

1. What will be the workflow of the end to end e-invoice mechanism?

a. The end to end workflow will be provided by at the time of rollout of the e-invoice system.

2. Will the industry be provided sufficient time for preparation?

a. Yes.

b. The e-invoice mechanism is expected to be rolled out in phases from 01st Jan 2020 on voluntary basis.

c. Initially, the e-invoice mechanism will be allowed for tax payers above a certain turnover or above a certain invoice value or also to volunteers.

d. Subsequently, it will be enabled for all tax payers in a phased step-wise manner.

e. Details of these will be published subsequently.

Source: GSTN

gst rates
GST council begins review of rates, items to raise revenue

GST council begins review of rates, items to raise revenue

Comments 0 Comment

The government has begun discussions with states for a possible revamp of the goods and services tax (GST), which may include bringing a few exempted items under the levy while reviewing the rates and the cess on all goods and services, as part of an exercise to shore up revenue.

In a letter to states, the GST council has given a full menu of options and suggested their feedback ahead of a meeting of ministers expected before the end of the month. The move comes at a time when tax collections have been hit, which authorities believe is due to a massive reduction in rates. The RBI had recently estimated that the effective GST rate in India has come down from 14.4% in May 2017 to 11.6% now.

Officials said this has robbed the government of potential revenue of around Rs 2 lakh crore annually and also increased compensation payout to states as the Centre had assured them to make good on any “losses” in case collection growth was less than 14% a year. The economic slowdown, along with tax leakage, has added to the government’s woes and the growth has been lower than anticipated despite an expansion in taxpayer base.

“The effective indirect tax rate on many products in the pre-GST era was around 25%, which has reduced to 18% in GST. In the absence of a significant increase in volumes, there would be an impact on revenues,” said M S Mani, a partner at consulting firm India.

gst rates

Another tax consultant said the services sector revenue has not seen a significant expansion in the base as investments have slowed down. As a result, the GST council has asked states to review the list of products that are currently exempted, which includes some of the items that were earlier subject to tax.

With states complaining about the Centre holding up compensation, the government is also seeking a review of the items that can face the levy apart from looking at the possibility of enhancing the levy on existing items like tobacco, soft drinks and cars.

With the compensation cess kitty eroded, states have little choice but to either agree to settle their bills over a longer period than the five years that was provided for or agree to higher cess or expanding its scope, said officials.

Source: Times-of-India

GST
Lack of clarity in GST forms, traders worried

Lack of clarity in GST forms, traders worried

Comments 1 comment

Lack of clarity and difficulties in furnishing series of new details asked in the annual return form under Goods and Services Tax (GST) are seen resulting in mismatches and record notices to taxpayers, chartered accountants and tax experts said.

Plethora of information demanded in GST annual return form that has about 19 tables raised worries of dealers apprehending to be slapped with notices in case of mismatches.

Many dealers are delaying filing the annual return forms due to ambiguity on data demanded in annual return that does not allow any rectification ones it is filed. The last date for filing the annual return is June 30.

CA and GST expert Sunil Jain said, “Annual return form needs a reconsideration else the whole system will be jammed in just resolving mistakes and reconciliations.”

“There are a lot of chances of mismatches that will lead to notices to dealers because of lack of clarity on the data and certain details asked for the first time from dealers.”

CA Kirti Joshi said, “There are high chances of mismatches in the annual return turnover and book of accounts turnover. Dealers should be prepared for reconciliations.”

Tax payers will be filing the first annual return for the financial year 2017/2018.

The state GST department has received many suggestions from different bodies of tax consultants and chartered accountants to be incorporated in annual return form.

State commercial tax department joint commissioner Sudip Gupta said, “Any matters which are not clear must be raised and brought in to notice of the law committee either directly or through me and we will look into it at the earliest.”

Ease Your GST Filing & Invoice with XaTTaX GST Software

Source: Times of India.
GST Evasion
Circular trading & GST evasion charges: Taxman may have to review arrest strategy

Circular trading & GST evasion charges: Taxman may have to review arrest strategy

Comments 2 comments

The indirect tax department that had arrested many promoters for circular trading and escaping goods and services tax may have to rethink its strategy after the Mumbai High Court granted bail to many of them.

The arrests came after the indirect tax department issued notices in February this year and raided premises of several companies for allegedly inflating turnover through fake invoices to shell companies.

People close to the development said that several promoters then approached the criminal bench of the Bombay High Court which granted them bail and sought an explanation from the department. Bail was granted to different people in the past few weeks.

Some industry observers suspect that circular trading may be used to inflate turnover or for bringing in black money to system. Tax experts, however, pointed out that this doesn’t necessarily mean tax evasion and that some genuine businesses are facing trouble on this count.

“We have argued that the entire issue is based on the department’s assumption that the supply of goods should result in movement of goods,” said Abhishek A Rastogi, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co, who represented some promoters in their bail pleas. “The legal principle of revenue neutrality comes into play. In case there is no loss of revenue, the proceedings cannot be non-bailable and cognisable.”

Legal experts said the taxman had upped the ante by arresting promoters in the last few months.

“The GST officers have suo moto converted enquiries into criminal cases by arresting the promoters, which was seldom done under the earlier tax framework,” said Sujay N Kantawala, a high court advocate.

DEPT’S POWER TO ARREST MAY BE CHALLENGED

“This is clearly premature as determination of actual tax liability exercise is not carried out prior to arrest. This amounts to clear contempt of binding judgements,” he said.

ET had first reported on March 6 that indirect tax officials had started arresting promoters
following raids and suspecting circular trade.

People close to the development said some sectors tend to get involved in circular trading but it doesn’t necessarily mean there is tax evasion.

A person familiar with the development cited the example of a Mumbai company that is into trading of plastic goods. The said company sold goods to a company based in Pune, which sold the same goods to another company based in Bengaluru. Now, the third company sold the goods to the first, the Mumbai-based firm. All this while, the goods were kept safe at a godown in Mumbai and GST credits were paid on every lap of transaction. The series of sales helped the firms inflate turnover and avail larger valuations and loans, the person said.

POWER TO ARREST

Meanwhile, a battery of lawyers are looking at challenging a particular section of the GST law that gives arresting powers to the taxman, people in the know said. A separate petition in this regard could be filed in the coming weeks, they said.

The indirect tax department started issuing notices to several companies in the past few weeks, seeking evidence of all the purchase and sale transactions including the invoices. The department suspects that several companies are merely buying fake bills that help them claim input tax credit and actual buying and selling of goods is not taking place.

Input tax credit is a mechanism whereby a company can set off the GST paid by them on purchases against future tax liabilities. Industry trackers said that in many cases the promoters of such companies had landed in jail.


XaTTaX – World Class Automated eSolution for Return filing and e-Waybill

Source: Economic Times.
GST return
New system of filing returns under GST

New system of filing returns under GST

Comments 0 Comment

An ordinance issued to amend SGST Act, The State government has decided to amend the State Goods and Services Tax Act to provide a new system of filing returns and availing input tax credit under the GST.

It has been decided to provide an option for taxpayers to obtain multiple registrations for multiple places of business located within the same State. Separate registration would be provided for units in the special economic zones or developers.

Following the relaxations mooted by the GST Council during its recent meeting, the State government promulgated an Ordinance The Telangana Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 on Wednesday. The Ordinance paves the way to insert a provision for temporary suspension of registration while the cancellation of the registration is under progress. It will allow enhancement of the limit of composition levy from ₹ 1 crore to ₹ 1.5 crores. In addition, composition taxpayers would be allowed to supply services (other than restaurant services) for value exceeding 10 % of the turnover in the preceding financial year or ₹ 5 lakh whichever is higher.

In respect of the reverse charge, the government would be empowered to notify classes of registered persons to pay the tax on reverse charge basis in respect of receipt of supplies of certain specified categories of goods or services or both from unregistered suppliers. The Ordinance also paves the way to increase the period of detention or seizure of goods and conveyance in transit from seven days to fourteen days. Further, it caps the pre-deposit amount payable for the filing of appeal at ₹ 25 crores.

Ease Your GST Return Filing & Invoice with XaTTaX  GST Software

Source: The Hindu

Eway bill data
GSTN develops system to fetch e-way bill data into monthly sales returns to curb evasion

GSTN develops system to fetch e-way bill data into monthly sales returns to curb evasion

Comments 1 comment

Now, businesses supplying goods worth more than Rs 50,000 will have the option to include details of e-way bills generated while filing the final monthly sales return under GSTR-1, a move aimed at curbing tax evasion by reporting different sets of supplies data.

Matching of invoices of e-way bills with the sales shown in GSTR-1 will help taxmen in assessing whether the supplies have been accurately shown in sales return and GST paid on the same, tax experts said.

“To avoid double data entry, GSTN has provided a facility to taxpayers, where month’s e-way bill data is shown in format, which is required by a taxpayer to fill up the Form GSTR-1. The taxpayer can import data in his GSTR-1 form or import the same and use it with GSTR-1 offline tool to create his GSTR-1 Return Form,” GST Network said.

Touted as an anti-evasion measure, e-way bill system was rolled out on April 1, 2018, for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to another. The same for intra or within the state movement was rolled out in a phased manner from April 15, 2018.

Following this, it has come to investigative officers’ notice that some transporters are doing multiple trips by generating only a single e-way bill or not reflecting e-way bill invoices while filing GSTR-1. It has also come to the notice that certain e-way bill is not being generated even as supplies are being made.

While generating e-way bill, details of supplier, receiver and other invoice details like number, date, goods, quantity, HSN code etc are provided by the taxpayer on e-way Bill Portal. This data is now transferred to GST portal, GSTN, which has developed the technology backbone for Goods and Services Tax (GST), said.

“With this facility, taxpayer will not be required to enter data in his Form GSTR-1 for all invoices for which he has generated e-way bill. This will avoid double data entry by taxpayers. This facility will help taxpayer to fill up their Form GSTR-1 in less time. This will also avoid any data entry mistakes made while filling details,” GSTN Chief Executive Prakash Kumar said.

GSTN said it has divided the taxpayers into three categories to download /import the data into GSTR-1. In last 18 months, around 90 per cent of taxpayers have reported up to 50 B2B and B2C large invoices in a month.

“Since these invoices can be easily seen on the screen, facility to import the data directly into GSTR-1 has been provided for such taxpayers. These taxpayers can edit the details imported in GSTR-1, if required, and then file their Form GSTR 1 online after adding other details like B2C supplies,” GSTN said.

For those having more than 50 invoices but up to 500, have been provided facility to download the data in a prescribed ‘csv’ file format, which can then be imported into GSTR 1 offline tool.

In case the number of invoices is more than 500, the invoice details can be imported from return Dashboard on GST portal as a ‘zip’ file. Tax payer can add more invoices (like those below Rs 50,000 in value) and upload in offline tool to prepare his/her return.

Linking of e-way bill data with GSTR-1 would help taxmen keep a tab on whether the supplies shown in e-way bill matches the sales shown in the returns form and thereby check evasion.

AMRG & Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said: “This facility would add to the immediate convenience of taxpayers, however, it would also prove to be a swift method of checking tax collections and any probable evasion.

“Once the system is stabilized, GSTN would have automated and regular reports of e-way bills transaction, which were not captured while filing outward supplies in GSTR-1”.


XaTTaX – World Class Automated eSolution for Return filing and e-Waybill

Source: Economic Time
Centre sets up IT Grievance Redressal Committee to deal technical glitches on GST portal

Centre sets up IT Grievance Redressal Committee to deal technical glitches on GST portal

Comments 0 Comment

The government on Wednesday said it had set up a grievance redressal mechanism to address difficulties faced by taxpayers due to technical glitches on the GST portal.

Under the new mechanism, if any taxpayer was unable to file any form or return due to a technical glitch by the due date, he/she would be allowed to do so within a stipulated time period.

In case any taxpayers could not complete the process of GST filing TRAN-1 (transitional credit form) in time due to the IT glitch, he/she would be allowed to complete the process by 30 April.

Also read- Demonetisation, GST led to the formalization of the economy: FM Arun Jaitley

The filing of GSTR-3B return for such TRAN-1 will have to be completed by 31 May, the Finance Ministry said.

GST Representational image. Reuters
It added that the GST Council has delegated powers to an IT Grievance Redressal Committee to approve and recommend steps to be taken to redress the grievances and provide relief to the taxpayers.

The taxpayers would have to approach field officers/nodal officers where there was a demonstrable glitch on the common portal due to which the due process could not be completed.

 “The IT Grievance Redressal Committee shall examine and approve the solutions as may be necessary for an identified issue,” an official statement said.

The relief could be in the nature of allowing the filing of any form or return, or amending any form or return already filed, it said.

“The decision relating to filing of TRAN-1 will benefit 17,573 taxpayers who will consequently be able to avail of Rs 2,582.98 crore as Central GST credit and Rs 1,112.77 crore as State GST credit,” the statement said.

XaTTaX: Your automated E-Way bill compliance is just a click away!

Approximately eighty lakh taxpayers registered for GST: CEO, GST Network

Approximately eighty lakh taxpayers registered for GST: CEO, GST Network

Comments 0 Comment

GST Network CEO

The goods and services tax (GST) council is set to meet for the third time since the rollout of the new tax regime at this meeting which will take place in Hyderabad. The centre is expected to apprise the Council of the GST collections for the month of July. Sources say the council will also take stock of GST related concerns and demands of various sectors.

Ahead of the GST review meeting tomorrow, CNBC-TV18’s Timsy Jaipuria caught up with the CEO of GST Network, Prakash Kumar and asked him about the recent criticism that the system is facing.

Kumar said that it is easy to criticise but I have the figures to give you. There are no challenges from the system side, he added.

Major challenge is the last minute rush to file returns, he mentioned.

He further said that as of today, 25 percent of tax payers have filed for GSTR-1.

“In the month of July we had roughly 10 lakh new tax payers approved and in August another 10 lakh. It is 10 lakh per month in two months,” said Kumar.

Approximately 80 lakh taxpayers have registered for GST, he further mentioned.

Source :  Money Control