Last date for filing of GST returns for July, Aug extended

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Of the 59.57 lakh businesses, who should file return for July, 38.38 lakh had filed their GST returns.

Businesses will have more time to file the final GST returns as the government on Monday extended the last date for filing of sales and purchase data as well as payment of taxes for the months of July and August.

Now sales return or GSTR-1 for July will have to be filed by September 10 instead of September 5 earlier and purchase returns or GSTR-2 would be filed by September 25 instead of September 10 earlier.

 GSTR-3, which is the match of GSTR-1 and GSTR-2, will have to be filed by September 30, in place of September 15.

“GIC (GST Implementation Committee) decides to extend date of GSTR 1, GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 for the month of July to 10th, 25th and 30th September 2017, respectively,” the government said in a tweet.

With regard to August, the date for filing GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 has been extended to October 5, October 10 and October 15 from earlier September 20, September 25 and September 30, respectively.

The industry has been demanding an extension of the date of filing final GST returns in view of scores of invoices to be uploaded.

The government will shortly issue notification to extend the date of filing returns.

In the initial returns filed in form GSTR-3B, taxes worth Rs 92,283 crore were collected for July from just 64.42 per cent of the total taxpayer base.

Of the 59.57 lakh businesses, who should file return for July, as many as 38.38 lakh taxpayers accounting for 64.42 per cent of the total businesses who had registered in July had filed their GST returns.

Through a notification last week, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had waived fee for delayed filing of GSTR-3B and had allowed businesses to correct errors in the initial return form while filing the final returns.

It also said entities who had not filed GSTR-3B can file the final returns in GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 and pay taxes.

Souce: The Tribune India

1% of expected invoices uploaded to GSTN

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There are all indications of a last-minute scramble near Sept 5 deadline and a clamour for extension

About 1% of the expected goods and services tax invoices had been uploaded on the GST Network more than a month after the facility opened, suggesting a last-minute scramble near the September 5 deadline and a clamour for an extension.

 

Only 4.4 million invoices have been uploaded as part of the GSTR 1 return filing, a facility that became operational on July 25.

 

“At least 440 million invoices should have been uploaded. The facility is open for 38 days, but only 4.4 million invoices have been uploaded. In last-minute filing, they will commit errors and the system will not accept the return,” said a GSTN official. Taxpayers would then seek an extension, he added.

 

“We will consider extending the deadline if people face genuine difficulties in filing GSTR 1,” said another official.

 

The last date to file provisional return GSTR 3B was extended from August 20 to August 25 after taxpayers faced difficulties in filing.

 

So far, 39.7 million returns have been filed by the 5.95 million entities registered for the GST in July, excluding those under the composition scheme. Based on this, 20-25% of those registered have not filed tax returns.

 

Experts pointed out taxpayers were grappling with GSTR 3B, the self-declaration form, for the first two months. This did not give them enough time to upload invoices, they added.

 

“People were busy filing GSTR 3B. They will start uploading invoices now,” said MS Mani of Deloitte.

 

Besides, the GSTN does not allow rectification or modification in returns submitted but not filed, making it a better option to wait. “In some cases, punching errors have increased the tax liability of assessees by crores of rupees, resulting in significantly high cash flows because the returns cannot be submitted without paying tax,” said Pratik Jain of PwC India.

 

He added the deadline for GSTR 2 of July was September 10, 2017, however, the offline utility was not yet available on the portal. In addition, there is an issue with the GSTN recognising existing SEZ units that migrated to the GST.

 

Companies were also grappling with filing input tax credit for pre-GST stocks with the offline utility tool unavailable. The government is expected to allow rectification of returns filed to claim credit.

 

With the offline utility for GST TRAN 1 form not available, companies faced difficulty in keying in the details. The lack of a provision for rectification of transitional credit claims may mean companies losing credit.

 

“In many cases, taxpayers had paid tax in cash. Till date, the credits of such cash payments are not reflected in the electronic cash ledger and the payments are shown as pending for banks’ confirmation,” Jain said.

GST relief

 

The government on the recommendation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Friday waived the late fees for the GSTR 3B returns for July, filed after the due date. The announcement comes amid concerns raised over difficulties faced by the industry in filing returns.

 

The Council waived the late fees of Rs 200 (Rs100  each for State GST and central GST) for returns filed after August 25, the deadline.

 

“The Central Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby waives the late fee payable under section 47 of the said Act, for all registered persons who failed to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the month of July, 2017 by the due date,” said the notification.

 

Source: Business Standard

July GST collections of Rs 92,000 crore exceeded target: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

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July GST receipts touch Rs 92,200 cr: Jaitley

Goods and services tax (GST) collections have exceeded estimates in the first month of the landmark levy’s rollout despite a significant number of assessees not having filed returns yet.

“We seem to be comfortable… The redline has been crossed in the first month itself,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said at his briefing on the first set of data on tax collections on Tuesday.

“Not many had thought that the redline would be crossed in the first month itself.” GST, which replaced multiple state and central levies, took effect on July 1.

The total collection under GST for July is pegged at Rs 92,283 crore. Extrapolating Budget targets, the central government’s July tax revenue should be Rs 48,000 crore and that of states Rs 43,000 crore, adding up to Rs 91,000 crore, Jaitley said.“We have exceeded the target,” he said, adding that even after the compensation cess is excluded, the target will still be surpassed when all taxpayers file returns. The last date for payment of tax for the month of July was August 25 and for those seeking transitional credit for taxes paid in the pre-GST era, the deadline was August 28.

Of the total, central GST accounted for Rs 14,894 crore, state GST for Rs 22,722 crore and integrated GST for Rs 47,469 crore, which includes Rs 20,964 crore on imports. IGST is levied on inter-state movement of goods and imports and is equal to CGST and SGST.

The compensation cess amounts to Rs 7,198 crore, of which Rs 599 crore is that on imports.

Jaitley said the total number of taxpayers having to file returns for July stood at 5.96 million if those that registered in August and those opting for the composition scheme were excluded. Of these, the minister said, 3.84 million returns have been filed — 64.42% of the total. This suggests that by the time all returns are filed, the tax kitty could swell further.

IGST will be allocated between CGST and SGST to the extent it has been used for payment of either of them. This allocation will be based on the cross-utilisation report to be received from the GST Network (GSTN), the technological backbone of the system.

STATE COMPENSATION
Exact revenue figures of the Centre and individual states would be known after this exercise, which will be conducted before the end of month. Jaitley said it will have to be seen if any specific state needs to be compensated. The tax collection number would “somewhat increase” with greater compliance, he added.Of the total 7.23 million taxpayers, 5.85 million have fully migrated to GSTN, while 1.38 million are yet to complete procedural formalities. The number of new taxpayers that registered with GSTN up to August 29 was 1.883 million.

“On the face of it, collection of over Rs 92,000 crore in the first month looks quite encouraging, given the fact that GST is still stabilising,” said Pratik Jain, partner and leader, indirect tax, PwC.“It is also to be noted that only 64% of registered dealers have actually done the compliances and therefore the actual collection could go up in next few days. Also, a large component of IGST collected on imports might be used as an offset in coming months and some amount of GST collected would also be given as a refund to exporters. Therefore, while initial trend shows healthy collection, the real picture would emerge over next couple of months.” MS Mani, senior director, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP, echoed this sentiment.

“The 65% compliance achieved in the first month of GST accompanied with the collection of Rs 92,000 crore is a very good beginning and both the compliance and collections are expected to show a significant upsurge in the coming months,” he said.

GST returns filing: Deadline ends, figures suggest robust collections

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As the extended deadline for filing the first tax returns under the goods and services tax (GST) ended on Friday evening, taxpayers inundated the GST Network (GSTN), the technology back end.
Given that the states’ combined GST tax revenue is estimated to be roughly equal to that of the Centre, a monthly GST revenue of Rs 1.55 lakh crore would meet the projections.

As the extended deadline for filing the first tax returns under the goods and services tax (GST) ended on Friday evening, taxpayers inundated the GST Network (GSTN), the technology back end. However, no official word was available on how many of the 87 lakh businesses registered on the portal filed the returns or paid taxes before the deadline.

Although it is too early to make any estimate, the tax collections under GST seem to endorse the forecast that the new tax will boost government revenues.

When just about 20 lakh of the 87 lakh taxpayers registered on the GSTN portal filed their returns and paid taxes as on Wednesday, some Rs 50,000 crore went to the total GST kitty. The Centre’s indirect tax target for the current financial year is Rs 9.26 lakh crore, which means a monthly average collection of Rs 77,200 crore.

Given that the states’ combined GST tax revenue is estimated to be roughly equal to that of the Centre, a monthly GST revenue of Rs 1.55 lakh crore would meet the projections. This doesn’t appear to be a tall order given the collection trend.

Of course, the GST collections being cited now are gross figures, without deducting the input tax credits that businesses are expected to claim and are estimated to be substantial, given the inherent nature of the new taxation system.

Till Thursday, 25 lakh taxpayers had filed their returns while an equal number had saved relevant details on the portal. GSTN officials told FE that the final numbers on the returns filed and taxes collected would be revealed by the revenue department.

The GSTN has, however, been grappling with a large number of taxpayers who are yet to complete their registration. This would prevent them from filing their return for July. The GSTN had prepared for a potential 39 lakh taxpayers to use the portal for filing tax return on Friday. This, GSTN officials said, was expected as even in the VAT regime half of the taxpayers filed returns on the last two days of the deadline.

Of the total GST amount of Rs 50,000 crore collected till Wednesday, Rs 20,000 crore had come in as integrated GST, which is levied on interstate movement of goods and imports. An amount of just over Rs 5,000 crore had been paid by assessees by way of cess on demerit goods such as cars and tobacco. The remaining Rs 25,000 crore had come in as central GST and state GST, which would be split equally between the Centre and the states.

Last Saturday, the government decided to extend the deadline for filing the interim summarised tax returns to August 25 from August 20 earlier, citing requests from taxpayers and difficulty experienced by states hit by floods.

This came after taxpayers and GST Suvidha providers — IT companies authorised to file returns on behalf of customers — complained that the GSTN system wasn’t accepting the filings.

Separately, nearly 10 lakh have registered on the portal for the composition scheme, which allows simpler compliance for businesses with an annual revenue of up to Rs 75 lakh. Of 87 lakh registered on the GSTN portal, nearly 71 lakh businesses have migrated from the earlier VAT, central excise or service tax regime, while 16 lakh are new taxpayers.

Source:  Financial Express

GST amount collected hits Rs 50,000 cr mark from 20 lakh businesses

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The government has collected goods and and service tax (GST) amount of Rs 50,000 crore so far with 20 lakh assessees having filed an interim tax returns on the GST Network as of Wednesday evening.

The government has collected goods and and service tax (GST) amount of Rs 50,000 crore so far with 20 lakh assessees having filed an interim tax returns on the GST Network as of Wednesday evening.

 

In addition, 28 lakh assessees have filled in the relevant details on the portal but are yet to file returns, senior government officials said. Of the total amount of Rs 50,000 crore, Rs 20,000 crore has come in as integrated GST, which is levied on interstate movement of goods. An amount of just over Rs 5,000 crore, an official said, had been paid by assessees by way of cess on demerit goods such as cars and tobacco. The remaining Rs 25,000 crore has come in as central GST and state GST, which would be split equally between the Centre and the states, government official explained.

 

The Rs 50,000 crore collected is a gross amount and the final amount in the government’s kitty would be smaller since there would be refunds for input tax credit, experts said.

 

With just two days to go before the extended deadline for filing summarised returns expires on August 25, only 23% of nearly 86 lakh registered taxpayers have filed so far.

 

Last Saturday, the government decided to extend the deadline for filing the interim summarised tax returns to August 25 from August 20 earlier, citing requests from taxpayers and difficulty experienced by states hit by floods.

 

This came after taxpayers and GST Suvidha providers (GSPs) — IT companies authorised to file returns on behalf of customers — complained the GSTN system wasn’t accepting the filings. Approximately 87 lakh taxpayers are understood to have registered on the GSTN portal as taxpayers. Of them, nearly 71 lakh businesses have migrated from earlier VAT, central excise or service tax regime, while 16 lakh new taxpayers too have registered with the portal.

 

Source: Financial Express

GST Return Filing: How to handle discounts and additional cost

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In order to eliminate ambiguities and avoid litigation due to inaccurate or flawed valuation of goods and services, valuation methods have been provided by the law which act as guidelines to businesses while determining the accurate taxable value.

One of the sea changes brought about by the GST era is the way we determine the value of goods and services.

As a business, one needs to be aware of the changes in the valuation method and also how to go about valuation in some special cases, for e.g. additional charges / discounts, branch transfers (which are taxable under GST) and when a supply is made with money not being the consideration.

In order to eliminate ambiguities and avoid litigation due to inaccurate or flawed valuation of goods and services, valuation methods have been provided by the law which act as guidelines to businesses while determining the accurate taxable value.

Valuation of Taxable Supplies under GST
In the previous tax regime, different methods were adopted to determine the value of the supply, for e.g. –
a) Excise – Based on transaction value or quantity of goods or MRP

b) VAT – Based on sale value

c) Service Tax – Based on taxable value of taxable service rendered

However, in the GST regime, the value of goods and / or services supplied will solely be the transaction value, i.e. the price paid / payable at each point in the supply chain.

 GST Return Filing: How to handle discounts and additional cost

Additional Charges & Expenses
This may lead us to our next question – how do we account for additional charges and expenses, such as discount, packing charges etc. – under the GST regime? Should they be included or excluded from the transaction value?
Similarly, the following are some charges/expenses of supply, which are included in the transaction value –
a) Incidental expenses such as commission
b) Interest/late fee/penalty charged by supplier for delayed payment
c) Subsidies excluding those provided by the Central and State governments
d) Any tax other than GST

e) Any amount payable by supplier, but incurred by receiver

Thus, the transnational value is basis, for including or excluding the charges, in the valuation under GST.

Read more at: The Economic Times

 

I-T plans to pursue property-holders who have never filed income tax returns

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The tax authorities now have the ability to analyse the data they get from multiple sources to identify evaders.

Income tax authorities plan to pursue those who have properties in their name but haven’t ever filed income tax returns on the suspicion that these may be benami holdings on behalf of people looking to conceal their wealth. The exercise is part of the government’s crackdown on black money.

The findings have emerged from the analysis of vast amounts of data that the government has collected. “We have a lot of data from various sources including on investments in property by people who have never filed returns,” said an income tax official. This information will be verified to ascertain the source of income used for the purchase of the properties and to see if these are being held by benami owners.

Enforcement action will be taken only in cases where there is concrete evidence, the official said. Otherwise, tax authorities will follow a non-intrusive approach. In some instances, the properties purchased exceed the income declared and in others, no income tax return has been filed.
The tax authorities now have the ability to analyse the data they get from multiple sources to identify evaders.

Spending and investment data are used to create profiles of individuals and matched with incomes declared in returns. Aside from this, more than 550,000 people have been identified for further probe as part of the second phase of Operation Clean Money for having deposited cash incommensurate with their declared income.

Besides this, some individuals reportedly carried out property transactions after demonetisation. The government had resolved to put in place a stringent framework to deal with black money soon after taking over in May 2014, in line with election promises. It has since taken a series of measures including the establishment of a special investigation team on black money and put in place a new law to deal with undisclosed overseas assets, apart from the benami legislation. Demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November last year was also pitched as a battle against black money.

The income-tax department launched Operation Clean Money soon after the demonetisation exercise. It identified 1.8 million persons for e-verification of large cash deposits.

 

The department has now moved on to phase two of the operation, which also includes a crackdown on benami properties.

The Benami Properties (Prohibition) Act empowers the income tax authorities to confiscate and prosecute both the depositor and the person whose illegal money he or she has “adjusted” in their account. It attracts a heavy fine that could be as much 25% of the fair market value of the asset and rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years.

ET View: Bring Real Estate Under GST
Real estate is a sink for money laundering. The annual information returns, that identify potential tax payers by examining their spending patterns, is useful to track evaders. Property registrars also file information returns. As the department gets a mine of information, it must deploy big data analytics to analyse these transactions. The need is also to bring real estate under the ambit of the goods and services tax to curb benami deals.

 

Source: The Economic Times