Follow Us :

Under the current Service Tax Law tax on Reverse Charge basis is leviable under various services but the concept of Reverse Charge on goods is totally a new concept under the GST regime. Sections 9(3) & 9(4) of the GST Act, 2017 deals with the provisions of Reverse Charge.

Section 9(3) provides that government, on recommendation of Council, by notification specify categories of supply of goods and services or both, tax on which shall be paid on reverse charge basis by the recipient of such goods or services or both and provisions of this Act shall apply to such recipient as if he is person liable to pay tax in relation to such supply.

Similar provision has been incorporated in Section 5(3) of the IGST Act, 2017 to levy tax goods and services tax under the reverse charge basis on their interstate supply.

GST Counsel in its meeting held on 19-05-2017 has approved certain services tax on which tax shall be paid on reverse charge basis which are mostly same as are prevailing in the current service tax regime. However the government is still to come out with list of goods on which tax shall be paid on reverse charge basis.

In addition to Section 9(3) another sub section (4) is added in Section 9 of the GST Act, 2017 which will justify the heading of this article ‘A Nightmare for unregistered dealers’.

Section 9(4) of the Act reads as under:

The central tax in respect of the supply of taxable goods or services or both by a supplier, who is not registered, to a registered person shall be paid by such person on reverse charge basis as the recipient and all the provisions of this Act shall apply to such recipient as if he is the person liable for paying the tax in relation to the supply of such goods or services or both.

Now a registered person purchasing goods/ services from unregistered person has to pay tax on those goods/ services on his behalf on reverse charge basis and all the provisions of the Act will apply to him as he is the person supplying such goods or Services. Now this will lead to an extra blockage of capital and some extra compliance under the Act in this regards. Though he will be allowed to claim input credit of such tax paid on reverse charge basis.

So a registered person who procures any goods/ services from an unregistered dealer will have to pay tax on their receipt and then will have to claim ITC on the same subject to the conditions of the Act.

But an extra burden of payment of tax at the time of purchase, some extra compliance will force the registered person to make purchase from a person registered under the Act and which in turn will compel a person who is not registered or not liable to register to take registration under the Act in order to sell his goods/ services to a registered dealer.

Interestingly Section 5(4) of the IGST Act which is Pari Materia with Section 9(4) of the GST Act, also provides that Integrated Tax i.e. IGST on supply of goods or services or both provided by a non-registered person to a registered person in course of interstate trade, tax on such goods/ services shall be paid by the recipient on reverse charge basis.

However Section 24 of the GST Act, 2017 provides for mandatory registration in case of interstate supplies. So if an unregistered dealer cannot make interstate supplies then how can a registered person purchase goods/ services in the course of interstate trade or commerce from unregistered dealer? So the question of paying the tax on reverse charge under IGST does not arise. The purpose of adding Section 5(4) in the IGST Act is still unknown.

In normal course of business we incur many expenses in relation to furtherance of business for example printing, stationery, packing, refreshment, traveling, Services like accounting, legal services which we debit in our profit and loss account to arrive at net profit.

So now a registered person will have to pay GST under reverse charge on all these services if procured from an unregistered dealer. Suppose if I debit my P&L account for say Rs. 20000/- for a payment to an accountant for preparation of my books of accounts. Now, I will have to pay GST on Rs. 20000/- under reverse charge if my accountant is not registered under GST.

So it will be very difficult for small business houses who procure these goods/ services from unregistered dealers to pay tax every time they procure such supplies and will become even more difficult for unregistered dealers to find buyers who will purchase goods from them.

Invoice Format Under GST

Join Taxguru’s Network for Latest updates on Income Tax, GST, Company Law, Corporate Laws and other related subjects.

18 Comments

  1. Aishwarya says:

    Dear Sir,
    Can an unregistered dealer make inter state supplies? and if unregistered dealer makes inter state supplies then purchaser will pay gst on reverse charge basis but is credit of it elegible?

  2. Shah says:

    Hi,
    Kindly explain the following expenses will be cover the GST regime under reverse charge mechanism.All amount is less than Rs.5000/- per day.
    i) Purchase and service are taken from Unregistered dealer/vendor for:
    a) Stationery.
    b) Printing/Xerox from small shopkeepers.
    c) Reimbursement of Travelling expenses to Staff.
    d) Purchase from dealers who are registered under the composite scheme.

  3. Ashish Newatia says:

    Hello Sir,
    We deal in Paraffin Wax ( VAT Rate 5%) and new GST Rate (18%) .

    No excise documents are available.

    Please explain the implication on how much input credit will be given.

  4. ASHISH GUPTA says:

    except salary expense all expenses either reimbursement or payment for other material purchased or services received that means registered dealer has to pay GST on all the expenses under reverse charge except salary

  5. sanjay singal says:

    Its mapping in ERP is also bvery difficult. how the regster person know what would be the rate of taxation/sac code/hsn code of supply from unregistered person even on small transactions is very difficult job to follow.

    Please comment how it can be handled in books of accounts.

  6. Sujit Kumar Das says:

    Here the rule of interstate supply is not strict. Some of the rule makers feel that supply by unregistered dealer is possible for interstate transaction by anymeans and the rule is for that.

  7. mahendra mittal says:

    A confusion is there .The govt has declared list of services on RCM basis and its % also. So whether the registered persons has to pay gst on all service provided by unregistered dealers or only services declared in the list . As in the above article in the example :service of accountant is taken which is unlisted,even gst dealer has to pay gst on this service .pl. clarify,

  8. Shrikant says:

    Paying under Reverse charge, when its credit can be claimed, is an absolutely foolish concept . Considering the dependency on suppliers’ GST compliances for claiming ITC, it is better to buy from unregistered dealer if the prices match. In such cases businesses would rather buy from unregistered dealers !

  9. RAVIPRAKASH M S says:

    In your article it is stated that the purpose of Sec.5(4) of IGST Act. Framing of the section is 100% correct. Our constitution gives all rights to enter into transactions with any person thorughout India. An unregistred person can also make interstate sales and no authority can stop is rights. But once he enteres into I/S transactions he will be come under the perview of GST Act and all the provision of the Act he has to follow. Hence Section is right in my opinion. Pls comment.

  10. Prasanna says:

    Yes this is a nightmare to all the unregistered persons, department is trying to make everyonr to go for registration for doing a good and real business and increase the business. Good for person and tax base will increase for government.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search Post by Date
March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031