GST Updates: Recent Important developments in GST

CA Bimal Jain

Rationalization of GST rates on certain goods:

The Central Government vide Notification No. 41/2017 – Central Tax (Rate) dated November 14, 2017 has amended Notification No. 01/2017  – Central Tax (Rate) dated June 28, 2017 to, inter-alia, reduce GST rate on approximately 177 items earlier falling in 28% slab to 18% slab, leaving only 50 items that will still be taxed at GST rate of 28%.Further, the CBEC vide Press Release dated November 16, 2017 has grouped these items for easy reference which includes beauty or make-up preparations, slabs of marbles and granite, ceramic tiles, chocolates, chewing gum/bubble gum etc.

Additionally, 2 items have been moved from 28% to 12% and around other 54 items also moved to lower tax brackets.

The changes are effective from 00hrs on 15^th of November, 2017.

Note: Please also see Notification No. 43/2017 – Integrated Tax (Rate) dated November 14, 2017.

• Changes relating to GST rates on restaurant and other services:

The Central Government vide Notification No. 46/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated November 14, 2017 has made the following changes in GST rates of restaurant and other services:

S.No.	Description of services	GST Rate
1.	· All stand-alone restaurants whether air conditioned or otherwise · Food parcels or takeaways · Restaurants in hotels with room declared tariff (of any unit) of less than Rs. 7,500 per day [Supply, by way of or as part of any service or in any other manner whatsoever, of goods, being food or any other article for human consumption or drink provided by a restaurant, eating joint including mess, canteen, whether for consumption on or away from the premises (i.e. takeaways) including premises of hotels, inns, guest houses, clubs, campsites or other commercial places meant for residential or lodging purposes having declared tariff of any unit of accommodation of less than Rs. 7,500/- per unit per day or equivalent]	5% GST without Input Tax Credit (“ITC”) (i.e. 2.5% CGST and SGST/UTGST each)
2.	· Restaurants in hotels with room declared tariff (of any unit) of Rs. 7,500 per day and above Supply of (1) above, by a restaurant, eating joint including mess, canteen whether for consumption on or away from the premises (i.e. takeaways) located in the premises of hotels, inns, guest houses, clubs, campsites or other commercial places meant for residential or lodging purposes having declared tariff of any unit of accommodation of Rs. 7,500/- and above per unit per day or equivalent]	18% with ITC (i.e. 9% CGST and SGST/UTGST each)
Explanation- “declared tariff” includes charges for all amenities provided in the unit of accommodation (given on rent for stay) like furniture, air conditioner, refrigerators or any other amenities, but without excluding any discount offered on the published charges for such unit.
4.	GST rate on job work services in relation to manufacture of those handicraft goods in respect of which the casual taxable person has been exempted from obtaining registration	5% with ITC

The changes are effective from 00hrs on 15th of November, 2017.

Notes:

1) Outdoor catering will continue to be at 18% with full ITC.

2) Please also see Notification No. 48/2017 – Integrated Tax (Rate) dated November 14, 2017.

• Amendment in the CGST Rules, 2017

The Central Government vide Notification No. 55/2017 – Central Tax dated November 15, 2017 has amended the CGST Rules, 2017. Some of the technical changes are as under:

√ No reversal in respect of services supplied to Nepal & Bhutan:Manner of determination of ITC in respect of inputs/ input services/ capital goods and reversal thereof in specified cases is contained under Rule 42 and Rule 43 of the CGST Rules, 2017.

Now, an explanation has been inserted in Rule 43, after sub-rule (2), to provide for exclusion of value of supply of services to Nepal and Bhutan, against payment in Indian Rupees, at the time of calculating aggregate value of exempt supplies. In nutshell, it can be said that ITC in respect of services supplied to Nepal and Bhutan, against payment in Indian Rupees, need not to be reversed.

Note – Supply of services having place of supply in Nepal and Bhutan, against payment in Indian Rupees have been exempted vide Notification No. 42/2017-Integrated Tax (Rate) dated October 27, 2017.

√ Issue of consolidated invoice by banking companies made optional:In Rule 54, in sub-rule (2), for the words “supplier shall issue”, the words “supplier may issue” is substituted to make it optional for an insurer or a banking company or a financial institution, including a non-banking financial company, to issue a consolidated tax invoice or any other document in lieu thereof for supply of services made during a month at the end of the month.

√ New Rules inserted on “Manual filing & processing”:After Rule 97 and Rule 107, new Rules (Rule 97A and Rule 107A) has been inserted to provide for manual filing of application, intimation, reply, declaration, statement or issuance of the notice, order or certificate in required forms for the purpose of refund and advance ruling.

(Process of manual filing and processing of refund claims in respect of zero-rated supplies has been detailed out in Circular No. 17/17/2017 – GST dated November 15, 2017)

New Refund forms:For the purpose of claiming refund manually by casual taxable person or non-resident taxable person, tax deductor, tax collector and other registered taxable person, “Form GST RFD-01 A” and “Form GST RFD-01 B” has been inserted after Form GST RFD-01.

• Return filing made easy

The return filing process has been further simplified in the following manner:

√ All taxpayers would file monthly return in Form GSTR-3Balong with payment of taxes by 20^th of the succeeding month till March, 2018 – Notification No. 56/2017-Central Tax dated November 15, 2017.

• For filing of details in Form GSTR-1till March 2018, taxpayers would be divided into two categories. Details of these two categories along with the last date of filing GSTR-1 are as follows:

a) Taxpayers with annual aggregate turnover up to Rs. 1.5 Crore need to file GSTR-1 on quarterly basis as per following frequency: (Notification No. 57/2017– Central Tax dated November 15, 2017)

Quarter for which the details in FORM GSTR-1 are furnished	Time period for furnishing the details in FORM GSTR-1
Jul – Sep, 2017	31st Dec, 2017
Oct – Dec, 2017	15th Feb, 2018
Jan – Mar, 2017	30th April, 2018

b) Taxpayers with annual aggregate turnover more than Rs. 1.5 Crore need to file GSTR-1 on monthly basis as per following frequency: (Notification No. 58/2017 – Central Tax dated November 15, 2017)

Months for which the details in FORM GSTR-1 are furnished	Time period for furnishing the details in FORM GSTR-1
Jul – Oct, 2017	31st Dec, 2017
November, 2017	10th Jan, 2018
December, 2017	10th Feb, 2018
January, 2017	10th Mar, 2018
February, 2017	10th Apr, 2018
March, 2017	10th May, 2018

Note: The time period for filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 for the months of July 2017 to March 2018 would be worked out by a Committee of Officers. Therefore, filing of GSTR-1 will continue for the entire period without requiring filing of GSTR-2 & GSTR-3 for the previous month / period.

• Extension of dates for furnishing other Forms

Taking cognizance of the late availability or unavailability of some forms on the GSTN portal, it has been decided that the due dates for furnishing the following forms shall be extended as under:

Notifications/ Orders	Form and Details	Original due dates	Revised due dates
Notification No. 59/2017 – Central Tax dated 15.11.2017	GSTR-4 for the quarter July-September, 2017 by Composition suppliers	18.10.2017	24.12.2017
Notification No. 60/2017 – Central Tax dated 15.11.2017	GSTR-5 for the months of July-October, 2017 by Non-Resident Taxable Person	20.08.2017 or 7 days from the last date of registration whichever is earlier	11.12.2017
Notification No. 61/2017 – Central Tax dated 15.11.2017	GSTR-5A for the month of July-October, 2017 by supply of online information and database access or retrieval (OIDAR) services by a person located outside India made to a non-taxable person in India	20.08.2017	15.12.2017
Notification No. 62/2017 – Central Tax dated 15.11.2017	GSTR-6 for July, 2017 by Input Service Distributor (ISD)	13.08.2017	31.12.2017
Notification No. 63/2017– Central Tax dated 15.11.2017	GST ITC-04, containing details of Inputs & Capital goods sent& received from/to Job Workers, for the quarter July-September, 2017	25.10.2017	31.12.2017
Order No. 09/2017& Order No. 10/2017 – GST dated 15.11.2017	GST TRAN-1along with one time revision for claiming transitional credit in GST	30.09.2017	27.12.2017

• Reduction in late fees for delayed filing of return in Form GSTR-3B

The Central Government vide Notification No. 64/2017-Central Tax dated November 15, 2017 has reduced the per day penalty for delay in filing of return in Form GSTR-3B from October 2017 on-wards in the following manner:

Particulars	Till September, 2017	From October, 2017
Nil returns	Rs. 200 per day	Rs. 20 per day
Others	Rs. 200 per day	INR 50 per day

Notes:

1) Late fees prescribed above is total of both CGST and SGST/UTGST law

2) The penalty for late filing of returns for the month of July, August and September has already been waived off and refunds are being credited to taxpayers online GST account. Furthermore, it has been decided that where any such late fees were paid, it will be re-credited to the electronic cash ledger under the ‘tax head’ instead of ‘fee head’ so as to enable the taxpayers to use that amount to discharge their future tax liabilities.

• No GST on Advances in respect of supply of goods

The Central Government vide Notification No. 66/2017 – Central Tax dated November 15, 2017, has notified the registered person who did not opt for the composition levy, as the class of persons who shall pay the CGST on outward supply of goods at the time of supply as specified in Section 12(2)(a) of the CGST Act, 2017 including in the situations attracting the provisions of Section 14.

Section 12(2)(a) of the CGST Act, 2017, prescribes time of supply for goods as the date of issuance of invoice or the last date on which invoice is required to be issued.

Thus, no GST will be applicable on advance amount received in respect of goods.

It may be noted that this notification has been issued in suppression of earlier Notification No. 40/2017 – Central Tax dated October 13, 2017, wherein the stated benefit was allowed only to small assessees whose aggregate turnover in preceding financial year did not exceed Rs. 1.5 crore. Now, the provision has been generalized for all the registered assessees other than composition supplier.

• Reverse charge on supply of Raw Cotton by agriculturist:

The Central Government vide Notification No. 43/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated November 14, 2017 has notified “supply of raw cotton by agriculturist” as a supply, the tax on which shall be liable to be paid by the recipient of such supply (i.e. any registered person) under reverse charge.

This notification shall come into force with effect from November 15, 2017.

Note: Please also see Notification No. 45/2017 – Integrated Tax (Rate) dated November 14, 2017

Hope the information will assist you in your Professional endeavours. In case of any query/ information, please do not hesitate to write back to us.

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(Author can be reached at Email: bimaljain@hotmail.com)

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