Launched on July 1 2017, the Goods & Services Tax (GST) applies to all Indian service providers (including freelancers), traders and manufacturers. A variety of Central taxes like Service Tax, Excise Duty, CST and state taxes like Entertainment Tax, Luxury Tax, Octroi, VAT are absorbed in one tax – GST, implemented on 01.07.2017. GST is to be charged at every step of the supply chain, with full set-off benefits available. The procedure for GST is entirely online and requires no manual intervention.

Every product goes through multiple stages along the supply chain, which includes the purchasing of raw materials, manufacturing, sale to the wholesaler, selling to the retailer and then the final sale to the consumer. Interestingly, GST will be levied on all of these 3 stages. Let’s say if a product is produced in West Bengal but is being consumed in Uttar Pradesh, the entire revenue will go to Uttar Pradesh.

Also, taxpayers with a turnover of less than Rs.1.5 crore can choose composition scheme to get rid of tedious GST formalities and pay GST at a fixed rate of turnover.

What are the components of GST?

GST will have 3 tax components, which includes a central component (Central Goods and Services Tax or CGST) and a state component (State Goods and Services Tax or SGST) where centre and state will levy GST on all entities, i.e. when a transaction happens within a state. Inter-state transactions will attract the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST), to be levied by the centre, i.e. when a transaction happens one state to another.

What is the input tax credit?

Input tax credit lets you reduce your tax you have already paid on inputs and pay the remaining amount at the time of paying tax.

You pay taxes on the purchase when a product is purchased from a registered seller, and when you sell the product, you too collect the tax. With input credit, you can adjust the taxes paid at the time of purchase with the amount of tax on sales (output tax) and pay the balance liability of tax, i.e. tax on sale minus tax on the purchase.

What are the GST tax rates?

• Items that are considered basic necessities come under exempt list i.e. they are not taxed.
• Household necessities and life-saving drugs etc. are taxed at 5%.
• Products like computers and processed food are taxed at 12%.
• Hair oil, toothpaste and soaps, capital goods, industrial intermediaries and services are taxed at 18%.
• Luxury items are taxed at 28%.     

You can see the tax rates for all the products here: https://cbec-gst.gov.in/gst-goods-services-rates.html

Check out the GST calculator which comes in handy to calculate the Goods and Service Tax using different slabs.

What is a GST Return?

A GST returns is a document containing details of income that is required to be filed as per the law with the tax authorities. Under the GST law, a taxpayer has to submit two returns on a monthly basis and one such return annually. All returns have to be filed online. Please note that there is no provision for revising the returns. All invoices for the previous tax period that went unreported must be included in the current month.

Under GST, a registered dealer has to file GST returns that include: Purchases, Sales, Output, GST (On sales) and Input tax credit (GST paid on purchases).

What is GSTIN?

GSTIN is a unique identification number given to each GST taxpayer. To verify a GSTIN number a person who has a GST number can log onto the GST portal.

What is the GSTN (Goods and Service Tax Network)?

The Goods and Service Tax Network (or GSTN) is section 8 (non-profit), non-government, private limited company. GSTN is a one-stop solution for all your indirect tax requirements. GSTN is responsible for maintaining Indirect Taxation platform for GST to help you prepare, file, rectify returns and make payments of your indirect tax liabilities.

Mandatory documents for Online GST registration

The list of documents required for registration of GST for various business are as follows:

Proprietorship

• PAN Card and address proof of proprietor

LLP

• PAN Card of LLP
• LLP Agreement
• Partners’ names and address proof

Private Limited Company

• Certificate of Incorporation
• PAN Card of Company
• Articles of Association, AOA
• Memorandum of Association, MOA
• Resolution signed by board members
• Identity and address proof of directors
• Digital Signature

The following can be shown as proof of address of a director:-

• Passport
• Voter Identity Card
• Aadhar Card
• Ration Card
• Telephone or Electricity Bill
• Driving License
• Bank Account Statement

Add what works as identity proof, One can use a PAN Card, Aadhar Card as identity proof. For address proof, any of the director’s can show their voters ID, passport, telephone bill, electricity bill and telephone bill.

Preparation of GST application

One of our GST representatives will collect all the required documents and process the GST application through the iCFO platform.

Application Filing

Once all the documents are collected, the application will be processed and filed. Then immediately the ARN number will be issued.

GST Registration Certificate

The GST registration certificate and GSTIN will be issued upon verification of GST application and other mandatory documents by the GST officer. Be aware that no hard copies of the certificate will be issued and the GST registration certificate can be downloaded from the GST Portal.

Penalties For Failure To GST Registration

As per the Section 122 of the CGST act, in India, there is a direct penalty for all those taxable persons who fail to register for GST.

Voluntary Registration Under GST (for Companies With A Turnover Below Rs.20 Lakhs)

Any small business with turnover less than 20 lakh can voluntarily register for GST even though it is not compulsory by law. Voluntary GST registration has its own advantages and some of them are:

• Take input credit: In GST, there is a flow of input credit right from manufacturers of the goods till the consumers, across the country. Input credit means a taxpayer while paying tax on output can deduct the tax that has already been paid on inputs and pay only the remaining amount. Voluntarily registered businesses can increase their margins and profits through this.
• Do inter-state selling with no restrictions: SMEs can increase the scope of their businesses and find prospective customers and explore online platforms
• Register on e-commerce websites: SMEs can widen their market by registering through e-commerce sites.
• Have a competitive advantage compared to other businesses.

GST Return Filing

A GST Return Filing is a return document that contains details of the income of the taxpayer. It has to be filed with the GST administrative authority. The document is used tax authorities to calculate the tax liability of a GST taxpayer. A GST Return Filing form has to include the following details.

• Output GST (On sales)
• Sales
• Input tax credit (GST paid on purchases)
• Purchases

For filing a GST Return, you need to have GST compliant sales and purchase invoices attached.