Goods and GST Bill passed

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Dear All,

GST Bill is passed in Rajya Sabha on 03. 08.2016.

A panel under chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian has recommended a revenue-neutral rate of 15-15.5%, with a standard rate of 17-18% be levied on most goods and all services.

But, there has been no agreement yet on rates of various goods and services, which remains a tricky issue. According to the Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha in May 2015, the rates were to be decided by a GST council headed by the central finance minister with state finance ministers as members.

Let us wait.

Thanks.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

GSTN has created prototype for various return forms, payment challan etc. A preview of the same is being shared through this pdf document with following purpose:
– To give an idea about look and feel of ‘Return’ & ‘Payment’ Modules and the flows there-in.
– To seek your feedback / comments on the Prototype to improve it further and see if any aspect has been left out.

Download copy of prototype from here – GST Return and Payment Prototype

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Under GST, imports and exports of goods and services would be treated as Inter-State supply of goods or services and thereby, IGST would be payable along with Basis Customs Duty (“BCD”) on import of goods and IGST on import of services. It is likely that under GST, rate of Duty Drawback could be limited to the amount of BCD paid on imported inputs used for exported goods/services.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The much-touted Good and Services Tax (GST) will be rolled out on July 1, 2017 and is likely to bring in a uniform experience to the existing Herculean system. But, Gaurav Dua, Head-Research of Sharekhan feels that India's biggest tax reform may disrupt earnings growth of companies for a few quarters.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Mr Gaurav Dua further said, "Generally, on average, companies keep an inventory of 4-5 months that they would prefer to bring down once GST is implemented. This could cause some temporary disruption in financial performance of Indian companies."

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Association of Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officers of Customs and Central Excise has penned down a letter to PM Narendra Modi showering concern over the recent decisions taken by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council pertaining to 90:10 division of control over tax assessees below annual turnover threshold of ₹ 1.5 crore.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Association further mentioned in the letter as “The decision seems to be one-sided in favour of states weakening sovereign function of the Centre regarding levy and collection of taxes. Our apprehension is that GST in this form may not bring the desired goals of better tax compliance, more revenues, ease of business and reduction in inflation and an instant spurt in economic growth,”

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The Association said that multiple returns for service providers and banking sector will increase compliance cost. “Service providers in the banking, insurance, logistics, IT & ITES and aviation sectors are operating under a single centralised registration of service tax at present. That means, at present, they have to file 3 Service Tax returns in one year. In GST era, they will have to file 61 returns per state, per year, after taking registration in each state in which they have presence. So, a major Bank like SBI, which has branches in all 35 states and Union Territories, will end up filing over 2,000 returns annually. This does not seem to be in the spirit of ease of doing business, as it will lead to severe rise in compliance costs,” it said.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Eleventh meeting of GST Council - GST Council clears CGST and IGST law

In a constructive meeting of the GST Council, various important aspects have been finalised. These have been summarised below:

(i) Approval of CGST and IGST laws

The CGST and IGST laws have been formally approved by the GST Council today.

The laws would now be vetted from a legal perspective again to incorporate minor changes (from a legal wording perspective) post which the same would be tabled before the Cabinet for their approval. Once the laws are cleared by the Cabinet, the same would be presented before the Parliament in the second half of the budget session.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

“Even though change in the peak rate will not alter the four-slab rate structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% agreed upon last year, but is only a provision being built into the model law to take care of contingencies in future. This means the central GST and state GST can be up to 20% each, leaving the scope for a maximum levy at 40%. This aggregate rate of 40% can be expected to be applicable on sin goods,” Abhishek Rastogi, Partner, Khaitan & Co.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Following rates have been finalised under the composition scheme for turnover below ₹ 50 lakhs:

• Restaurants in service sector - 5% (2.5% CGST and 2.5% SGST)
• Traders - 1% (0.5% CGST and 0.5% SGST)
• Manufacturers - 2% (1% CGST and 1% SGST)

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

There would be a State wise single registration for the taxpayer. Most of the compliances would be automated, and there would be minimal physical interface between the taxpayer and Government officials

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

All goods and services used in the course or furtherance of business eligible for input tax credit eligible on all goods and services except for a few restrictions specified in the law

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Concept of Input service distributor (ISD) to continue to allow the flow of credit of input services. In the draft model GST law it was mentioned for both goods and services.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Pending minor legal drafting, the Government seems set to pass the laws in the second half of Budget session of Parliament which begins from 9 March 2017. The implementation of GST from 1 July 2017 seems like a reality now.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The next meeting of GST Council is scheduled on 16th March 2017.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The cap of peak rate of tax under the GST Law has been increased from 28% (14% CGST +14% SGST) to 40% (20% CGST + 20% SGST ).

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Once SGST and UTGST Laws are approved by the GST Council, GST officials will start classifying different goods and services into the four-tier rate structure of 5%, 12%, 18%, 28%.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

"A proposed flat 12 per cent GST on biscuits will be a grave injustice to the poor as biscuits retailed below ₹ 100 per kg are treated as merit goods. If these products are included then about 240 biscuit factories will shut down," Mayank Shah, vice president, Biscuit Manufacturers Welfare Association, told .

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Biscuit Manufacturers Welfare Association has petitioned the Goods and Services Tax Council to keep biscuits below `100 a kg in the zero-tax bracket, separate from the high-priced ones. At present, low-priced biscuits are exempted from central excise but attract value added tax in states. The association wants this distinction to continue under the GST, which is to be implemented from July 1.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Experts point out that GST being levied on branch transactions could be cumbersome because of the enormous number of financial transactions being carried out and because it will be impossible for banks and finance institutions to value services provided by one branch to another and then pay GST on that. Banks have written to the government to amend the GST law involving such 'self-supply' of services.

AI Summary

Goods and Services Tax consolidation creates a dual GST framework with GST Council oversight and a shared IT platform for compliance.
Goods and Services Tax establishes a destination based, dual tax framework subsuming central and state indirect levies, administered through a GST Council and implemented via a shared IT platform (GSTN). The model law sets out registration and return regimes, HSN/SAC classification by turnover bands, input tax credit carry forward, composition and reverse charge rules, refund and valuation procedures, compensation to states during transition, and institutional arrangements for cross empowerment, adjudication and dispute resolution.