Overview of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
GST FAQ 3rd Edition – December, 2018 – GST Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
GST
CENTRAL BOARD OF INDIRECT TAXES & CUSTOMS NEW DELHI
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
ON
GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST)
3rd Edition: 15th December, 2018
(Note: Changes announced in GST Council meeting held on 22nd December, 2018 are being incorporated and the updated edition will be uploaded shortly)
1. Overview of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Q 1. What is Goods and Services Tax (GST)?
Ans. It is a destination based tax on consumption of goods and services. It is proposed to be levied at all stages right from manufacture up to final consumption with credit of taxes paid at previous stages available as set-off. In a nutshell, only value addition will be taxed and burden of tax is to be borne by the final consumer.
Q 2. What exactly is the concept of destination based tax on consumption?
Ans. The tax would accrue to the taxing authority which has juri
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te Surcharges and Cesses so far as they relate to supply of goods and services
The GST Council shall make recommendations to the Union and States on the taxes, cesses and surcharges levied by the Centre, the States and the local bodies which may be subsumed in the GST.
Q 4. What principles were adopted for subsuming the above taxes under GST?
Ans. The various Central, State and Local levies were examined to identify their possibility of being subsumed under GST. While identifying, the following principles were kept in mind:
(i) Taxes or levies to be subsumed should be primarily in the nature of indirect taxes, either on the supply of goods or on the supply of services.
(ii) Taxes or levies to be subsumed should be part of the transaction chain which commences with import/ manufacture/ production of goods or provision of services at one end and the consumption of goods and services at the other.
(iii) The subsumation should result in free flow of tax credit in intra and inter-Stat
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isting taxation system (VAT & Central Excise) will continue in respect of the above commodities.
Q 7. What is the status of Tobacco and Tobacco products under the GST regime?
Ans. Tobacco and tobacco products is leviable to GST. In addition, the Centre has the power to levy Central Excise duty on these products.
Q 8. What type of GST is proposed to be implemented?
Ans. It would be a dual GST with the Centre and States simultaneously levying it on a common tax base. The GST to be levied by the Centre on intra-State supply of goods and / or services would be called the Central GST (CGST) and that to be levied by the States/ Union territory would be called the State GST (SGST)/ UTGST. Similarly, Integrated GST (IGST) will be levied and administered by Centre on every inter-state supply of goods and services.
Q 9. Why is Dual GST required?
Ans. India is a federal country where both the Centre and the States have been assigned the powers to levy and collect taxes through appropriate l
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Tax) but, the tax is collected and retained entirely by the States. As for services, it is the Centre alone that is empowered to levy service tax.
Introduction of the GST required amendments in the Constitution so as to simultaneously empower the Centre and the States to levy and collect this tax. The Constitution of India has been amended by the Constitution (one hundred and first amendment) Act, 2016 for this purpose. Article 246A of the Constitution empowers the Centre and the States to levy and collect the GST.
Q 12. How a particular transaction of goods and services would be taxed simultaneously under Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST)?
Ans. The Central GST and the State GST would be levied simultaneously on every transaction of supply of goods and services made by registered persons except the exempted goods and services, goods and services which are outside the purview of GST. Further, both would be levied on the same price or value unlike State VAT which is levied on th
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e would be allowed to use only the credit of CGST paid on his purchases while for SGST he can utilize the credit of SGST alone. In other words, CGST credit cannot, in general, be used for payment of SGST. Nor can SGST credit be used for payment of CGST.
Illustration II: Suppose, again hypothetically, that the rate of CGST is 10% and that of SGST is 10%. When an advertising company located in Mumbai supplies advertising services to a company manufacturing soap also located within the State of Maharashtra for, let us say ₹ 100, the ad company would charge CGST of ₹ 10 as well as SGST of ₹ 10 to the basic value of the service. He would be required to deposit the CGST component into a Central Government account while the SGST portion into the account of the concerned State Government Of course, he need not again actually pay ₹ 20 (Rs. 10+Rs. 10) in cash as it would be entitled to set-off this liability against the CGST or SGST paid on his purchase (say, of inputs s
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would instantly spur economic growth. There may also be revenue gain for the Centre and the States due to widening of the tax base, increase in trade volumes and improved tax compliance. Last but not the least, this tax, because of its transparent character, would be easier to administer.
Q 14. What is IGST?
Ans. Under the GST regime, an Integrated GST (IGST) would be levied and collected by the Centre on inter-State supply of goods and services. Under Article 269A of the Constitution, the GST on supplies in the course of inter- State trade or commerce shall be levied and collected by the Government of India and such tax shall be apportioned between the Union and the States in the manner as may be provided by Parliament by law on the recommendations of the Goods and Services Tax Council.
Q 15. Who will decide rates for levy of GST?
Ans. The CGST and SGST would be levied at rates to be jointly decided by the Centre and States. The rates would be notified on the recommendations of t
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ied period to raise additional resources during any natural calamity or disaster;
(viii) special provision with respect to the North- East States, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand; and
(ix) any other matter relating to the GST, as the Council may decide.
Q 17. What is the guiding principle of GST Council?
Ans. The mechanism of GST Council would ensure harmonization on different aspects of GST between the Centre and the States as well as among States. It has been provided in the Constitution (one hundred and first amendment) Act, 2016 that the GST Council, in its discharge of various functions, shall be guided by the need for a harmonized structure of GST and for the development of a harmonized national market for goods and services.
Q 18. How are decisions be taken by GST Council?
Ans. The Constitution (one hundred and first amendment) Act, 2016 provides that every decision of the GST Council shall be taken at a meeting by a majority of not less than 3/4th of the weighted vo
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payable at the rates specified in the Schedules to the respective Acts.
Q 20. What are the benefits available to small tax payers under the GST regime?
Ans. Tax payers with an aggregate turnover in a financial year up to [Rs.20 lakhs & ₹ 10 Lakhs for NE and special category states] would be exempt from taking registration under GST. Further, a person whose aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year is less than ₹ 1 Crore (75 lakhs for 9 special category states viz 1. Arunachal Pradesh, 2. Assam, 3. Manipur, 4. Meghalaya, 5. Mizoram, 6. Nagaland, 7. Sikkim, 8. Tripura, and 9. Himachal Pradesh) can opt for a simplified composition scheme where tax will payable at a concessional rate on the turnover in a state.
[Aggregate turnover shall include the aggregate value of all taxable supplies, exempt supplies and exports of goods and/or services and exclude taxes viz. GST.] Aggregate turnover shall be computed on all India basis. For NE States and special category states
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cheme of Classification of Services” on 12th June 2018.
Q 22. What is the scope of composition scheme under GST?
Ans. Small taxpayers with an aggregate turnover in a preceding financial year up to Rs. One Crore (75 lakhs for special category States – except Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand) are eligible for composition levy. This scheme is basically for suppliers of goods and restaurant service providers only. Under the scheme, a taxpayer shall pay tax as a percentage of his turnover in a state during the year without the benefit of ITC. The rate of tax for CGST and SGST/UTGST shall not exceed [1% for manufacturer as well as traders; 5% for specific services as mentioned in para 6(b) of Schedule II viz serving of food or any other article for human consumption i.e. restaurant service providers]. A tax payer opting for composition levy shall not collect any tax from his customers.
Tax payers making inter- state supplies (except persons making inter-state supplies of certain specified
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nd Service Tax Network (GSTN). A Special Purpose Vehicle called the GSTN has been set up to cater to the needs of GST. The GSTN shall provide a shared IT infrastructure and services to Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of GST. The functions of the GSTN would, inter alia, include:
(i) facilitating registration;
(ii) forwarding the returns to Central and State authorities;
(iii) computation and settlement of IGST;
(iv) matching of tax payment details with banking network;
(v) providing various MIS reports to the Central and the State Governments based on the tax payer return information;
(vi) providing analysis of tax payers' profile; and
(vii) running the matching engine for matching, reversal and reclaim of input tax credit.
The GSTN is developing a common GST portal and applications for registration, payment, return and MIS/ reports. The GSTN would also be integrating the common GST portal with the existing tax administrat
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ose of Compliance rating mechanism?
Ans. As per Section 149 of the CGST/SGST Act, every registered person shall be assigned a compliance rating based on the record of compliance in respect of specified parameters. Such ratings shall also be placed in the public domain. A prospective client will be able to see the compliance ratings of suppliers and take a decision as to whether to deal with a particular supplier or not. This will create healthy competition amongst taxable persons.
Q 26. Whether actionable claims liable to GST?
Ans. As per section 2(52) of the CGST/SGST Act actionable claims are to be considered as goods. Schedule III read with Section 7 of the CGST/SGST Act lists the activities or transactions which shall be treated neither as supply of goods nor supply of services. The Schedule lists actionable claims other than lottery, betting and gambling as one of such transactions. Thus only lottery, betting and gambling shall be treated as supplies under the GST regime. All t
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ated to furnish an information return of the same in respect of such periods, within such time, in such form and manner and to such authority or agency as may be prescribed. Failure to do so may result in penalty being imposed as per Section 123.
Q 29. Different companies have different types of accounting software packages and no specific format are mandated for keeping records. How will department be able to read into these complex software?
Ans. As per Section 153 of the CGST/SGST Act, having regard to the nature and complexity of a case and in the interest of revenue, department may take assistance from an expert at any state of scrutiny, inquiry, investigation or any other proceedings.
Q 30. Is there any provision in GST for tax treatment of goods returned by the recipient?
Ans. Yes, Section 34 deals with such situations. Where the goods supplied are returned by the recipient, the registered person (supplier of goods) may issue to the recipient a credit note containing the pre
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pursuance of the powers conferred by this section, the government has constituted the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA). NAA is required to examine whether input tax credits availed by any registered person or the reduction in the tax rate have actually resulted in a commensurate reduction in the price of the goods or services or both supplied by him.
NAA has power to investigate cases against the registered person who has not passed on the benefits by way of commensurate reduction in prices and order reduction in prices, cancel registration, impose penalty and/or return to the recipient, an amount equivalent to the amount not passed on by way of commensurate reduction in prices along with interest.
Q 32. What tax will be levied on goods manufactured but not cleared from factory before 01.07.2017?
Ans. Goods manufactured, but not cleared from factory before 01.07.2017 have been exempted from Central Excise duty vide Tariff Notification No. 12/2
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