Payment of GST

Jinal Soni

India is moving towards digitization and the same idea has been captured by lawmakers while drafting the GST bill.

In this article, we will discuss the concept of electronic ledgers and how they are proposed to be used to settle payment liability under GST.

There are 3 Electronic ledgers namely E-liability ledger, E-cash ledger & E-credit ledger which the taxpayer can see on their dashboard once they login to GSTN portal.

All the payments under GST have to be made by either using Input tax credit available in the E-credit ledger or through E-cash ledger. The E-liability ledger reflects the amount of tax payable by the taxpayer.

Let us now discuss each of these E-ledgers in detail for discharge of the tax liability.

E-CASH LEDGER (Form GST PMT 05):

This ledger will reflect all deposits made on the account of the taxpayer in Cash, TDS & TCS. This ledger can be used for making any payment of GST.

This ledger will serve as an Electronic Wallet. Where the taxpayer needs to make any payment such as tax , interest, penalty etc. & he does not have enough credit in his E- Credit ledger, he will have to simply add money to the wallet & the money will be utilised to make the payment.

Payments would be made under three heads : CGST, SGST, IGST & is further divided into the different minor heads like tax , interest, penalty, fees etc.

Money can be deposited in Cash ledger by different modes namely :

》 E – Payment ( Internet Banking, Credit Card, Debit Card)

》 RTGS/NEFT

》 Over The Counter payment in branches of Banks Authorised to accept deposit of GST.

Cash payment will first be deposited in Cash ledger and the taxpayer shall debit the ledger while making payment in the monthly return and shall reflect the relevant debit entry number in his return itself.

Now coming to some relevant points on Challan for making payment of GST :-

> Under GST, the manual challans have been done away with & the challans has been made available online.

> A taxpayer can create a challan (Form GST – PMT -06) from the GSTN Portal for the purpose of payment of taxes. It is possible to fill in the challan form partially and temporarily “save” the challan for completion at a later stage.A saved challan can be “edited” before finalisation. After the taxpayer has finalised the challan it can be generated. The remitter can print the challan for his record.

> It is important to note that once a challan is generated online it cannot be modified. He can save the challan midway for future editing. However once the challan is finalsed and CPIN is generated, no further changes can be made to it by the taxpayer.

> A challan will be valid for a period of 15 days after its generation and thereafter it will be purged from the system. However the taxpayer can generate another challan at his convenience.

> CPIN stands for Common Portal Identification Number; given at the time of generation of challan. As stated above CPIN remains valid for a period of 15 days.

> CIN stands for Challan Identification Number. It is a 17 digit Number i.e. 14 digit CPIN plus 3 digit bank code.

CIN is generated by the authorised banks / RBI when the payment is actually received by such authorised bank or RBI and credited to the relevant Government account.

Note : Where the Bank account is debited but no CIN is generated, then the assessee may represent electronically in Form GST – PMT – 07 through common portal to the bank or electronic gateway through which deposit was initiated.

MODE OF PAYMENT:- ( i.e. transfer money to E- Cash ledger)

A) E – Payment ( Internet Banking, Debit Card, Credit card )

Note : In case of credit card , the taxpayer would be required to Pre – register his credit card from which tax payment is intended with the common portal maintained on GSTN.

Steps:-

》Login to GSTN.

》Generate challan ( CPIN )(Form GST – PMT – 06) ) Fill in the details.

》Select Internet Banking/ Debit card/ credit card. )Select Authorised Bank.

》Make payment and CIN is generated.

B)  NEFT/ RTGS :-

》Login to GSTN.

》Generate challan ( CPIN )(Form GST – PMT – 06) ) Fill in the details.

》Also generate NEFT / RTGS mandate form in the prescribed format.

Note:- The mandate form will be valid for a period of 15 days.

》Approach Bank ( i.e. to any bank; even if not authorised ) and submit the mandate form generated.

》Amount is debited from the taxpayer’s account and credited directly to the government.

Note :- Payment under this mode would be permitted only against cheque & no cash payment would be permitted to initiate the NEFT / RTGS transaction.

C) Over The Counter (OTC):-

(Upto 10K per challan per tax period.)

》Login to GSTN.

》Generate challan ( CPIN )(Form GST – PMT – 06)

》Fill in the details.

》Present the cheque in Authorised Bank.

》Payment successfully done on the realisation of cheque.

Note:- Where the tax liability exceeds 10K, it is mandatory to pay tax online.

Further, if any payment is required to be made by a person who is not registered under the act, shall be made on the basis of Temporary Identification Number generated through the common portal.

E-CREDIT LEDGER ( Form GST – PMT – 02):-

Input Tax Credit as self assessed in the monthly return will be reflected here. The credit in this ledger can be used to make payment of Output tax only and not for any other payment such as interest, penalty , fees etc.

Input tax credit that is self assessed will be reflected under 3 categories:- SGST, CGST, IGST.

The amount of ITC on account of IGST available, shall first be utilised towards payment of IGST & balance if any may be utilised towards payment of CGST & SGST in that order respectively.

The amount of ITC on account of SGST! CGST shall first be utilised towards payment of SGST! CGST respectively & balance if any towards the payment if IGST.

The ITC on account of CGST shall not be utilised towards payment of SGST & vice versa.

Further, a registered person can claim refund of any amount from E – Cash ledger & E – credit ledger in accordance with the provisions of this act. If any refund so claimed is rejected either fully or partially, then such amount shall be re-credited to E- cash or E – credit ledger as the case may be, by the proper officer by an order in Form GST – PMT – 03.

Further, even a registered person shall upon noticing any discrepancy in his E – Credit ledger, shall communicate the same to the officer through common portal in Form GST – PMT – 04.

E-LIABILITY LEDGER ( Form GST- PMT – 01):-

The total tax liability of a taxpayer ( after netting ) for the particular month will be shown here. This ledger will be automatically displayed on a GST taxpayer’s dashboard.

It will show the tax due from a regular tax return and interest, penalty, demand notices under each major head.

Any amount of demand debited in E- liability ledger shall stand reduced to the extent if relief given by the appellate authority ! appellate tribunal! court & the E – liability ledger shall be credited accordingly.

Other relevant points :-

> Every person who had paid the tax on goods and! or service under this act shall, unless the contrary is proved by him be deemed to have passed on the full incidence of such tax to the recipient of such goods and! or services.

> Every taxable person under this act shall discharge his tax and other dues under this act as follows :-

a) Self assessed tax, other dues related to returns of previous periods;

b) Self assessed tax, other dues related to return of current tax period;

c) Any other amount payable under this act, rules including the demand determined.

> Payment of taxes by the normal taxpayers is to be done on monthly basis by 20th of the succeeding month.

> A unique identification number shall be generated at the common portal for each debit or credit to the electronic cash, credit and liability ledger.