goods and service tax
WHAT IS GST?
GST or Goods and Service Tax is a comprehensive, destination-based tax on the supply of certain goods and services. It was implemented in order to replace the variety of indirect taxes (like VAT, excise, import and export duty, etc.) that existed before it; so as to make the taxing process easier and less convoluted. The rates are still more or less the same, however, having one tax makes it a lot easier to track the calculation and to curb evasion.
TYPES OF GST
There are 4 types of GST in function today:
- Central Goods and Services Tax: CGST is charged on the intra state supply of products and services.
- State Goods and Services Tax: SGST is charged on the sale of products or services within the boundaries of a state.
- Integrated Goods and Services Tax: IGST is charged on transactions of products and services across state boundaries.
- Union Territory Goods and Services Tax: UTGST is levied on the supply of products and services in any of the Union Territories in the country, viz. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, and Chandigarh. UTGST is imposed along with CGST.
GST RETURNS
A GST – registered taxpayer (each GSTIN) is obliged to submit a document to the tax administration authorities called a GST return, which contains information about all of their income, sales, and/or expenses, along with their purchases. Tax authorities use this to determine net tax liability.
There are 13 returns under GST. They are the GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, GSTR-4, GSTR-5, GSTR-5A, GSTR-6, GSTR-7, GSTR-8, GSTR-9, GSTR-10, GSTR-11, CMP-08, and ITC-04. However, all returns do not apply to all taxpayers.
WHO SHOULD REGISTER UNDER GST?
There are a number of returns to be filed under GST by different individuals but here’s a broad list of persons who should register under the GST law.
1. Any goods business with an annual turnover of over Rs. 40 lakhs.
2. Any service business with an annual turnover of Rs. 20 lakhs or more.
3. An e-commerce operator or aggregator.
4. Interstate supplier.
5. Agents of suppliers.
6. Every person who is registered under an earlier law (i.e., Excise, VAT, Service Tax etc.)
7. Casual taxable person
8. Non-resident taxable person
