Jan 122017
 

HSN Code / SAC under GST

 What is HSN?

HSN stands for harmonised System of nomenclature. The HSN is the codification of all tradable commodities into 20 broad sections with each chapter containing commodity of similar nature.

As we know that same commodity when traded across the geographical boundaries, are known by different names due to lingual differences. Now in IT enabled multi national trade a unique code is given to each class of tradable commodity based on its nature and usages. This classification and codification is known as HSN code a that commodity.

What is SAC?

Similarly in case of services, for each class when traded across different lingual unified code is given for recognition, measurement and taxation of each class of services.

Role of HSN / SAC under GST:

  1. Classification:

HSN (Harmonised System of Nomenclature) code shall be used for classifying the goods under the GST regime.

Taxpayers whose turnover is above Rs. 1.5 crores but below Rs. 5 crores shall use 2 digit code.

The taxpayers whose turnover is Rs. 5 crores and above shall use 4 digit code.

Taxpayers whose turnover is below Rs. 1.5 crores are not required to mention HSN Code in their invoices.

Services will be classified as per the Services Accounting Code (SAC).

  1. Use as description of items in invoices in the online return of GST network:

In fact description of goods sole will not be added on invoice and uploaded in the returns. Only HSN code in respect of supply of goods and Accounting code in respect of supply of services will have to be fed.

The minimum number of digits that the filer will have to upload would depend on his turnover in the last year.

  1. Use as UID of each transaction of each line item:

GSTN will not generate any new identification. The combination of Supplier’s GSTIN, Invoice no and Financial year with HSN/SAC Code will make each line unique.

Few points to be consider while classifying article in HSN code list:

Rule 1: Classification shall always be done based on the reference given in heading. The section, chapter name or sub chapter names are always irrelevant.

Rule 2: If term of heading is not conclusive, classification shall be done on the basis of section note and chapter notes.

Rule 3: An article shall include that article in un-complete, un-finished form. Similarly, A material or substance shall also include a mixture or a combination of that material.

Rule 4: Specific description shall always prevail over general heading.

Rules 5: Packing material shall be classified with the article / material for which they are made.

Jan 112017
 

Invoicing Procedure Under GST

With the preparation to migrate existing taxpayers under GST regime is going on, the next step which is really worth for business man to know is how and when to issue a tax invoice. Here, is an attempt made to explain the provision related to tax invoice.

Provisions related to tax invoice is provided in sec 23 of original GST model and sec 28 of revised model. Here we are examining the provisions given in revised GST model.

Name of document who will issue when to issue Power with central government / state government and others remarks
Tax Invoice (in case supply is made in goods) Registered taxable person supplying taxable goods Before or at the time of remove of goods / delivery of goods Specify the categories of goods and/or supplies in respect of which the tax invoice shall be issued within such time as may be prescribed in the notification.
Tax Invoice (in case supply of services) Registered taxable person supplying taxable services Before or after the provision of service but within a period prescribed in this behalf (i.e. 30 days) Specify the categories of services in respect of which any other document may issued.
Revised invoice A registered taxable person (whether supplying goods or services) Within one month from the date of issuance of certificate of registration Revised invoice shall be issued against the invoice already issued during the period starting from the effective date of registration till the date of issuance certificate of registration.“tax invoice” shall be deemed to include a document issued by an Input Service Distributor, and shall also include any revised invoice. Hence, rules related to Tax invoice are also applicable to “Prescribed documents” and “Revised Invoice”.
Bill of supply Registered taxable person Supplying exempted goods and/or services or paying tax under composition scheme May not issue bill of supply in case value of supply is less than Rs 100.
Receipt voucher or any other document Registered taxable person On receipt of advance payment with respect to any supply of goods or services
Invoice Registered taxable person liable to pay tax under reverse charge mechanism On the date of receipt of goods or services from a person who is not registered under the Act
Prescribed document Input Service Distributor At the time of distributing credit to each of the recipients “tax invoice” shall be deemed to include a document issued by an Input Service Distributor, and shall also include any revised invoice. Hence, rules related to Tax invoice are also applicable to “Prescribed documents” and “Revised Invoice”.
Credit note Where tax invoice has already been issued 1. Taxable value and/or tax charged in tax invoice is found to exceed2. Goods supplied are returned

3. Services supplied are in deficit

No reduction in output tax liability of the supplier shall be permitted if the incidence of tax and interest on such supply has been passed on to any other person.
Debit note Where tax invoice has already been issued Taxable value and/or tax charged in tax invoice is found to be less ‘Debit Note’ shall include a supplementary invoice.
Supplementary invoice. Registered taxable person Contract is entered prior to appointed date and price of goods and / or services is revised upward or downward ‘Debit Note’ shall include a supplementary invoice.

Under GST regime normally a business shall issue a tax invoice, receipt voucher, revised invoice, credit note / debit note. Other documents shall be issued under only special businesses under special circumstances.

Dec 082016
 

GST – Return submission and verification procedure

 Everyone have lot of expectations from GST with is expected to subsist in the upcoming financial year 2017. There are expectation of transparent governance, ease of doing business and free movement of information under shadow of IT governance. Here an attempt is made to explain how technology is going to impact return filing, submission and verification of return:

Procedure for authentication of GSTR-1:

Under GST regime a common IT portal is enabled to process all returns electronically under IT enable environment and direct business to business communication of relevant information for cross verification. All required information is available to relevant taxpayer under pull mode. This is evident from below:

Sr. No. Activity Outward supplier Processing at GST common portal Inward supplier
Input Process Output
1 E-filing the details of outward supplies Sales of goods and/or services effected during a tax period (of a month) FORM GSTR-1 The details in GSTR – 1 will be filter by recipient wise and electronically disseminated to all recipient Part A of FORMGSTR-2A The taxpayer at receiving end may verify GSTR – 2A and add, correct or delete any of its retail
2 Verification of return by counter party i.e. by receiverAND 

E – filing Inward Supplies/Purchases Received

Inward supplier may accept, add or correct details in GSTR – 2A and furnished for GSTR -2 FORM GSTR-2 that is filed by inward supplier The supplies added, deleted or corrected are made available outward supplier FORM GSTR-1A
3 Verification of return by outward supplier supplier may either accept or reject the modifications FORM GSTR-1A Supplies to the extent accepted will be modified in GSTR-1 Modified FORM GSTR-1

Filing GSTR – 2:

The following points shall be noted while preparing GSTR -2:

  1. GSTR -2 shall be prepared on the basis of information contained in Part A of GSTR – 2A.
  2. The taxpayer may accept or reject or correct the details contained in GSTR -2A. The details the extent accepted by taxpayer will be auto populated in GSTR -2.
  3. If taxpayer wants to add more details, it can be added in non auto populated fields of GSTR -2.

Further, taxpayer has to furnish the following other information in GSTR -2:

(This information is required to calculate tax payable in GSTR -3)

  1. Inward supplies in respect of which he is not eligible, either fully or partially, for input tax credit
  2. Declare the quantum of ineligible input tax credit on inward supplies which is relatable to non-taxable supplies or for purposes other than business and cannot be determined at the invoice level
  3. Details of invoices furnished by an Input Service distributor (auto populated from GSTR – 6)
  4. TDS u/s 37 (auto populated from GSTR – 7)
  5. TCS u/s 43C (auto populated GSTR -8)

Filing and Processing of GSTR -3 (Monthly return):

After cross verification and purchases and sales for the month, its time ascertain tax liability and payment of tax. For computation of tax liability following details are required with are already given in GSTR -1 / GSTR -2 will be auto populated there from:

Sr. No. Detail Auto populated from
6 Outward Supplies Inter-state supplies to Registered Taxable PersonsIntra-State Supplies to Registered Taxable PersonsInter-State Supplies to Consumers

Intra-State Supplies to Consumers

Exports (including deemed exports)

Revision of supply invoices/Credit notes/Debit notes and others

 

GSTR – 1
6.7 Total tax liability on outward supplies Calculated from above table
7 Inward supplies Inter-State supplies received Intra-State supplies receivedImports

Revision of purchase invoices/Credit note/Debit note and other details

Total Tax liability on inward supplies on reverse charge

ITC Reversal

Output tax added/reduced on account of non-rectification/rectification of communicated mismatches

GSTR -2
8 Total Tax liability for the month Calculated from above table
9 Tax Paid Details TDS credit received during the monthTCS credit received during the month GSTR – 2
The below information will now be added by taxpayer to calculate tax payable:
10 ITC received during the month
11 Tax, interest, late fee and penalty paid
12 Refunds claimed from cash ledger
12 Bank details for payment of tax due

 

Dec 052016
 

SMOOTH TRANSITION TO GST

 What is migration?

Under GST regime various central level taxes and state level taxes are summoned into one tax. Hence, for the smooth transition it is essential to migrate all existing assesses under various acts under GST regime.

Now, as same assesses may have registration under different acts with different information in different states. However, under GST model one assessee will be provided with one registration. So following issues will arise in this process:

  1. Data validation issue: Different information about contact no, address, authorize person about same assessee is available under state vat acts, entertainment tax, luxury tax, service tax, excise etc. There information needs to be validated before complete transition to GST.
  2. Data duplicate issue: Any duplicate data available with government needs to be removed.
  3. Data redundancy issue: Any irrelevant data with the department, which is of no use in modern GST regime, shall be removed.

So under para 142 of modern GST draft act provisions as to migration of exiting taxpayers are made as below:

(1) On the appointed day, every person registered under any of the earlier laws shall be issued a certificate of registration on a provisional basis in such form and manner as may be prescribed.

(2) The certificate of registration issued under sub-section (1) shall be valid for a period of six months from the date of its issue:

Provided that the said validity period may be extended for such further period as the Central/State Government may, on the recommendation of the Council, notify.

(3) Every person to whom a certificate of registration has been issued under subsection (1) shall, within the period specified under sub-section (2), furnish such information as may be prescribed.

(4) On furnishing of such information, the certificate of registration issued under sub section (1) shall, subject to the provisions of section 19, be granted on a final basis by the Central/State Government.

(5) The certificate of registration issued to a person under sub-section (1) may be cancelled if such person fails to furnish, within the time specified under sub-section (2), the information prescribed under sub-section (3).

(6) The certificate of registration issued to a person under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have not been issued if the said registration is cancelled in pursuance of an application filed by such person that he was not liable to registration under section 19

So, in essence all existing tax payers will be issued a provisional registration certificates based on the data available with the department. The data will be validated by tax payer and relevant documents will be furnished. Final registration will be issued once the data gets validated. The above process is complete technology driven and minimal human interface. The main points of this process are as below:

  1. Existing registrants either with States or with Centre to be migrated to GSTIN – Process already initiated and state wise target dates are provided in the table below.
    1. VAT registration data to be used for migration of dealers in goods
    2. Service Tax registration data to be used for migration of service providers
  2. Registration is mandatory in case turnover is more than Rs 20 lacs
  3. Validation of existing registration information by GSTN (Goods and Service Tax Network)
  4. Verification / updating of migrated data by existing registrants within a specified period
  5. Issuance of GSTIN by GSTN
  6. Verification by Centre/State Authorities after issuance of GSTIN

The process of registration is already started and state wise start and end target dates are also given to all states and the same are enumerated below:

States Start Date End Date
Puducherry, Sikkim 08/11/2016 23/11/2016
Maharashtra, Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh 14/11/2016 30/11/2016
Gujarat 15/11/2016 30/11/2016
Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram 30/11/2016 15/12/2016
Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan 16/12/2016 31/12/2016
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh 01/01/2017 15/01/2017
Enrolment of Taxpayers who are registered under Central Excise Act/ Service Tax Act but not registered under State VAT 01/01/2017 31/01/2017
Delta All Registrants (All Groups) 01/02/2017 20/03/2017

For pre-preparedness following steps shall be taken by all existing assessee:

  • All existing tax payers shall ensure that they have updated their email ids and password in vat / service tax registrations. Your provisional ID and password will be sent on mail ids and mobile nos available with department. Password and Email IDs of tax professionals will not work.
  • Bank account no and IFSC code.
  • Keep ready with following documents to upload on GST portal:
    1. Proof of constitution – partnership deed / other registration certificate depending on the type of constitution of business.
    2. Photograph of promoters/partners/Karta of HUF
    3. Proof of appointment of authorize signatory
    4. Photograph of authorize signatory
    5. Opening page of passbook / bank statement

Stages of registration:

Stage Name Remarks
1 Provisional Initial status of the Provisional ID that is communicated by department before appointed date
2 Provisional pending signature Once GST enrollment form is filled with all relevant fields and document and form is saved.
3 Migrated After signing and submitting the form status will change to migrated. You can not change the application once it is submitted.
4 Active Auto change to active status on appointed date.
5 Suspended After six month from the appointed date, all provisional IDs that are not electronically sign will be suspended.

 

Dec 012016
 

HOW TO FILE GST RETURN

The biggest reform in the Indirect tax is now a step forward. Everyone is trying to know how his business process are going affected due to its likely upcoming from 1st April 2017. Here is an attempt to analyse the same in view of modal GST laws.

Dual control

Since, GST is collected simultaneously by state government and central government so is the assessment? If so, will the same assessee may receive notices / orders from central government and as well as state government(s)

The answer is no. There will a clear demarcation of powers between central government and state government. There will a threshold limit, to say Rs 400 lacs, below which assessee will be assessed by state government and rest above it are assessed by central government. So for an assessee there will be no confusion. Either is answerable to state government or central government.

Return to be file

Under GST regime there will be in total 8 returns as provided below:

Type Description Who will file Due date
GSTR – 1 Details of outward supplies of taxable goods and/or services effected All taxable person except those who are opting for compounding scheme or ISD suppliers 10th of next month
GSTR – 2 Details of inward supplies of taxable goods and/or services claiming input tax credit 15th of next month
GSTR – 3 Monthly return on the basis of finalization of details of outward supplies and inward supplies along with the payment of amount of tax 20th of next month
GSTR – 9 Annual return 31st Dec of next financial year from the end of relevant year
GSTR – 7 Return for authorities deducting tax at source Person mandated by central government or state government to deduct TDS, to say:1.     Department of central government or state government2.     Establishment of central government of state government

3.     Local authority

4.     Government agencies

5.     Other persons as recommend by central government or state government

10th of the next month
GSTR – 4 Quarterly Return for compounding Taxable persons Registered taxable person having turnover does not exceed Rs 50 lacs and opted for compounding scheme 18th of the next month from the end of relevant quarter
GSTR – 5 Return for Non-Resident (foreign) taxable person Non-Resident (foreign) taxable person 20th of the next month
GSTR – 6 ISD return Input Service Distributor 15th of the next month

All the above returns are technology driven. The above returns may be furnished by taxable person directly on the GST common portal or through the facilitation centre as may be notify by government. Here we will discuss GSTR – 1 in detail:

GSTR -1:

Sr. No. Description Remarks
1 GSTIN A PAN based 15 digit unique alphanumeric GSTIN to be write here. The structure of GSTIN is given below:1.     First 2 digits are state code2.     Next 10 digits are PAN no of taxable person

3.     13th digit – Business vertical of the entities with same PAN in same sate

4.     14th digit left blank for future use

5.     15th digit is check digit

This is auto fill on log in.

2 Name of the Taxable Person This is auto fill on log in.
3 Aggregate Turnover of the Taxable Person in the previous FY Turnover of previous financial year shall be mentioned here. For example for year 2017-18, aggregate turnover for 2016-17 shall be mentioned.This is manually punch in only for the first year. From next year this is auto fill based on annual return file in the previous year.
4 Period Since GSTR is a monthly return. Here needs to mentioned for which month and year return is being filled. For example, for return for the month of Apr 2017 – write here as Month 04 Year 2017
5 Taxable outward supplies to a registered person For B2B supplies: Supplies made to registered taxable person shall be given in this table. The following details needs to be given under this table:1.     GSTIN / UIN (Column 1): In case sale is made to registered taxable person write GSTIN. In case sale is made special category person such as UNO, diplomats, foreign embassies etc. then write Unique Identification Number (UIN).2.     Invoice details (Column 2-13): There write Invoice no, Date, value, Goods / Service, HSN / SAC code, Taxable value, IGST, CGST, SGST.

3.     Point of supply (POS) (Column 14): To be fill the state code of receipt of service / goods only if recipient is located at different place.

4.     Column 15: if supply attract reverse charge

5.     Column 16: Check Box in case tax is paid under provisional assessment.

5A Amendments to details of Outward Supplies to a registered person of earlier tax periods In case there is any change in details furnished under Sr. No. 5 of earlier tax period the details shall be furnished here.
6 & 6A Taxable outward supplies to a consumer where Place of Supply (State Code) is other than the State where supplier is located (Inter-state supplies) and Invoice value is more than Rs 2.5 lakh For B2C supplies: Use when following conditions are met:1.     Inter-state supply of goods / services2.     Invoice value is > Rs 2.5 lacs

3.     If there is any amendment in invoices issued in earlier tax period use table 6A.

7 & 7A Taxable outward supplies to consumer (Other than 6 above) This is rest category. If any supply is not fit in 5 and 6 mentioned it here.Note: In this table invoice wise value need not be given. Provide on aggregate basis.
8 & 8A Details of Credit/Debit Notes If any debit note or credit note issued by supplier furnishing the return the details of the same shall be mentioned here.
9 Nil rated, Exempted and Non GST outward supplies Taxable person supplier has the option to furnished NIL rated, Exempted and non GST outward supply in relevant table no 5, 6, and 7 as the case may be.If the details are not mentioned under above table then aggregate value shall be mentioned in this table.

 

If the details of “nil”” rated and “exempt” supplies have been provided in Table 5, 6 and 7, then info in column (4) may only be furnished

10 & 10A Supplies Exported (including deemed exports) An additional column = “ Description” is mentioned in this table. Here we have to segregate all export / deemed export supplies under – with payment of GST and without payment of GST
11 & 11A Tax liability arising on account of Time of Supply without issuance of Invoice in the same period. In case of advance payment or where point of supply is completed but invoice is not issued in the same tax period. Such cases shall be mentioned here.A transaction id would be generated by system for each transaction on which tax is paid in advance/on account of time of supply. In future tax period such transaction ID shall be motioned when invoice is actually issued in table no 12 to avoid double taxation.
12 Tax already paid (on advance receipt/ on account of time of supply) on invoices issued in the current period Tax liability in respect of invoices issued in this period shall be net of tax already paid on advance receipt/on occurrence of time of supply
13 Supplies made through e-commerce portals of other companies
Declaration

Sep 192016
 

The following conditions shall be satisfied for levy of CGST/SGST:

  1. There must be a person.
  2. There must be a taxable person.
  3. There must be some goods and/or services
  4. Such goods must be specified in schedule …. of this act.
  5. There must be an intra state supply (supply within state) of such goods and/or services.
  6. The tax shall be paid at the time of supply.

If any of the above ingredient is missing the tax is not payable.

Taxable person

Taxable person means a person who carries on any business at any place in India / state of ….. and who is registered or required to be registered under Schedule III of this act.

Goods and / or services

“Goods” means every kind of movable property other than actionable claim and money but includes securities, growing crop, grass and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before supply or under the contract of supply.

Movable property shall not include any intangible property.

“Services” means anything other than goods. Services includes intangible property and actionable claim but does not include money.

Description of supply Goods Services
Movable property, i.e., things which can be moved from one place to another without dismantling. x
Growing crops x
Things attached to land and agreed to be severed before supply x
Securities x
Actionable claim x
Things attached to land and supply as such, i.e., immovable property x
Intangible property x
Money x x

Goods and/or services must be specified in schedule

The goods and / or services must be specified in schedule. The tax shall be levied at the rates specified in that schedule. However Central government or state government have power to give exemption from payment of tax. The process of giving exemption is detailed in following diagram:

Supply

The liability to pay GST arises when there is a supply of goods and/or services. Under GST regime supply is taxable activity. Section 3 of the act had widened the scope of the terms supply from its natural meaning. From the plain reading of section following shall be included within supply:

  1. Sale made or agreed to be made for a consideration in the course or furtherance of business.
  2. Transfer made or agreed to be made for a consideration in the course or furtherance of business.
  3. Barter / exchange made or agreed to be made for a consideration in the course or furtherance of business.
  4. License made or agreed to be made for a consideration in the course or furtherance of business.
  5. Rental made or agreed to be made for a consideration in the course or furtherance of business.
  6. Lease made or agreed to be made for a consideration in the course or furtherance of business.
  7. Disposal made or agreed to be made for a consideration in the course or furtherance of business.
  8. Import of service.
  9. Permanent transfer / disposal of business assets made or agreed to be made without a consideration.
  10. Temporary application of business assets to a private or non business use made or agreed to be made without a consideration.
  11. Service put to a private or non-business use made or agreed to be made without a consideration.
  12. Assets retained after deregistration.
  13. Supply by a taxable person to another taxable or non taxable person in the course or furtherance of business made or agreed to be made without a consideration excluding supply to job worker.

After having ascertained that there is a supply, next step is to identify whether it is supply of goods or supply of service. The detailed guideline for the same is given in Schedule II of the act and will be deal in our next blog.

Sep 122016
 

Levy of central / state Goods and Service Tax

There shall be levied a tax called the Central / State Goods and Service Tax on all intra state supplies of goods and/or services at the rate specified in the schedule …. to this Act and collected in such manner as may be prescribed.

The CGST/SGST shall be paid by every taxable person in accordance with the provisions of this act.

The liability to pay CGST/SGST on the goods shall arise at the time of supply as determined in terms of the provisions of this section.

The liability to pay CGST/SGST on services shall arise at the time of supply, as determine in terms of the provision of this section.

The following conditions shall be satisfied for levy of CGST/SGST:

  1. There must be a person.
  2. There must be a taxable person.
  3. There must be some goods and/or services
  4. Such goods must be specified in schedule …. of this act.
  5. There must be an intra state supply (supply within state) of such goods and/or services.
  6. The tax shall be paid at the time of supply.

In any of the above ingredient is missing the tax is not payable.

Taxable person:

Taxable person means a person who carries on any business at any place in India / state of ….. and who is registered or required to be registered under Schedule III of this act.

Who are person in the act. Places to be consider in India + Who are required to be registered Persons not considered as taxable person
Individual HUF Company Firm LLP
AOP / BOI Corporation or government company
Body corporate of a country outside India
Co-operative society
Local authority
Society Trust Artificial Judicial person
A place from where the business is ordinarily carried on Warehouse Godown Other places where goods are stored or provides / receives goods and/or services Places where account books are maintained.Place of agent I.   Person making inter- state supply
II.   Casual person
III.   Person liable under RCM.
IV.   Person undertaking transaction in India without having fixed place in India.V.   Persons required to deduct tax.VI.   Person who supply on behalf of others.

VII.   Input service distributor.

VIII.   Supply via e commerce.

IX.   Supply exceeding rupees nine lakh.

 I.   Agriculturist
II.   Employee
III.   Person engaged in business of exclusively supplying goods and/or services that are not specified in schedule……IV.   Person liable to pay tax under reverse charge mechanism, if receiving services of value <= ……. rupees in a financial year.
Calculation of Nine lakh: Gross Turnover (Including export turnover) of a person having same PAN
Add: Turnover of supplies not levy able to tax
Add: Turnover of supplies made as an agent
Less: taxes charges under the CGST Act, SGST Act and the IGST Act
Less: Value of supplies on which tax is levied on reverse charge basis
Less: Value of inward supplies
Less: Supply of goods after completion of job-work by a registered job worker Total suppliesOnce the threshold limit is crossed the supplier shall be liable to be registered in all such states from where he makes a supply of goods and/or services on which tax is levyable.

Hence it is always of immense importance to see whether supplies are being made by taxable person or not. In case supplies are made by non taxable person same are not taxable and no input credit will be given in case tax is wrongly paid to such person. Other element of CGST / SGST will be discussed in out forthcoming blogs.