GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST)

23.07.2020

CBIC notification about e-invoice schema, mandatory e-invoicing to be released by next week.

MANGALURU: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will in a week’s time come out with a notification about implementing e-invoicing, a form of electronically-authenticated invoices, from October 1 only for businesses with turnover of Rs 500 crore or more, a top official said at in ASSOCHAM webinar on Thursday.

“The QR codes are definitely not happening on October 1 but the e-invoice schema and Rs 500 crore turnover related notification should be out by next week and the industry can start working on as everything is ready, the FAQs, the circular will be issued at the earliest,” said Yogendra Garg, Principal Commissioner (GST-I), GST Policy Wing, CBIC in an ‘ASSOCHAM e-Conclave on 3 years of GST - Further streamline needed?’

He also stated that CBIC would improve the existing GST return filing system instead of rolling out a read more »

03.07.2020

Central agencies detect Rs 512 crore GST evasion in one year after raids in Indore.

The directorate general of GST Intelligence (DGGI), responsible for checking indirect tax evasion, claimed to have detected goods and sales tax (GST) evasion of approximately Rs 512 crore in the past one year leading to seizure of several bank accounts and properties in Indore apart from arrest of five persons, according to a Friday official release by the enforcement agency under the ministry of finance.

According to the agency, the tax evasion estimate may rise further after assessing the data related to more dummy firms that may have provided raw material to the firm that was raided in Indore.

“Operation Kark, (launched) to counter illicit sale of pan masala/ tobacco/ cigarettes, which was initiated on May 30, has till now detected GST evasion of about Rs 512 Crore in the last one year, while five persons have been arrested in this operation. In read more »

25.05.2020

Imported cigarettes worth Rs. 3 crore seized.

Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in association with SGST personnel seized a huge quantity of foreign cigarettes imported illegally. The stocks were being transported from New Delhi, the DRI officials said.

DRI Vijayawada unit officials intercepted a truck heading to a transport company office at P. Nainavaram village in Krishna district on Saturday and seized 29,99,600 cigarette packets of ‘Paris’ brand of Myanmar origin packed in 300 boxes.

“As the cigarettes were not legally imported and do not possess any health warning as per the requirements, stocks worth about ?3 crore have been confiscated under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962,” the DRI officials said in a press release.

15.03.2020

GST Council asks Infosys to fix filing issues by July.

New Delhi: The GST Council on Saturday moved in with fresh checks, including getting information from banks, to plug evasion, while deciding to instruct Infosys to fix technical glitches to the filing system by July.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre will explore the possibility of raising money from the markets to help generate funds for states that have been complaining of shortfall in compensation as several of them have seen less than 14% growth in collections.

A key theme of the meeting was to get Infosys to fix the filing problems that are being encountered by taxpayers for several months. With company executives failing to resolve the issue, the Council took the unprecedented step of asking the software company’s chairman and co-founder Nandan Nilekani to make a presentation, where he was asked to explain what triggers the problems. Sitharaman read more »

15.03.2020

Prices of mobiles set to go up as GST hiked from 12% to 18% - But Govt Says Hike May Not Result In Increase In Prices.

New Delhi: The GST Council on Saturday announced an increase in the levy on mobile phones to 18% from 12%, although the government said it may not result in a proportionate increase in prices.

The hike was aimed at correcting a situation where inputs face higher levies than the final product, resulting in problems and delays in refunds. Apart from mobile phones, footwear, fertilisers and textiles too were among the list of items with “inverted duty structure”, but after detailed deliberations, the panel comprising Union and state finance ministers decided to move ahead with an increase in the levy on handsets and some specific parts, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters after the meeting. Correcting the rate structure for the other products will be taken up later, she added.

“The mobile manufacturers will do the calculations but it is not simple read more »

12.03.2020

GST rates may rise on mobiles & footwear - Levies On Man-Made Fibres, Fertilisers To Be Reviewed.

New Delhi: Ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting on Saturday, the government is pushing for a review of the levy on mobile phones, footwear, fertiliser and man-made fibres to correct a major discrepancy that has crept in where the duty on the finished product is lower than those on inputs.

The “inverted duty structure” is resulting in massive refund claims on tax paid on inputs, although the government does not allow credit for levies on input services and capital goods, making the tax regime inefficient. Estimated annual refund on account of inverted rate structure was estimated at around Rs 20,000 crore.

At least four items — mobile phones, footwear, manmade fabrics and fertiliser — have been identified for a possible change in levies, which may rise in a phased manner. The move is part of a review read more »

09.03.2020

Govt to Nilekani: Explain failure to fix GSTN glitch - Infosys Chairman To Make Presentation Before Council.

New Delhi: The government has asked Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani to make a presentation before the GST Council next week as the IT major has repeatedly failed to fix glitches in the GST Network (GSTN), the technology backbone for the indirect tax.

Recently, the government was forced to stagger the deadline for filing returns as Infy executives were unable to address the concerns. These range from a slowdown in the platform to login errors or auto logouts, as well as a delay in getting one-time passwords, among several other complaints submitted by users.

In fact, postponing the deadline for some of the returns was seen as a major embarrassment for the government as it wants the entire tech platform’s system to be glitch-free.

This was despite summons to senior company executives by revenue secretary A B P Pandey, read more »

02.03.2020

GST collection tops Rs. 1 lakh cr for the fourth straight mth.

New Delhi: GST collections rose 8.3% in February to Rs 1.05 lakh crore compared to the same month last year, the fourth straight month of over Rs 1 lakh crore mop-up, although it was marginally lower than the over Rs 1.1 lakh crore garnered in January 2020.

Compliance, however, improved further with the number of returns filed jumping 13.6% to a record 83.5 lakh by the deadline of February 20, latest data released by the finance ministry on Sunday showed. The collections and returns filed in February are for sales in January.

While collections from the domestic front went up 12%, the import slowdown saw a 3% decline in Integrated GST, the biggest of the three components of the indirect tax. Central GST increased nearly 17% to Rs 20,569 crore, while state GST was up 13% at Rs 27,348 crore.

read more »

13.02.2020

Delayed GST payments face ?46k cr interest - Officers Asked To Collect Money On Entire Liability.

New Delhi: Tax authorities have estimated interest dues of close to Rs 46,000 crore from GST taxpayers as penalty for delayed payment, opening a fresh front against late and non-filers.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has instructed top officials across the country to initiate recovery proceedings against those who have not cleared their interest liability, while pointing out that the systems wing has done a detailed analysis of each GST Identification Number for non-payment of taxes by the deadline of 20th of every month. Based on the estimate on February 1, field officers have begun issuing notices, sources told TOI.

Apart from a late payment fee of Rs 100 a day for central GST and a matching amount for state GST, the law also provides for a levy of 18% penal interest.

CBIC has read more »

01.02.2020

Here are sector-wise highlights of the 2020 Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2020-21, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “In May 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a massive mandate to form the government again. People of India have unequivocally given their janaadesh for not just political stability, but have also reposed their faith in our economic policy. This is a budget to boost their income and enhance their purchasing power.”

Here are the highlights of this year’s budget:

Tax:

A new tax regime has been announced. Those who want to be in the old regime with exemptions, can continue to pay at the old rates.

III. E-Version of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Fliers

IV. FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions on Goods and Services Tax (GST)

V. Goods and Services Tax in India - Overview

VI. Goods and Services Tax in India - Migration

VII. Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, GOI on GST

VIII. Goods and Services Tax in India - Background