Highlights of the 26th GST Council Meeting
The GST Council’s 26th Meeting was held on 10th March 2018 at New Delhi. The council took various decisions in this meeting. Some of the key decisions taken in the said meeting are captured below for reference of all our post readers :
Reverse Charge Mechanism – Not Applicable up to June 2018
Reverse Charge is applicable in case of supplies made by unregistered persons to registered persons. If reverse charge is applicable, the recipient of the goods or services would be liable for payment of GST instead of the supplier. This reverse charge mechanism was suspended up to March 2018.
The 26th GST Council Meeting has decided to extend the suspension of reverse charge mechanism upto June 2018.
GSTR 3B Return Filing – Extended up to June 2018
As you would remember, the GSTR 3B return was introduced as a temporary measure. All taxpayers having GST registration were required to file GSTR 3B returns every month. This was put in place till March 31, 2018. This was done pending proper implementation of GSTR 1, GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 returns. The Council in this meeting has decided to extend the filing of GSTR 3B returns till June, 2018.
Hence, all taxpayers registered under GST would now be required to file GSTR 3B return for upto the month of June 2018.
TDS & TCS Provisions – Not Applicable upto June 2018
The GST TDS and TCS provisions are applicable for e-commerce companies and certain types of taxpayers. The GST TDS and TCS provisions have also been suspended till June 2018.
For protection of interest of the Exporters
The GST Council has decided to extend the available tax exemptions on imported goods for a further 6 monthsi.e till October 01, 2018. The exporters availing various export promotion schemes can continue to avail such exemptions tillOctober 01, 2018. Post this period it is expected that an e-wallet scheme will be in place to continue the benefits in the future.
For merchant exporters, a special scheme of payment of GST @ 0.1% on their procured goods was introduced to improve cash-flow for the taxpayers. Also, domestic procurement made under Advance Authorization, EPCG and EOU schemes were recognized as ‘deemed exports’ with flexibility for either the suppliers or the exporters being able to claim a refund of GST / IGST paid thereon. All these benefits have been extended upto October 01, 2018.
Further, the Council has also directed GSTN to expeditiously clear the refund claims of the exporters
Introduction of E-Way Bill
The E-Way Billrollout has been announced from April 01, 2018 across India. From April 01, 2018 e-way bill would be mandatorily required for all transport of goods from one state to another (inter-state) with a value of more than 50,000. E-way bill would be mandatorily required for all transport of goods (both inter-state and intra-state) with a value of more than Rs.50,000 from June 01, 2018. The value of exempted goods shall be excluded from value of the consignment, for the purpose of a-way bill generation.
Some of the major changes announced to the e-way bill mechanism are as follows:
• Public conveyance has also been included as a mode of transport and the responsibility of generating an e-way bill in case of movement of goods by public transport would be that of the consignor or consignee.
• Goods transport by railways has been exempted from generation and carrying of e-way bill with the condition that without the production of an e-way bill, railways will not deliver the goods to the recipient. But railways are required to carry invoice or delivery challan etc.
• Time period for the recipient to communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment would be the validity period of the concerned a-way bill or 72 hours, whichever is earlier.
• In case of movement of goods on account of job-work, the registered job worker can also generate an e-way bill.
• Consignor can authorize the transporter, courier agency and e-commerce operator to fill PART-A of an e-way bill on his behalf.
• Movement of goods from the place of consignor to the place of transporter up to a distance of 50 Km [increased from 10 km] does not require filling of PART-B of an e-way bill. They have to generate PART-A of an e-way bill.
• Extra validity period has been provided for Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC).
• If the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the a-way bill, the transporter may extend the validity period in case of transhipment or in case of circumstances of an exceptional nature.
• Validity of one day will expire at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of an e-way bill.
• In case of movement of goods by railways, airways and waterways, the e-way bill can be generated even after commencement of movement of goods.
• Movement of goods on account of Bill-To-Ship-To supply will be handled through the capturing of place of despatch in PART-A of an e-way bill.
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