GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST)

02-06-2018

At Rs. 94,000 crore, GST collection lower in Apr - Govt Draws Comfort From Better Compliance.

New Delhi: Goods and services tax ( GST) collections were estimated at Rs 94,000 crore in April, higher than their monthly average but lower than the Rs 1 lakh crore mopped up in March.

While the collections are lower than the informal target of Rs 1 lakh crore a month, the government is drawing comfort from what it believes is an improvement in compliance. “The total GST collection for May 2018 (for sales in April) is Rs 94,016 crore, which is higher compared to average monthly collection of Rs 89,885 crore of 2017-18. This reflects better compliance after introduction of e-way bills,” finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted.

“As per the experience of last 5 years, the average collection of taxes on goods and services during April is approximately 7.1% of the annual taxes as against 11% for March. April is traditionally read more »

30-05-2018

EFFECT OF PROTESTS - Govt promises to disburse exporters’ Rs. 20k-cr refunds.

New Delhi: After sitting on GST refunds of close to Rs 20,000 crore, the government on Tuesday promised to clear the dues after a top industry lobby group protested against holding back of funds .

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo) president Ganesh Gupta said refund of over Rs 20,000 crore was pending on account of IGST (integrated GST) and ITC (input tax credit). “Many exporters have not been able to file the refund of ITC due to technical glitches as input tax credit and exports happened in different months,” Gupta said, reiterating a concern that exporters have expressed for over six months now.

While the finance ministry has repeatedly promised to address the issue, it has refused to act decisively. On Tuesday, the ministry said it will launch the second phase of refund in the fortnight beginning May 31 to read more »

11-05-2018

Expedite GST practitioners’ registration: CBIC chief

Mumbai: The GST came into effect nearly a year ago. But several indirect tax experts find that they still haven’t been approved as GST practitioners, despite having applied for registration months ago via the GST portal.

In this backdrop, the chairperson of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Vanaja Sarna, recently wrote to officials to expedite the process. Her letter dated May 4 says, “A proactive approach in facilitating the enrolment and helping the applicants in case they have committed any bona fide mistakes while making the application will only further our cause of achieving a trade-friendly image for the department.”

Rajeev Khandelwal, chartered accountant and an indirect tax expert, says “I applied on December 7, 2017. Since the last five months, there was no news on the same and the status was shown as ‘pending for processing’ read more »

09-05-2018

GST digital discounts may cost Rs. 15,000cr - Will Make Up Through More Transactions Falling Under Tax Ambit, Says Centre.

New Delhi: The government has estimated that the Centre and the states may have to forgo up to Rs 15,000 crore in offering discounts of up to Rs 100 on GST for every digital transaction, including those done using credit or debit cards or mobile wallets and mobile and net banking.

Sources said the estimate is based on the average ticket size of the transaction being Rs 1,400 and a 2% relief being proposed on it. In case of transaction size of Rs 900 and assuming that 40% of the estimated 1,329 crore transactions were using digital payment tools, the revenue foregone would be of the order of Rs 9,500 crore a year.

The plan is limited to business to consumer (B2C) transactions for goods and services that attract 3% or more levy.

The issue was discussed at read more »

05-05-2018

Sugar cess put up for review.

New Delhi: Protest by some states, including Kerala, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, prompted the GST Council to order a review of the plan to levy a cess on sugar to “help” sugarcane growers as they complained that the move would only benefit Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and pollbound Karnataka, while discarding the basic principle of the new regime that focused on removing all additional levies. The cess would have helped the government raise Rs 6,700 crore.

During discussions on the cess, which stretched for over two hours, these states, with support from Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Puducherry, argued that imposition of a cess on sugar will also make other states such as Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab demand a similar benefit for rubber, jute and foodgrains. “There will be no end and will defeat the very purpose of GST,” said a source, adding that read more »

05-05-2018

GST Council goes for 1 filing a month over 3 - Decides To Turn GSTN Into 100% Govt Co.

New Delhi: The GST Council on Friday sought to remove one of the biggest irritants in the new tax regime by junking the current threestage return filing process and moving to one monthly return. And, unlike last year, when the return forms were rushed in at the last minute, the Centre and the states agreed to roll out the new mechanism in six months to ensure adequate preparation for the transition.

The council also decided to turn GST Network (GSTN), the agency that provides and manages tech platform for the indirect tax, into a wholly owned government company but agreed to provide flexibility by allowing hiring of professionals at market-linked salaries.

Decision on two other issues — cess on sugar and incentives of up to Rs 100 for digital payments — were deferred. These will be discussed by two separate ministerial read more »

02-05-2018

GST tops Rs. 1L cr in April, shows greater compliance.

New Delhi: Revenue from GST crossed the Rs 1-lakh crore mark in April, indicating stabilisation of the new tax reform measure that was implemented in July last year and an increase in compliance. The government has raised Rs 7.4 lakh crore in 2017-18 from GST.

The Rs 1 lakh crore collection figure is for March, 2018 that was paid in April.

“GST collections in April exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore is a landmark achievement and a confirmation of increased economic activity as brought out by other reports,” FM Arun Jaitley said on microblogging site Twitter. “With the improved economic climate, introduction of e-way bill and better compliance, GST collections would continue to show a positive trend.”

The total gross GST rethe last month of the financial year, people also try to pay arrears of some of the previous read more »

01-05-2018

Govt to keep petrol, diesel out of GST net.

New Delhi: The government has opted to ignore petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s repeated plea to bring petrol and diesel within the ambit of goods and services tax (GST) and decided to put the plan on the backburner, arguing that the time is not ripe for the change.

While most of the states were always reluctant, sources told TOI that even the finance ministry is not keen on the move as it will not lower the burden on consumers but will only complicate the GST regime. Pradhan had pushed the move to counter the impact of higher retail prices.

But with neither the Centre nor the states willing to lose any revenue from one of the most-taxed commodities, the government believes that the move will not result in any price reduction.

On the contrary, both the Centre and the read more »

24-04-2018

‘Duty-free shops at Delhi airport liable to pay GST’ - Shops Operate Within Country, Rules AAR.

New Delhi: International passengers buying goods at airport duty-free shops here will have to pay GST, with the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) saying that such outlets at the Delhi International Airport are not ‘free from duties’ under the GST regime. In the earlier regime of excise and service tax prior to GST roll out on July 1, 2017, duty-free shops were exempt from the levy of central sales tax (CST) and value added tax (VAT) as sale from such shops were considered as exports and supplies were taking place beyond the ‘customs frontiers’ of India.

The New Delhi bench of the AAR in a recent ruling has held that the supply of goods to the international passengers going abroad from dutyfree shops may be taking place beyond the customs frontiers of India under Integrated GST (IGST) Act, however, the said shops are within read more »

23-04-2018

Diesel smuggling on high seas busted - 20,000 Litres Of Oil Seized From Two Vessels; Six Arrested.

Mumbai: Tightening of coastal security after the 26/11 attacks doesn’t seem to have helped end oil smuggling, which was the mainstay of many yesteryear gangsters of Mumbai. The police have seized nearly 20,000 litres of diesel, worth nearly Rs 14 lakh, from two vessels in two different cases. Six persons have been arrested.

What has baffled police is that in one of the cases, the barge had a licence to venture into sea to transport oil; only that MT Farzana had permission to retrieve sludge oil, which is residual oil, from the rig.

When the Yellow Gate police raided the barge anchored at Mazgaon docks, they found 29,000 litres of sludge oil Rs 1.5 crore, and 11,000 litres of diesel worth around 7.7 lakh. Police arrested three people and are on the lookout for three more: Akbar Pinjara, the owner of read more »