New GST Return System- Practical or Impractical?

New Return Provisions U/s 43 A of Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017

Part 1: Statutory provisions and rules thereof:

18. After section 43 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—

Sec 43 A:

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) of section 16, section 37 or section 38, every registered person shall in the returns furnished under sub-section (1) of section 39 verify, validate, modify or delete the details of supplies furnished  by the suppliers.

• Over ridding effect to sec 16(2), 37 & 38.

• Sec 16 (2)

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, no registered person shall be entitled to the credit of any input tax in respect of any supply of goods or services or both to him unless,––

(a) he is in possession of a tax invoice or debit note issued by a supplier registered under this Act, or such other taxpaying documents as may be prescribed;

(b) he has received the goods or services or both. Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, it shall be deemed that the registered person has received the goods where the goods are delivered by the supplier to a recipient or any other person on the direction of such registered person, whether acting as an agent or otherwise, before or during movement of goods, either by way of transfer of documents of title to goods or otherwise;

(c) subject to the provisions of section 41 or section 43A, the tax charged in respect of such supply has been actually paid to the Government, either in cash or through utilization of input tax credit admissible in respect of the said supply; and

(d) he has furnished the return under section 39: Provided that where the goods against an invoice are received in lots or installments, the registered person shall be entitled to take credit upon receipt of the last lot or installment:

Provided further that where a recipient fails to pay to the supplier of goods or services or both, other than the supplies on which tax is payable on reverse charge basis, the amount towards the value of supply along with tax payable thereon within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date of issue of invoice by the supplier, an amount equal to the input tax credit availed by the recipient shall be added to his output tax liability, along with interest thereon, in such manner as may be prescribed:

Provided also that the recipient shall be entitled to avail of the credit of input tax on payment made by him of the amount towards the value of supply of goods or services or both along with tax payable thereon.

(1) Now the immediate question came to my mind is that is the Sec overriding Sec 16(2) or only 16(2)(d)? In my humble opinion it should be learned as overriding 16(2)(d) and not 16(2) in general.

• Sec 37: Furnishing Details of Outward Supply: Initially as per the act, Tax Payers were liable to furnish GSTR 01 as the return of Outward supply U/s 37. The same shall now been replaced by GST-ANX-01.

• Sec 38: Furnishing Details of Inward Supply: Initially as per the original act, Tax Payers were liable to furnish GSTR 02 as the return of Inward Supply U/s 38. The same shall now be replaced by GST-ANX-02.

• Sec 39(1): (1) Every registered person, other than an Input Service Distributor or a non-resident taxable person or a person paying tax under the provisions of section 10 or section 51 or section 52 shall, for every calendar month or part thereof, furnish, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, a return, electronically, of inward and outward supplies of goods or services or both, input tax credit availed, tax payable, tax paid and such other particulars as may be prescribed, on or before the twentieth day of the month succeeding such calendar month or part thereof.

• Thus, the returns furnished u/s 43-A shall be deemed to be return furnished U/s 39(1)

• New return system shall have no effect on return filling of Composition Dealers, Input Service Distributors, Non Resident Taxable persons and persons liable for TDS and TCS.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 41, section 42 or section 43, the procedure for availing of input tax credit by the recipient and verification thereof shall be such as may be prescribed.

• Sec 43A has been given an overriding effect on Sec 41, 42 and 43.

• Claim of Input Tax Credit and provisional acceptance thereof:

• Matching, reversal and reclaim of Credit.

• Matchig, reversal and reclaim of reduction in output tax liability.

(3) The procedure for furnishing the details of outward supplies by the supplier on the common portal, for the purposes of availing input tax credit by the recipient shall be such as may be prescribed.

• Rules regarding furnishing of Outward supply are yet to be notified.

• It is clear that the form of outward supply shall be GST ANX-01

(4) The procedure for availing input tax credit in respect of outward supplies not furnished under sub-section (3) shall be such as may be prescribed and such procedure may include the maximum amount of the input tax credit which can be so availed, not exceeding twenty per cent of the input tax credit available, on the basis of details furnished by the suppliers under the said sub-section.

• As the rules of the same are not notified, there can only be assumptions regarding this sub section.

• In my view, the credit shall be allowed for mismatch up to the limit of 20%.

• For Example, A Tax Payer is claiming total credit of Rs 100 in a particular return, and if his credit as per GST ANX-02 is 80 Rupees, he shall be eligible to claim full credit of Rs 100/-.

• But if in the same example, if the credit as per GST ANX-02 is Rs 60/- he shall be eligible to claim credit of Rs. 72 (60+20%) at maximum.

(5) The amount of tax specified in the outward supplies for which the details have been furnished by the supplier under sub-section (3) shall be deemed to be the tax payable by him under the provisions of the Act.

(6) The supplier and the recipient of a supply shall be jointly and severally liable to pay tax or to pay the input tax credit availed, as the case may be, in relation to outward supplies for which the details have been furnished under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) but return thereof has not been furnished.

• For details furnished in RET ANX-01 & RET ANX-02, if no return in GST RET-01 is furnished, The liability on such transaction shall be jointly and severally be liable on such transactions.

(7) For the purposes of sub-section (6), the recovery shall be made in such manner as may be prescribed and such procedure may provide for non-recovery of an amount of tax or input tax credit wrongly availed not exceeding one thousand rupees.

• For Tax and Input Tax Credit wrongly availed or not paid in excess of 1000/- recovery shall be made. Rules for the same shall be notifified later.

(8) The procedure, safeguards and threshold of the tax amount in relation to outward supplies, the details of which can be furnished under sub-section (3) by a registered person,— (i) within six months of taking registration; (ii) who has defaulted in payment of tax and where such default has continued for more than two months from the due date of payment of such defaulted amount, shall be such as may be prescribed.

Author’s Note: The rules corresponding to Sec 43A are yet not notified.

Part 2: Returns under the new return system:

GST RET-01: Normal Return

• Returns for Large tax payers having turnover over 5 Crore and involved in Exports, SEZ sales in addition to B2B, B2C etc.

• Two Annexure: GST ANX-01 & GST ANX-2

GST RET-02: Sahaj

• Returns to be filled by Registered persons involved in B2C transactions only and having turnover 5 Crore or below.

GST RET-03: Sugam

• Returns to be filled by Registered Person involved in B2B and B2C transactions and having turnover5 Crore or below.

Author’s Note: The forms are usually prescribed by rules.  But as we are now use to that it is the GSTN who holds the key. These returns, which are not prescribed by rules are there in the portal for downloads. Lets see this return portion.

Let’s see all the above form specially the instructions in detail:

Profile Updation: Intimation of option for return periodicity and type of quarterly return

Notes on Returns and profile selection:–

1. Periodicity of filing return will be deemed to be monthly for all taxpayers unless quarterly filing of the return is opted for.

2. For newly registered taxpayers, turnover will be considered as zero and hence they will have the option to file monthly, Sahaj, Sugam or Quarterly (Normal) return.

3. Change in periodicity of the return filing (from quarterly to monthly and vice versa) would be allowed only once at the time of filing the first return by a taxpayer.

4. The periodicity of the return filing will remain unchanged during the next financial year unless changed before filing the first return of that year.

5. The taxpayers opting to file quarterly return can choose to file any of the quarterly return namely – Sahaj, Sugam or Quarterly (Normal).

6. Taxpayers filing return as Quarterly (Normal) can switch over to Sugam or Sahaj return and taxpayers filing return as Sugam can switch over to Sahaj return only once in a financial year at the beginning of any quarter.

7. Taxpayers filing return as Sahaj can switch over to Sugam or Quarterly (Normal) return and taxpayers filing return as Sugam can switch over to Quarterly (Normal) return more than once in a financial year at the beginning of any quarter.

8. Taxpayers opting to file quarterly return as ‘Sahaj’ shall be allowed to declare outward supply under B2C category and inward supplies attracting reverse charge only. Such taxpayers cannot make supplies through e-commerce operators on which tax is required to be collected under section 52. Such tax payers shall not take credit on missing invoices and shall not be allowed to make any other type of inward or outward supplies. However, such taxpayers may make Nil rated, exempted or Non-GST supplies which need not be declared in the said return.

9. Taxpayers opting to file quarterly return as ‘Sugam’ shall be allowed to declare outward supply under B2C and B2B category and inward supplies attracting reverse charge only. Such taxpayers cannot make supplies through e-commerce operators on which tax is required to be collected under section 52. Such tax payers shall not take credit on missing invoices and shall not be allowed to make any other type of inward or outward supplies. However, such taxpayers may make 3 Nil rated, exempted or Non-GST supplies which need not be declared in said return.

10. Taxpayers opting to file monthly return or Quarterly (Normal) return shall be able to declare all types of outward supplies, inward supplies and take credit on missing invoices.

GST RET-1 (Normal Return)

Applicable to Large tax payers having turnover over 5 Crore and involved in Exports, SEZ sales in addition to B2B, B2C etc.

This return consists of following parts.

GST ANX-1 :- Annexure of outward supplies, imports and inward supply attracting reverse charge.

GST ANX-2 :- Annexure of inward supplies.

GST RET-1 :-  Monthly/Quarterly Normal Return.

GST ANX-1A :- Amendment to GST ANX-1

GST RET-1A :- Amendment to GST RET-1

Author’s Note: We can study the table wise content of these forms. But Personally I belive a saprate seminar on each returns is necessary. Even I strongly belive that these returns are nothing but a replica of the original GSTR 1, 2 and 3. The protest against the practicallity of the forms is again due like we had done for the original returns. I will just highlight at the instruction of filling forms and not go to the table wise details for the want of time.

Instructions (FORM GST ANX-1)

1. General instructions –

2. Terms used–

(a) GSTIN: Goods and Services Tax Identification Number

(b) UIN: Unique Identity Number

(c) HSN Code: Harmonized System of Nomenclature Code

(d) POS: Place of Supply (Respective State/UT)

(e) B2B: Supplies made to registered persons having GSTIN or UIN

(f) B2C: Supplies made to consumers and un-registered persons, not having GSTIN or UIN

(g) Type of document: Invoice (including revised invoices), debit / credit note, bill of supply, bill of entry etc.

(h) ARN: Acknowledgment Reference Number

2. Registered person can upload the details of documents any time during a month/quarter to which it pertains or of any prior period but not later than the due date for furnishing of return for the month of September or second quarter following the end of the financial year to which such details pertains or the actual date of furnishing of relevant annual return whichever is earlier except that –

(i) the taxpayer filing the return on monthly basis will not be able to upload the details of documents from 18th to 20th of the month following the tax period.

(ii) the taxpayer filing the return on quarterly basis will not be able to upload the details of documents from 23rd to 25th of the month following the quarter.

Author’s Note: If the entries of Inward and outward supplies are done and displayed on real time basis, why this 18^th and 20^th Bar on uploading details for monthly registered person and 23^rd to 25^th Bar on uploading details for quarterly registered person is there in the system is also a question???

3. Supplier can upload the documents for any supply on real time basis. Facility for accepting such documents by the recipient shall be made available. Details of documents uploaded by the supplier will be shown to the concerned recipient also on near real time basis.

4. Details of the documents issued during the tax period or of any prior period by the supplier and uploaded by him after filing of the return for such prior period will be accounted for towards the tax liability of the supplier in the return in which such details have been uploaded.

5. Advances received on account of supply of services shall not be reported here. The same shall be reported in Table 3C(3) and adjustment thereof shall be reported in table 3C(4) of FORM GST RET-1.

6. Recipient will get credit during a tax period on the basis of the details of documents uploaded by the supplier upto the 10th of the month following the month for which the return is being filed for. Such credit can be availed i.e. credited to the ledger of the recipient only on filing of his (i.e. recipient’s) return. There may be following two scenarios:

(i) If the recipient files his return on a monthly basis, say, for the month of January, 2019 on 20th February, 2019, he shall be eligible to take credit in his return based on the documents uploaded by the supplier upto the 10th of February, 2019 irrespective of whether the supplier files his return on monthly or quarterly basis. If the recipient files his return on a quarterly basis (Normal, Sahaj or Sugam), say for the quarter January – March, 2019 on 25th April, 2019, he shall be eligible to take credit in his return based on the documents uploaded by the supplier upto the 10th of April, 2019 irrespective of whether the supplier files his return on monthly or quarterly basis.

7. Supplies attracting reverse charge will be reported only by the recipient and not by the supplier in this annexure. Such supplies shall be reported GSTIN wise and amount of tax and taxable value will be net of debit / credit notes and advance paid (on which tax has already been paid at the time of payment of advance), if any.

(Author’s Note: This is the change in the present GSTR 1 and GST ANX 1. )

8. All suppliers with annual aggregate turnover of more than Rs. 5 crore and that in relation to exports, imports and SEZ supplies will upload HSN level data. HSN code shall be reported at least at six digit level for goods and at least at six digit level for services. Other taxpayers (turnover upto Rs. 5 crore) shall have an optional facility to report HSN code in the relevant table or leave it blank.

(Now the HSN code in return is mandatory only for large tax payers having turnover of above 5 Crores)

9. Tax amount shall be computed by the system based on the taxable value and tax rate. The tax amount so computed will not be editable except by way of issue of debit / credit notes. However, the tax amount under cess will be reported by the taxpayer himself.

10. Place of supply shall have to be reported mandatorily for all supplies. For intra-State supplies, the POS will be the same State in which the supplier is registered.

11. Tax rate applicable on IGST supplies can be selected from the drop down menu. For intra-State supplies, the tax rate shall be applied at half the rate of Integrated tax equally for Central tax and State / UT tax. Cess, if applicable, shall be reported under the cess column.

12. Value of supplies and amount of tax shall be reported in whole number or upto two decimal points at the most.

13. GSTIN/UIN of the recipient of supplies shall be reported in respect of supplies reported in table 3B(B2B invoice), 3E(Supplies to SEZ with payment of tax), 3F(Supplies to SEZ without payment of tax) and 3G(Deemed export).

14. GSTIN of the supplier shall be reported (wherever available) in table 3H(Inward supply liable for RCM), 3K(Import of goods from SEZ) and 3L(Missing document for inward supply) from whom the supplies have been received. PAN may be reported in Table 3H(Inward supplies liable for reverse charge) if supplies attracting reverse charge are received from un-registered persons.

15. Wherever supplies are reported as net of debit/credit notes, the values may become negative in some cases and the same may be reported as such e.g. ( -100).

16. Details of documents of the period prior to introduction of the current return filing system can also be uploaded in the relevant tables of this annexure. Only those details shall be uploaded which have not been included in the erstwhile FORM GSTR-1. All supplies that are declared in this annexure will be accounted for payment of tax. Following scenarios may happen:

(i) Document has not been reported in FORM GSTR-1 and tax has also not been accounted for in FORM GSTR-3B – In this case, document shall be uploaded and tax shall also be paid along with applicable interest except in case of issuance of credit notes.

(ii) Document has not been reported in FORM GSTR-1 but tax has been accounted for in FORM GSTR-3B– In this case, document shall be uploaded and adjustment of tax accounted for shall be made in table 3C(5) of FORM GST RET-1, but in case of issuance of credit notes, upward adjustment shall be made in table 3A(8) of FORM GST RET-1.

(iii) Document has been reported in FORM GSTR-1 but tax has not been accounted for in FORM GSTR-3B – In this case, uploading of the document shall not be required but adjustment of tax shall be made in table 3A(8) or 3C(5) of FORM GST RET-1, as the case may be.

1. Edit/Amendment of uploaded documents-

Editing of documents upto the 10th of the following month – Details of the documents uploaded upto the 10th of the following month may be edited by the supplier up to the said date (10th of the following month) only if such documents are not accepted by the recipient. If a document has already been accepted (upto the 10th) by the recipient, then such document has to be reset / unlocked by the recipient and only then, it can be edited by the supplier upto the 10th of the following month.

Following two scenarios may arise:

• In case, the recipient files his return on monthly basis, all the documents uploaded by any supplier [irrespective of the fact whether the supplier files his return on monthly or quarterly (Normal, Sahaj or Sugam) basis] shall be available for acceptance by such recipient upto the 10th of the month following the month for which the return is being filed. The supplier can edit the documents so accepted by the recipient only if the same are reset/unlocked by the recipient by the said date.

• In case, the recipient files his return on quarterly (Normal, Sahaj or Sugam) basis, all the documents uploaded by any supplier [irrespective of the fact whether the supplier files his return on monthly or quarterly (Normal, Sahaj or Sugam) basis] shall be available for acceptance by such recipient upto the 10 th of the month following the quarter for which the return is being filed. The supplier can edit the documents so accepted by the recipient only if the same are re-set/unlocked by the recipient by the said date.

2. Supplier side Amendment – The return system provides for all editing or amendments from the supplier’s side only. The recipient will have the option to reset / un-lock or reject a document but editing of or amendment to the same shall be made by the supplier only.

3. Edit / Amendment after 10th of the following month -The details of the documents uploaded by the supplier upto the 10th of the month following the month or quarter for which the return is being filed for will be auto-populated and made available to the recipient in FORM GST ANX-2 to accept, reject or to keep the document pending.

4. Instructions regarding acceptance, rejection or kept pending by the recipient may be referred to in the instructions to FORM GST ANX-2.

5. Documents rejected by the recipient shall be conveyed to the supplier only after filing of the return by the recipient.

6. The rejected documents may be edited before filing any subsequent return for any month or quarter by the supplier. However, credit in respect of the document so edited or uploaded shall be made available through the next open FORM GST ANX-2 for the recipient. However, the liability for such edited documents will be accounted for in the tax period (month or quarter) in which the documents have been uploaded by the supplier.

7. Shifting of Documents – In certain situations, the particulars of the document may be correct but the document has been reported in the wrong table. Therefore, when such documents are rejected by the recipient, instead of amending the document, a facility of shifting such documents to the appropriate table will be provided.

8. Amendment of documents relating to supplies made to persons other than persons filing return in FORM GST RET-1/2/3(e.g. supplies made to composition taxpayers, ISD, UIN holders etc.) – The documents relating to such supplies may be amended by the supplier at any time and the same shall not be dependent upon the action taken (accept/reject/pending) by the recipient.

Instructions (FORM GST ANX-2)

1. Details of documents uploaded by the corresponding supplier(s) [irrespective of the fact whether the supplier files his return on monthly or quarterly (Normal, Sahaj or Sugam) basis] will be auto-populated in this annexure on near real time basis and can be accepted or reset / unlocked by the recipient upto the 10th of the month following the month in which such documents have been uploaded. After that the procedure as outlined in Sr. No. 2 below will be applicable.

2. Recipient can take action on the auto-populated documents to – Accept, Reject or to keep pending on continuous basis after 10th of the month following the month in which such documents have been uploaded. However, in case of quarterly return filers communication of such rejected documents and any further action on such rejected documents shall be done only in the return for the next quarter.

3. Accepted documents will mean that supplies reported in such document have been received before filing of return by the recipient and the details given in the documents reported in FORM GST ANX-1 are correct.

4. Accepted documents would not be available for amendment at the corresponding supplier’s end. However, a separate facility to handle such cases will be provided.

5. For the purposes of the return process, any invoice with an error that cannot be corrected through a financial debit / credit note shall be rejected. For example- (i) the recipient does not agree with some of the details such as HSN Code, tax rate, value etc. These are certain errors which cannot be corrected through debit/credit notes. (ii) GSTIN of the recipient is erroneous and therefore, it is visible in the FORM GST ANX-2 of a registered person who is not concerned with the supply. These are certain errors which cannot be corrected through debit/credit notes.

6. Supplier can make corrections in the rejected documents through FORM GST ANX-1 as the rejected documents would be shown to the supplier.

7. Pending action will mean that the recipient has deferred the decision of accepting or rejecting the details of the invoices. There may be multiple reasons for the same such as supplies are yet to be received or the recipient decides that ITC is not to be taken for the time being etc.

8. The input tax credit in respect of pending invoices shall not be accounted for in table 4A of the main return (FORM GST RET-1) of the recipient and such invoices would be rolled over to FORM GST ANX-2 of the next tax period.

9. Pending invoices will not be available for amendment by the supplier until rejected by the recipient.

10. Any document, on which an affirmative action of either accepting the document or keeping the document pending or rejecting the document is not taken by the recipient in his FORM GST ANX-2, shall be deemed to be accepted upon filing of the return by him. Input tax credit on such deemed accepted documents shall be reflected / shown in table 4A of the main return (FORM GST RET-1).

11. Status of return filing (not filed, filed) by the supplier will also be made known to the recipient in FORM GST ANX-2 of the tax period after the due date of return filing is over. Recipients would be able to check the return filing status of the suppliers. This status, however, does not affect the eligibility or otherwise of input tax credit which will be decided as per the Act read with the rules made there under.

12. Trade name of the supplier will also be shown along with GSTIN. Legal name will be shown where trade name is not available.

13. Separate functionality would be provided to search and reject an accepted document on which credit has already been availed. Input tax credit availed on such document shall be shown for reversal in table 4B(1) of FORM GST RET-1 which may be adjusted in table 4A(11) of FORM GST RET-1 to arrive at the amount of input tax credit availed. However, such reversal of credit for the recipient will be with interest as per the provisions of the Act read with the rules made there under.

14. FORM GST ANX-2 will be treated as deemed filed upon filing of the main return (FORM GST RET-1) relating to the tax period.

15. The documents uploaded in FORM GST ANX-1 for month ‘M’ by a supplier who did not file his return for the previous two consecutive tax periods (M-1 and M-2 months)shall be made available to the recipient in FORM GST ANX-2 with an indication that the credit shall not be available on such documents. In other words, such documents will be visible to the recipient but the recipient cannot claim ITC on such inward supplies. However, the recipient can reject or keep such documents pending until filing of return by the supplier. For suppliers filing return on quarterly basis, this period will be one quarter i.e. if return of one quarter has not been filed, then recipient will not be able to claim credit on the invoices uploaded during next quarter.

Note – Table 3B and 3C shall be used after the data from the ICEGATE and SEZ (through ICEGATE) starts flowing to the GST system online. Thereafter, table 3J & 3K of FORM GST ANX-1 shall be discontinued. Data will be shown to the taxpayer as received from the ICEGATE.

Instructions (FORM GST RET-1)

General Instructions –

1. Facility to file Nil return through SMS will also be available if no supplies have been made or received.

2. After uploading details of supplies in FORM GST ANX-1 and taking action on the documents auto-populated in FORM GST ANX-2, the taxpayer shall file the main return in FORM GST RET-1.

3. Information declared through FORM GST ANX-1 and FORM GST ANX-2 shall be autopopulated in the main return (FORM GST RET – 1).

4. The supplier can report excess tax collected from the recipients, if any, in the main return (FORM GST RET-1) under any other liability in Sr. No. 8 of table 3A.

5. Rejection of the details of documents wrongly uploaded by suppliers, pendency of supplies not received but available in the auto-populated details of documents, reversals, adjustments etc. shall be auto-populated in table 4.

6. Amount of TDS/TCS shall be credited in the electronic cash ledger which will be based on returns filed in FORM GSTR-7 and FORM GSTR-8 by deductors under section 51 and persons required to collect tax under section 52 respectively.

7. Interest and late fee to the extent of late filing of return, making late payment of taxes, uploading preceding tax periods’ invoices shall be computed by the system. Other interest due to reversals etc. shall be entered by the taxpayer on self-assessment basis.

8. Payment of tax can be made by utilizing ITC under the same head or cross-utilizing from other heads in accordance with the provisions of the Act read with the rules made there under (Authors note: Here read also subject to availability on GSTN) . Balance payment of tax can be made in cash.

9. Suggested utilization of ITC will be made available in the payment table. However, taxpayer can make changes in the suggested ITC utilization as long as such changes are as per provisions of the Act read with the rules made there under.

10. Payment of tax on account of supplies attracting reverse charge, interest, fee, penalty and others shall be made in cash only.

11. Adjustment of negative liability of the previous tax period shall be allowed to be made along with the current tax period’s liability.

12. Viewing of the balance amount available in electronic cash and electronic credit ledger will be made available before making payment.

13. Value of inward supplies attracting reverse charge and import of services mentioned in table 3B will not be added to the turnover. Only the tax amount will be added to the computation of tax liability.

14. Facility of creating a challan for making payment will be made available if the balance in the electronic cash ledger is insufficient to discharge the liabilities.

15. Adjustment to liabilities or input tax credit relating to the period prior to the introduction of current system of return filing shall be reported in table 3 (tax liabilities) or table 4 (input tax credit), as the case may be.

Instructions (FORM GST ANX-1A)

1. The amendment will be based on the tax period and for invoices/documents reported therein earlier.

2. If missing details of documents pertaining to the tax period ‘T’ have been reported in the return of the tax period ‘T+n’, then amendment of such documents shall be made by amending return of the tax period ‘T’.

3. Amendment to FORM GST ANX-1 can be filed before the due date for furnishing of return for the month of September following the end of the financial year or the actual date of furnishing relevant annual return, whichever is earlier. The amendment to FORM GST ANX1 can be filed as many times as provided in the Act read with the rules made there under.

4. Filing process will be similar to the process of filing of the original FORM GST ANX-1. The annexure will be deemed to have been filed upon filing of return in FORM GST RET-1A.

5. Amendment of invoice, debit / credit notes shall be carried out through this annexure in relation to table 3A, 3C, 3D, 3H, 3I, 3J and 3K of FORM GST ANX-1.

6. Providing original document details will be mandatory for amending the same except in case of B2C supplies in table 3A, table 3H and table 3I of FORM GST ANX-1.

7. Missing documents of prior period(s) shall not be reported in this annexure but can be reported in FORM GST ANX-1 itself.

8. The invoices /documents on which refund has already been claimed by the supplier/recipient shall not be open for amendment.

9. For changing the value or any other particulars under Table 4, the original GSTIN shall be re-entered as revised GSTIN and then the value or any other particular may be amended.

10. Amendment in relation to table 3B(B2B), 3E(Supplies to SEZ with payment), 3F(Supplies to SEZ without Payment) and 3G(Deemed Export) shall be carried out in FORM GST ANX1 of the main return (FORM GST RET-1) itself.

Instructions (FORM GST RET-1A)

1. Filing process of amendment return will be similar to the filing process of original return (FORM GST RET-1).

2. Entries made by the taxpayer in the main return (FORM GST RET-1) which were not auto-populated shall be editable in this return.

3. Amendment return can be filed for a tax period i.e. either a Month or a Quarter, as the case may be.

4. Frequency of filing and period within which it is to be filed will be as per provisions of the Act read with the rules made there under.

5. Payment can be made if liability arises due to filing of amendment return. If liability becomes negative then no refund shall be paid. However, the negative liability will be carried forward to the main return (FORM GST RET – 1) of next tax period where adjustment can be made.

6. Payment process will be similar to that of the main return (FORM GST RET-1). ITC available in the electronic credit ledger can be utilized for payment of liability as per the provisions of law read with rules made there under.

7. Revised values shall be reported wherever amendment is required in the returns already filed. For example, if the original value reported was Rs. 100/- and revised value is Rs. 120/-, then Rs. 120/- shall be reported in these tables.

8. Amendment to ITC (upward / downward adjustment) shall be reported in the main return (FORM GST RET-1) and not to be taken to the amendment return.

GST PMT-08

Instructions (FORM GST PMT-08)

1. Taxpayers opting to file the return on quarterly basis have to make payment on monthly basis (through this form) on the supplies made during the month.

2. Only eligible ITC shall be claimed through this FORM.

3. Payment of self-assessed liabilities shall be made for the first two months of the quarter.

4. Credit of the tax paid during the first two months of the quarter shall be available at the time of filing the return for the quarter.

5. Payment of the self-assessed liabilities shall be made by <20th> of the month succeeding the month to which the liability pertains.

6. Liability can be settled out of balance in electronic credit ledger or electronic cash ledger as the case may be.

7. Liability and input tax credit availed shall be based on self-assessment subject to adjustment in the main return of the quarter.

8. Excess input tax credit claimed or short liability stated will be liable for levy of interest under section 50 of the Act.

9. The declaration shall also be required to be filed if no supplies have been made during the month.

10. Late payment will attract interest at the rate specified in section 50 of the Act.

(Authors note: Even if the output tax liability is NIL during any particular month, PMT 08 is to be filled. The question arises, will the late fee be applicable on non filling of PMT 08 too??? Ideally it should not…But feeling arises CBIC is trying to recover all the expense done on GSTN by collecting Late Fee!!)

Sahaj Return: Form GST RET-2 (Quarterly)

Applicable to Registered persons involved in B2C transactions only and having turnover 5 Crore or below.

This return consists of following parts.

GST ANX-1 :- Annexure of outward supplies, imports and inward supply attracting reverse charge.

GST ANX-2 :- Annexure of inward supplies.

GST RET-2 :- Quarterly Return.

GST ANX-1A :- Amendment to GST ANX-1

GST RET-2A :- Amendment to GST RET-2

Instructions (FORM GST RET-2)

(These instruction are more or less same with the instruction of Normal Return GST RET 1)

General instructions –

1. Facility to file Nil return through SMS will also be available if no supplies have been made or received.

2. After uploading the details of supplies in FORM GST ANX-1 and taking action on the documents auto-populated in FORM GST ANX-2, the taxpayer shall file the main return in FORM GST RET-2.

3. Information declared through FORM GST ANX-1 and FORM GST-ANX-2 shall be auto populated in the main return (FORM GST RET-2).

4. The supplier can report excess tax collected from the recipients, if any, in the main return (FORM GST RET-2) under any other liability in S No. 2 of table 3A.

5. Rejection of the details of documents wrongly uploaded by suppliers, pendency of supplies not received but available in the auto-populated details of documents, reversals, adjustments etc. shall be auto-populated in table 4.

6. Amount of TDS/TCS shall be credited in electronic cash ledger which will be based on returns filed in FORM GSTR-7 and FORM GSTR-8 by deductors under section 51 and persons required to collect tax under section 52 respectively. However, since the taxpayers filing Sahaj return are not allowed to supply through E-Commerce operators on which tax is required to be collected under Section 52 this table is to be used only for transition from the old return system to the new return system or switching during current return system.

(Authors Note: The tax payer filling Sahaj return are not allowed to supply through E Commerce operator…. These words prove my contentions that in this era Businessmen is doing business to file the returns and not that he is filling return because he is doing business) A cartoon to foresee the situation    

7. Interest and late fee to the extent of late filing of return, making late payment of taxes, uploading preceding tax periods’ invoices shall be computed by the system. Other interest due to reversals etc. shall be entered by the taxpayer on self-assessment basis.

8. Payment of tax can be made by utilizing ITC under the same head or cross-utilizing from other heads in accordance with the provisions of Act read with the rules made there under. Balance payment of tax can be made in cash.

9. Payment of tax on account of supplies attracting reverse charge, interest, late fee, penalty and others shall be made in cash only.

10. Suggested utilization of ITC will be made available in the payment table. However, the taxpayer can make changes in the suggested ITC utilization as long as such changes are as per provisions of the Act read with the rules made there under.

11. Adjustment of negative liability of the previous tax period shall be allowed to be made along with the current tax period’s liability.

12. Viewing of the balance amount available in electronic cash and electronic credit ledger will be made available before making payment.

13. Value of inward supplies attracting reverse charge mentioned in table 3B will not be added to the turnover. Only the tax amount will be added to the computation of tax liability.

14. Facility of creating a challan for making payment will be made available if the balance in the electronic cash ledger is insufficient to discharge the liabilities.

15. Adjustment to liabilities or input tax credit relating to the period prior to the introduction of current system of return filing shall be reported in table 3 (tax liabilities) or table 4 (input tax credit), as the case may be.

Sahaj Return: Form GST RET-3 (Quarterly)

Returns to be filled by Registered Person involved in B2B and B2C transactions and having turnover 5 Crore or below.

This return consists of following parts.

GST ANX-1 :- Annexure of outward supplies, imports and inward supply attracting reverse charge.

GST ANX-2 :- Annexure of inward supplies.

GST RET-3 :- Quarterly Return.

GST ANX-1A :- Amendment to GST ANX-1

GST RET-3A :- Amendment to GST RET-3

Instructions (FORM GST RET-3)

(The instructions for filling GST RET-3 are more or less in line with the return GST RET-1 and GST RET-2)

General instructions –

1. Facility to file Nil return through SMS will also be available if no supplies have been made or received.

2. After uploading the details of supplies in FORM GST ANX-1 and taking action on the documents auto-populated in FORM GST ANX-2, the taxpayer shall file the main return in FORM GST RET-3.

3. Information declared through FORM GST ANX-1 and FORM GST-ANX-2 shall be auto populated in the main return (FORM GST RET-3).

4. The supplier can report excess tax collected from the recipients, if any, in the main return (FORM GST RET-3) under any other liability in Sr. No. 3 of table 3A.

5. Rejection of the details of documents wrongly uploaded by suppliers, pendency of supplies not received but available in the auto-populated details of documents, reversals, adjustments etc. shall be auto-populated in table 4.

6. Amount of TDS/TCS shall be credited in electronic cash ledger which will be based on returns filed in FORM GSTR-7 and FORM GSTR-8 by deductors under section 51 and persons required to collect tax under section 52 respectively. However, since the taxpayers filing the Sugam return are not allowed to supply through E-Commerce operators on which tax is required to be collected under Section 52 this table is to be used only for transition from the old return system to the new return system or switching during current return system.

7. Interest and late fee to the extent of late filing of return, making late payment of taxes, uploading preceding tax periods’ invoices shall be computed by the system. Other interest due to reversals etc. shall be entered by the taxpayer on self-assessment basis.

8. Payment of tax can be made by utilizing ITC under the same head or cross-utilizing from other heads in accordance with the provisions of law read with the rules made there under. Balance payment of tax can be made in cash.

9. Suggested utilization of ITC will be made available in the payment table. However, the taxpayer can make changes in the suggested ITC utilization as long as such changes are as per provisions of the Act read with the rules made there under.

10. Payment of tax on account of supplies attracting reverse charge, interest, late fee, penalty and others shall be made in cash only.

11. Adjustment of negative liability of the previous tax period shall be allowed to be made along with the current tax period’s liability.

12. Viewing of the balance amount available in electronic cash and electronic credit ledger will be made available before making payment.

13. Value of inward supplies attracting reverse charge and import of services mentioned in table 3B will not be added to the turnover. Only tax amount will be added to the computation of tax liability.

14. Facility of creating a challan for making payment will be made available if the balance in the electronic cash ledger is insufficient to discharge the liabilities.

15. Adjustment to liabilities or input tax credit relating to the period prior to the introduction of current system of return filing shall be reported in table 3 (tax liabilities) or table 4 (input tax credit), as the case may be.

All and all we can say that these returns are just old wine in a new bottle.

Part 3: Roadmap to new returns system:

• The Parliament passed the Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) Act, 2018, in August 2018.

• Most of all the provisions of amendment act 2018 were made effective from 01^st Feb 2019, wide notification no. 02/2019, dt. 29^th January 2019.

• The provisions relating to new returns contained in Sec 43A (Sec 18 of the amendment act) were not made effective.

• Initially it was proposed that the New Return system shall be proposed w.e.f.01.04.2019 on pilot basis and will be made applicable w.e.f. 01.07.2019. But due to some reasons the returns have been delayed.

• As per the latest press release, dt: 11^th June 2019, It has been decided as under:

• From July 2019 onwards,
  • The tax payers shall be able to upload invoice on offline tool, on trail basis in GST ANX-1.

• The tax payers shall also be able to download inward supply using GST ANX-2.

• From August 2019 onwards,
  • Even the tax payers shall be able to match the inward supply using the offline tool.

• From July to September 2019 onwards:

• The new return system (ANX-1 & ANX-2 only) shall be available for trail of tax payers.

• This trail would make no difference in their tax liability or the input tax credit.

• All the tax payers shall continue to file return as per the current system in GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 for the said period.

• From October 2019 onwards:
  • Form GST ANX-1 shall be made compulsory.

• GSTR 1 shall be replaced by GST ANX-1

• Large tax payers, i.e. tax payers with turnover of more then 5 Crore in the previous year, shall file their monthly GST ANX-1 from October 2019

• Such tax payers shall not be liable to file GSTR 1 there onwards.

• For Small Tax Payers, i.e. Tax Payers whose turnover in the previous year is 5 Crore or less shall be liable to file quarterly returns.

• The first GST ANX-1 For small tax payers shall be due in January 2020, for quarter October to December 2019.

• However for both Large and Small tax payers, the invoice may be entered in GST ANX-1 can be done on regular basis from October 2019.

• Even form GST ANX-2 may be viewed during this period. However no action shall be allowed in this form.

• For the month of October 2019 & November 2019, the Large tax payers would continue to file the GSTR 3B on monthly basis as per the current system.

• The large tax payers shall be liable to file their first GST RET 1 for the month of December 2019. The due date for the same shall be January 2019.

• The small tax payers would stop filling GSTR 3B from the month of October 2019 and start filling GST PMT-08 from October 2019.

• They would start filling RET-01 for the quarter October-December 2019 with due date of 20^th January 2020.

• Thus, from January 2020, all the tax payers shall be filling the returns as per the new return system in GST-RET-01 and our dear GSTR 3B shall be completely phased out.

• Rest In Peace 3B!!!!