Levy of, and Exemption from, GST
There shall be levied a tax called the Central/State Goods and Services Tax (CGST/SGST) on all intra-State supplies of goods and/or services on the value determined under section 15 and at such rates as may be notified by the Central/State Government in this behalf, but not exceeding fourteen percent, on the recommendation of the Council and collected in such manner as may be prescribed. GST is a comprehensive VAT on the supply of goods or services or both. All goods and services will be subject to GST unless specifically exempted i.e. operating on negative concept. It is a tax on supply of goods or services or both except taxes on supply of the alcoholic liquor for human consumption”.
Section 15 of GST Model Law – Value of Taxable Supply
The value of a supply of goods and/or services shall be the transaction value, that is the price actually paid or payable for the said supply of goods and/or services where the supplier and the recipient of the supply are not related and the price is the sole consideration for the supply.
The value of supply shall include:
(a) any taxes, duties, cesses, fees and charges levied under any statute, other than the {SGST Act/the CGST Act} and the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to the States for Loss of Revenue) Act, 2016, if charged separately by the supplier to the recipient;
(b) any amount that the supplier is liable to pay in relation to such supply but which has been incurred by the recipient of the supply and not included in the price actually paid or payable for the goods and/or services;
(c) incidental expenses, such as, commission and packing, charged by the supplier to the recipient of a supply, including any amount charged for anything done by the supplier in respect of the supply of goods and/or services at the time of, or before delivery of the goods or, as the case may be, supply of the services;
(d) interest or late fee or penalty for delayed payment of any consideration for any supply; and
(e) subsidies directly linked to the price excluding subsidies provided by the Central and State governments;
Explanation- The amount of subsidy shall be included in the value of supply of the supplier who receives the subsidy.
The value of the supply shall not include any discount that is given:
(a) before or at the time of the supply provided such discount has been duly recorded in the invoice issued in respect of such supply; and
(b) after the supply has been effected, provided that:
(i) such discount is established in terms of an agreement entered into at or before the time of such supply and specifically linked to relevant invoices; and
(ii) input tax credit has been reversed by the recipient of the supply as is attributable to the discount on the basis of document issued by the supplier.
Where the value of the supply of goods or services cannot be determined under sub-section the same shall be determined in such manner as may be prescribed.
Payment of GST
The CGST/SGST shall be paid by every taxable person in accordance with the provisions of this Act. There are two types of ledgers to be maintained on the GSTN portal once the taxable person registered himself on the portal. One is Cash ledger and other is Input Credit ledger.
Meaning of Cash Ledger
The cash ledger will reflect all deposits made in cash, and TDS/TCS made on account of the taxpayer. The information will be reflected on real time basis. This ledger can be used for making any payment on account of GST. Money can be deposited in the Cash Ledger by different modes, namely, E-Payment (Internet Banking, Credit Card, Debit Card); Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)/ National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT); Over the Counter Payment in branches of Banks Authorized to accept deposit of GST.
Meaning of Input Credit ledger
Input Tax Credit as self-assessed in monthly returns will be reflected in the ITC Ledger. The credit in this ledger can be used to make payment of TAX ONLY and not other amounts such as interest, penalty, fees etc
In the GST regime, for any intra-state supply, taxes to be paid are the Central GST (CGST, going into the account of the Central Government) and the State GST (SGST, going into the account of the concerned State Government). For any inter-state supply, tax to be paid is Integrated GST (IGST) which will have components of both CGST and SGST. In addition, certain categories of registered persons will be required to pay to the government account Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS). wherever applicable, Interest, Penalty, Fees and any other payment will also be required to be made.
Generally the supplier of goods or service is liable to pay GST. However in specified cases like imports and other notified supplies, the liability may be cast on the recipient under the reverse charge mechanism. Further, in some cases, the liability to pay is on the third person (say in the case of e-commerce operator responsible for TCS or Government Department responsible for TDS).
Payment can be done by the following methods:
(i) Through debit of Credit Ledger of the taxpayer maintained on the Common Portal- ONLY Tax can be paid. Interest, Penalty and Fees cannot be paid by debit in the credit ledger. Tax payers shall be allowed to take credit of taxes paid on inputs (input tax credit) and utilize the same for payment of output tax.
(ii) In cash by debit in the Cash Ledger of the taxpayer maintained on the Common Portal.
Payment of taxes by the normal taxpayer is to be done on monthly basis by the 20th of the succeeding month. Cash payments will be first deposited in the Cash Ledger and the taxpayer shall debit the ledger while making payment in the monthly returns and shall reflect the relevant debit entry number in his return. As mentioned earlier, payment can also be debited from the Credit Ledger. Composition tax payers will need to pay tax on quarterly basis.
Manner of generating Challan for payment of GST
There will be real time two way linkage between the GSTN and the Core Banking Solution (CBS) of the Bank. After entering all the details of the tax payer CPIN (Common portal Identification number) is automatically routed to the Bank via electronic string for verification and receiving payment and a challan identification number (CIN) is to automatically sent by the Bank to the Common Portal confirming payment receipt. No manual intervention will be involved in the process by any one including bank cashier or teller or the taxpayer.
A taxpayer can partially fill in the challan form and temporarily “save” the challan for completion at a later stage. A saved challan can be “edited” before finalization. After the tax payer has finalized the challan, he will generate the challan, for use of payment of taxes. The remitter will have option of printing the challan for his record. No. After logging into GSTN portal for generation of challan, payment particulars have to be fed in by the tax payer or his authorized person. He can save the challan midway for future updation. However once the challan is finalized and CPIN generated, no further changes can be made to it by the taxpayer.
Concept of TDS in GST
TDS stands for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS). As per section 37, this provision is meant for Government and Government undertakings and other notified entities making contractual payments in excess of Rs. 10 Lakhs to suppliers. While making such payment, the concerned Government/authority shall deduct 1% of the total payable amount and remit it into the appropriate GST account.
Any amount shown as TDS will be reflected in the electronic cash ledger of the concerned supplier. He can utilize this amount towards discharging his liability towards tax, interest fees and any other amount. Such deductors needs to get compulsorily registered under section 19 read with Schedule III of MGL. They need to remit such TDS collected by the 10th day of the month succeeding the month in which TDS was collected and reported in GSTR 7.
The amount deposited as TDS will be reflected in the electronic cash ledger of the supplier. They need to issue certificate of such TDS to the deductee within 5 days of deducting TDS failing which fees of Rs. 100 per day subject to maximum of Rs. 5000/- will be payable by such deductor.
Concept of TCS in GST
This provision is applicable only for E-Commerce Operator under section 43C of MGL. Every E-Commerce Operator needs to withhold a percentage (to be notified later on the recommendation of the GST Council) of the amount which is due from him to the supplier at the time of making actual payment to the supplier. Such withheld amount is to be deposited by such E-Commerce Operator to the appropriate GST account by the 10th of the next month. The amount deposited as TCS will be reflected in the electronic cash ledger of the supplier.