Crucial Takeaways from Goods and Services Tax Masterclass
The Government of India recently conducted the premier GST “masterclass” which saw a number of stakeholders in attendance. There were totally six of these “masterclasses” and they were essentially programs conducted for an hour. The following are the crucial takeaways from the first GST masterclass that was held on the 5th of July this year.
1. Registration
The Government of India made it mandatory for dealers and traders to ensure that the Part-B of their GST registration was completed within a period of 90 days. Hasmukh Adhia, the Revenue Secretary, encouraged traders to ensure that the registration was completed well before the deadline so that last-minute hassles could be avoided. Adhia also added that in case an individual is not clear about the online registration, he/she could simply visit any service tax, value added tax, or excise office of the central or state government where they would take help from officials to complete the registration. He added that individuals who visit these offices for help will not have to pay any kind of charge. The registration of names that had special characters, such as L&T or D’Souza, attracted plenty of queries, and the government addressed it by saying that the software used to run the GST portal is now corrected and registration can take place in a smooth manner.
2. Updating Information Post Registration
Updation of information regarding a business in the portal post registration was also discussed in the masterclass. According to the government, minor details such as email ID, phone number, bank account number, etc., can be changed by the dealer or the trader himself/herself by going on the GST registration portal. However, the updation of information such as change in the business’s legal name, address of the company, deletion or addition of directors or partners, etc., could only be completed by the tax authorities.
3. Exemption on Turnover
Traders who record an annual turnover lower than Rs.20 lakhs will be exempt from GST registration. However, officials from the GST Council, asserted that in case a business involves inter-state supply of goods, GST will be compulsory regardless of the turnover recorded. It was also mentioned that in case a business currently records a turnover of less than Rs.20 lakhs but exceeds the threshold, it will have to register itself under GST within 30 days of the increase in turnover.
4. Items Outside GST Ambit
The items that were outside the purview of GST were reiterated by the Revenue Secretary during the masterclass. The products and the authorities that could levy taxes on them included five petroleum commodities for which value added tax could be levied by the state government while the central government would levy excise duty; registration charges and stamp duty levied by the state government; vehicle tax levied by the state government; potable alcohol levied by the state government; electricity duty levied by the state government; and entertainment tax levied by the state government so that local bodies could benefit.
5. Miscellaneous
Adhia, along with his team, offered clarification on a number of other issues in addition to those mentioned above. They included the provisional identity number received during the registration process, and it will remain unchanged from the identity number received during the completion of registration. It was also said that all registered traders and dealers are required to use signboard to display their GSTN registration numbers. And last, but not least, the masterclass covered problems such as uploading DSC (Digital Signature Certificate), stating that dealers with such a problem could authenticate the same using a one-time password sent to his/her email ID and mobile number.
The Government of India recently conducted the premier GST “masterclass” which saw a number of stakeholders in attendance. There were totally six of these “masterclasses” and they were essentially programs conducted for an hour. The following are the crucial takeaways from the first GST masterclass that was held on the 5th of July this year.
1. Registration
The Government of India made it mandatory for dealers and traders to ensure that the Part-B of their GST registration was completed within a period of 90 days. Hasmukh Adhia, the Revenue Secretary, encouraged traders to ensure that the registration was completed well before the deadline so that last-minute hassles could be avoided. Adhia also added that in case an individual is not clear about the online registration, he/she could simply visit any service tax, value added tax, or excise office of the central or state government where they would take help from officials to complete the registration. He added that individuals who visit these offices for help will not have to pay any kind of charge. The registration of names that had special characters, such as L&T or D’Souza, attracted plenty of queries, and the government addressed it by saying that the software used to run the GST portal is now corrected and registration can take place in a smooth manner.
2. Updating Information Post Registration
Updation of information regarding a business in the portal post registration was also discussed in the masterclass. According to the government, minor details such as email ID, phone number, bank account number, etc., can be changed by the dealer or the trader himself/herself by going on the GST registration portal. However, the updation of information such as change in the business’s legal name, address of the company, deletion or addition of directors or partners, etc., could only be completed by the tax authorities.
3. Exemption on Turnover
Traders who record an annual turnover lower than Rs.20 lakhs will be exempt from GST registration. However, officials from the GST Council, asserted that in case a business involves inter-state supply of goods, GST will be compulsory regardless of the turnover recorded. It was also mentioned that in case a business currently records a turnover of less than Rs.20 lakhs but exceeds the threshold, it will have to register itself under GST within 30 days of the increase in turnover.
4. Items Outside GST Ambit
The items that were outside the purview of GST were reiterated by the Revenue Secretary during the masterclass. The products and the authorities that could levy taxes on them included five petroleum commodities for which value added tax could be levied by the state government while the central government would levy excise duty; registration charges and stamp duty levied by the state government; vehicle tax levied by the state government; potable alcohol levied by the state government; electricity duty levied by the state government; and entertainment tax levied by the state government so that local bodies could benefit.
5. Miscellaneous
Adhia, along with his team, offered clarification on a number of other issues in addition to those mentioned above. They included the provisional identity number received during the registration process, and it will remain unchanged from the identity number received during the completion of registration. It was also said that all registered traders and dealers are required to use signboard to display their GSTN registration numbers. And last, but not least, the masterclass covered problems such as uploading DSC (Digital Signature Certificate), stating that dealers with such a problem could authenticate the same using a one-time password sent to his/her email ID and mobile number.