GST Migration for Excise assessees to start from 05/01/2017 and Service Tax assessees from 09/01/2017

Dear Professional Colleague,

GST Migration for Excise assessees to start from 05/01/2017 and Service Tax assessees from 09/01/2017

In series of events to witness the GST light of the day, enrolment of existing registrants in indirect taxes was made open for the assessees presently registered with State Tax or VAT in Puducherry, the first in the Country (along with Sikkim), from November 8, 2016. On the same day, GST System Portal ‘www.gst.gov.in’ (“GSTN Portal”) was launched by the Government of India.

Enrolment under GST means validating the data of existing taxpayers and filling up the remaining key fields. In this regard, the schedule of the GST enrolment plan (State-wise) was also provided by the Government. GST enrolment schedule has now been revised and the details have been made more precise along with details of the percentage of the assessees submitted/provided details (State-wise) and migrated till date.

Gist of important changes:

• Earlier, the taxpayers registered under the Central Excise and Service Tax, but not registered under State VAT were required to enrol from January 1, 2017, but now enrolment date for the Central Excise assessees and Service Tax assessees have been differently prescribed, which are as under:

*Instead of the Service Tax Act, it should have been written under the Finance Act, 1994.

• Earlier, there was a category of “Delta All Registrants (All Groups)”, for which enrolment date was February 1, 2017. Now, the same has been replaced with specific category of “new registration under VAT/Service Tax/Central Excise after August, 2016”, in the following manner:

• Also, the percentage of assessees migrated till date (State-wise) has also been provided which shows highest GST enrolment in the state of Gujarat (i.e. 78.36%). 

GST enrolment schedule:

The revised schedule of the enrolment activation drive for States is given below for ease reference:

Source: https://www.gst.gov.in/enrolplan

8^th GST Council meeting begins on January 3, 2017: The Council will meet representatives of six crucial sectors

The GST Council has begun its crucial two-day meeting today in New Delhi, as it looks to find a middle path on sharing of administrative powers between the Centre and the States that is acceptable to both sides.The meeting will also look to finalize the Integrated GST bill. A consensus will help the Centre to table the supporting legislations in the budget session of the Parliament beginning later this month.

In its two day meeting, the GST Council will also meet representatives of six crucial sectors, including IT, telecom, banking and insurance, to assess the implementation hurdles under the new GST regime. A presentation will also be made by sector representatives of civil aviation and railways.

Hope the information will assist you in your Professional endeavours. In case of any query/ information, please do not hesitate to write back to us.

Thanks & Best Regards,                                                    

Bimal Jain

FCA, FCS, LLB, B.Com (Hons)

Author of a book on Goods and Services Tax, titled, 'GUIDE TO REVISED MODEL GST LAW (With Draft Rules on Registration, Payment, Invoice, Returns and Refund)” [3^rd Edition]