As the GST roll out date is coming closer, the government, as well as the industry, has paced up the preparation to be GST ready.

State assemblies approving State GST Bills

  • Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh State Assemblies passed the GST Bills on 16 May 2017.
  • Maharashtra, Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh State Assemblies have passed the State GST Bills on 27 May 2017.
  • A special session of the Delhi assembly was held yesterday to discuss and approve the Delhi State GST Bill.
  • In all, 22 states have passed the State GST Bills.

GST preparedness and implementation date

  • West Bengal Finance Minister, Amit Mitra has expressed serious doubt over GST preparedness of the network. He has also conveyed discontent regarding 28% GST on leather, regional cinema and books.
  • In a recent meeting, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has confirmed the GST roll out date to be 1 July 2017. 

Re-opening of GST migration window

  • As promised, the GST migration window has been re-opened today for the completion of migration of the taxpayers who were unable to migrate to GST before 30 April 2017.
  • The migration window will be operational until 15 June 2017. 

GST gets active on Twitter

  • The government has created a Twitter handle @askGST_GoI to answer GST-related queries from taxpayers for early resolution and clarifications.
  • However, the twitter handle is declared to be for educational purposes only and not applicable to any legal proceedings.
  • It is managed by the officers of the Ministry of Finance. Some of the questions posted by taxpayers and answers given are mentioned below: 

Questions

Answers

Can one invoice contain both taxable as well as exempted supplies?

No. In case of exempted items, bill of supply is required to be issued

Are cesses additive or multiplicative? i.e. 28% GST and 15% cess which would total up to 43% or 1.28*1.15%=>47.2%

Cess is additive i.e. 43%

When to expect the final GST return formats and corresponding Application Programme Interface for the same?

Returns will be finalised in the 15th GST council meeting scheduled to be held on 3 June 2017

On formulations, GST will be on MRP or Sale price?

No concept of payment of GST on MRP basis

The rate of GST on jewellery retailers?

Rate of tax on gold is yet to be finalised

Requirement to issue invoice in case of GST liability on RCM basis

Self-invoice is required only in case of URD and not by default in all RCM cases

If already registered in a state, should another registration be taken for SEZ unit in the same state?

Yes. Refer Rule 1 of Registration rules
  • A message is displayed on the CBEC homepage which makes it mandatory to declare valid GSTIN in customs documents like the bill of entry and shipping bill with effect from 1 July 2017. This would be required to avail IGST credit on imports or GST refund on exports. 

SKP's comments

  • The re-opening of the migration window has given relief to the taxpayers who were unable to migrate to the GST portal between 8 November 2016 to 30 April 2017.
  • The rate of tax on few goods along with transition and return rules are expected to be finalised in the GST Council meeting on 3 June 2017.
  • The governments Twitter handle for answering GST queries which is currently very active is serving as an effective query resolution portal for the taxpayers.

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