DEMYSTIFYING ANTI-PROFITEERING IN GOODS AND SERVICE TAX

Anti-profiteering is introduced in the GST Act based on the experience gained at the time of implementation of VAT in India and all other countries where GST / VAT is rolled out. The Government across the nations felt that the until and unless there is a provision in the law the benefits of the new tax regime are not being passed.

The benefit of the ITC is clearly evident in the MRP based goods, the prices are fixed based on the assumption that in the erstwhile tax regime Central Excise Taxes are not eligible for Input Tax Credit but with GST all the taxes are eligible for the ITC across the supply chain cycle, this means that ITC on the taxes can be claimed at all stages of supply. Say for example, Central Excise taxes were not eligible for ITC by the wholesaler or distributor or the end retailer, therefore Central Excise duties were part of the MRP but in GST, all the taxes are eligible for ITC, so the MRP’s have to revisited and reduced accordingly. Recently we have seen a case where one of the major FMCG company has not passed on the rate reduction, the company has paid Rs 119 crores as fine.

It is really a herculean task but not an impossible task to determine the reduction of the cost on account of additional ITC in the supply chain, reduction of taxes and taxes subsumed in GST.  Many of the taxpayers are of the assumption that there is no change in the pricing as they were taking ITC in the erstwhile tax regime and now also, but they have to look beyond then only come to a conclusion. The reduction in the MRP can be used and widely publicized as in the Australian Model where it is required to show the pre-GST and post GST Prices. Though display of dual MRP is not a mandatory feature in GST, the same can be used and shown predominantly on the goods. Adhering to the provisions of the anti-profiteering is also part of the corporate governance.

Let me explain the same with a small illustration practically A Ltd and B Ltd are two manufacturers of a health dink brands H and I.  A decided to reduce the price of the product H and use the Australian Model of dual GST and whereas B Ltd has not reduced the price as it did not consider the same to be required. In the departmental stores both the brands H & I are placed in the same rack. When the customers walk in to buy the health drink, he is attracted to brand H as he says the price is being reduced and also following the compliance even though he is using the brand I for a long time. The loyalty of the customer shifts from the brand I to brand H of company A Ltd.

This is one of the products I have seen in the departmental store for the reduction of the GST, this is how this company is publicizing the price reduction.

It is a known fact that cost of acquisition the customer is very high and retaining the customer is also high. Here the cost benefit analysis is also not required as it is a statutory obligation and also as part of the corporate governance it has to adhered.

Anti-profiteering as seen is not anti-business but it can be used as a tool to improve the market share and profitability on account of volumes and lesser spend on the marketing costs. This benefit is available only for the corporates who act proactively and the early adopters.

It is known to all that the Director General of Safeguards has issued notices to companies and the investigation is in under process. In today’s dynamic world any negative news on the brand or the company will have an immediate impact on the sales and could also impact the profitability as well as the market capitalization if listed in the exchanges.

As part of the corporate governance and statutory obligations in the GST Act, any reduction in the rates or the availability of the Input Tax Credit has to be passed to the end customer.

The author can be reached for any further clarifications on the same on the mail id mallikarjunagupta@india-gst.in

Any views or opinions represented above are personal and belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

Anti-Profiteering

The government has released the formats for the consumers to file a complaint under GST against the taxpayers in case if they have not reduced the prices after the rollout of GST on account of the reduction of tax rates or input tax credit is available, previously not available.

Format for filing of the complaint about Anti-Profiteering

Anti Profiteering Mechanism flow chart

Anti Profiteering Screening Committee at the States and UTs

Changes in GSTR – 3B filing

Changes have been made to the GSTR – 3B, a set of question are being asked to the taxpayer to select “Yer” or “No” based on that the relevant tables in GSTR – 3B will be populated. This is applicable for the taxpayers filing returns online.

The following are the questions asked

 

Please answer the following questions to enable us to show relevant sections

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Indicates Mandatory Fields

A. Do you want to file Nil return? Note:Nil return can be filed by you if you have not made any outward supply (commonly known as sale) AND have NOT received (commonly known as purchase) any goods/services AND do not have any tax liability.	YesNO
B. Have you made any supply of goods/services (including nil rated, exempt and non-GST supplies) or received any supplies liable to reverse charge during this tax period? (Table 3.1)	YesNO
C. Have you made any inter-state supplies to unregistered persons, composition taxable persons or UIN holders? (Table 3.2)	YesNO
D. Do you have any claim/reversal of Input tax credit(ITC) on purchase of goods or receipt of services ? (Table 4)	YesNO
E. Have you received any nil rated, exempt or non-GST supplies during this tax period? (Table 5)	YesNO
F. Do you have any interest or late fee (including carry forward late-fee) liability? (Table 5.1)	YesNO
G. Do you have any tax liability due to GST TRAN-1?(System-populated) (Table 6)	YesNO

This is basically to ensure that the small time taxpayers do not get confused and make return filing simple. Also, the department wants to confirm from the taxpayers for the above questions and raise queries in future if required. Everyone one has to be careful while filing the returns.

The best suggest method is to have the Trail Balance ready on monthly and basis on that prepare the data for the GST returns, this will ensure that there will not be any mismatches between the GSTR – 3B data and the other monthly returns. This process will bring in a discipline to the taxpayers as well as to the professionals and assist in the filing of returns without any mistakes.

Demystifying the reasons for mismatch between Supplier’s GSTR – 1 and Recipients GSTR – 2

It is almost 120 days after the rollout of GST and we are yet to file the first month returns, i.e., for the month of July 2017. Is technology the main culprit for this delay? The answer is “Yes” and “No.” Yes, in case of taxpayers who have a large number of invoices and becomes really tough to match the data entered and filed by the supplier and match it with the inward supplies. This is applicable in cases where the inward supplies are more than 500+ transactions per month. The answer in case of “No” is lack of understanding of the GST Law and implementation of the same. In either case, we do not have a choice but to file a valid return.

Some of the common reasons for the data mismatch are

1. Invoicing Date – the goods or services might have been billed or shipped at the fag end of the month. This could have resulted in the tax invoices not reaching the finance/accounts department.
2. Goods not yet received – this also could be one the reasons, the supplier must have shipped the goods, but the same is not yet received by the recipient on account of distance, longer travel time or breakdown of the vehicle or some reasons beyond the control of both the parties.
3. Wrong GSTIN – there could be cases where the supplier must have entered the GSTIN of the recipient wrongly. In such cases, the data will not be reflected in the actual recipient’s GST return. The date entry issues are caused as there might not be a proper accounting or ERP software with interfaces for the filing of returns, and manually data has to be entered. Manual data entry sometime lead to errors.
4. Material received but not accounted – This is one of the most common cases, in many manufacturing organizations, there is a time lag between the receipt entry or creation and accounting in finance. Personal experience shows that it will take about 20 – 45 days minimum for the Material Receipt Note (MRN) or Goods Receipt Note (GRN) to reach finance/accounts department. If this time lag is reduced, it will definitely ease the pressure on working capital requirements of the organization. It also helps the recipient to process the payments to suppliers as most of the recipients pay from the date of accounting in the books of accounts for the purchases / inward supplies.
5. Improper accounting of invoices/debit notes/credit notes – this is another major reason for the mismatch between the supplier’s and recipient’s records. Normally in our country, we account for the net amount payable to the supplier and thereby causing the mismatch. Under GST the provisions are very clear that supplier of goods or services only issues the debit note or credit note. Under GST, the recipient has to account for the full amount of the invoice issued by the supplier and then take it up for the differential amount on account of shortages/breakages / quality issues or price differential.
6. GSTR – 1 of the supplier, is not submitted – it is also observed that many of the suppliers are not aware of the process of filing of the GSTR – 1 or in some cases the erstwhile tax regime returns have not be filed, as a result they were not able to carry forward the closing balances, or C forms are pending from the customers. Some of the taxpayers are not filing the same as they have to pay the differential amount for the non-receipt of C forms or other forms. This is also causing the hardships in the GST return filing process.
7. GSTR – 1 of the supplier is not filed – as GST is a new system many of the vendors or suppliers in the MSME sector are not fully aware of the GST and process of filing of returns. As a result of this, it is observed that in some case, the supplier of goods or services has only submitted the return but not filed, this will lead to a mismatch between the records. In some cases, it is observed that the GSTR – 1 has been only submitted not filed.
8. Accounted as imprest or in IOU – it is a normal business process to have inward supplies of goods or services through imprest basis at factories or at sites. Normally they are submitted at periodic intervals to the head office or any other office, for reimbursement. Purchases from a registered taxpayer are made in one month, and the statement is submitted in the subsequent month, this also causes the mismatch between the records.
9. Software upgradation – As GST is a new tax regime and most of the accounting or ERP’s are not upgraded to carter the requirements of GST. This has also caused some issues in the initial days of data capturing and updates. In some cases, it is also observed that the upgrades have been done, but the solutions are not developed. As a result, some gaps are there.
10. Knowledge of GST – As it is a new system many of the suppliers and recipients in the MSME segment are not fully aware of the GST and its implications. There is also a lack of trained manpower on GST, and some organizations have implemented on their own with understanding issues. This also has resulted in some wrong filing and mismatch of records. Frequent changes in the new law is also causing some understanding issues, to avoid this, professional should be engaged.
11. Frequent Changes – as it is a new law and everyone is in the learning process and based on the feedback of the trade and industry there are some changes. The changes are in tax rates or process of GST or on reverse charge front etc.,
12. Not fully operations GSTN Software – the GSTN software is not operational fully and few bugs are also observed, this is also causing some issues in the filing of the GST returns.
13. Wrong data entry – as the return filing process is at the transactional level, there are understanding issues, and data is being entered wrongly in the returns, this has also resulted in a mismatch of the records. Like invoice amount being entered in the taxable amount columns or tax amounts entered wrongly at the time of filing of returns.

The above are some of the major reasons for the mismatch between the supplier’s returns and recipient’s returns. In view of the above challenges, the government is also responding and extending the due dates of filing of returns from time to time. One thing we all should keep in mind is that the for matching of the returns there is a window period of two months and not required to be matched in the same month/period of return filing.  As it is a new system, it takes time to stabilize and also for the taxpayers to understand the same. No new system is stable, and change is also difficult to adopt either for the taxpayers or for the consumers or for the tax officials. The recent experience in Malaysia where GST was rolled out on 1^st April 2015, took one year for the same to stabilize and for us, only four months have passed after the rollout. One good thing in our country is all the stakeholders are responding positively to the changes and striving for the successful implementation.

Any views or opinions represented above are personal and belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

Demystifying Tax Deduction at Source under GST Act

In the current tax regime under VAT, we have Tax Deducted at Source, and the same is being continued under GST also. Section 51 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 talks about the provisions related Tax Deduction at Source. TDS is applicable to works contract also related to immovable properties in GST.

TDS is applicable on works contract also and the definition of works contract is defined in subsection 119 of section 2 of the CGST Act 2017.

works contract” means a contract for building, construction, fabrication, completion, erection, installation, fitting out, improvement, modification, repair, maintenance, renovation, alteration or commissioning of any immovable property wherein transfer of property in goods (whether as goods or in some other form) is involved in the execution of such contract;

The tax has to be deducted by category of persons as given in the sub-section 1 of section 51 of the CGST Act 2017.  The category of persons are

(a) a department or establishment of the Central or State Government, or

(b) Local authority, or

(c) Governmental agencies, or

(d) such persons or category of persons as may be notified, by the Central or a State Government on the recommendations of the Council,

Point “d” is an open clause and government on recommendations of the GST Council will notify the class of persons who are required to deduct TDS under GST from time to time whenever it finds that there is a necessity to plug the revenue leakage in the system.

The tax has to be deducted only in case of contracts where the contract value exceeds Rs 2.5 Lacs by the taxpayer who has issued the contract.

TDS should not be deducted if the location of the supplier and the place of supply is in a State or Union territory which is different from the State or as the case may be, Union territory of registration of the recipient.

For deriving the value of supply for determining the TDS, is the value of supply excluding the taxes paid under GST (Central Tax, State / UT Tax and Compensation Cess).

The tax so deducted has to be deposited by the deductor by 10^th of next month by filing of GSTR – 7

The deductor has to issue a certificate to the deductee, the contractor from whom the tax is deducted with the details like the amount of contract, the rate of tax deducted, amount of tax deducted and amount of tax deposited by the deductor in GSTR – 7A.  The deductor has to issue a certificate within 5 days from the date on which the amount is credited, a late fee of Rs 100 will be levied per day for delay in issue of the certificate. The amount of late fee will not exceed Rs 5000.

The deductee can take the credit of the tax based on GSTR – 2 filed by the Deductor under Section 39, sub-section 3 of CGST Act 2017. The amount will be credited to the electronic cash ledger of the deductee, and he can utilize the same for payment of GST taxes.

In case if the deductor fails to deposit the tax to the respective government, he is liable to pay interest on the defaulted amount as per provisions of Section 50 of CGST Act 2017.

The deductor can claim for refund as per Section 54 of CGST Act 2017 provided that the amount is not credited to the electronic cash ledger of the deductee.

From the provision of this section, it is clear that the government does not want to lose any tax revenue from the small contractors also. One silver lining is that unlike in tax collected at source there is no matching of records to avail the credit. If the contractor wants to avail in the credit, then he has to be registered with GST. In a way, the government is ensuring that there is no revenue leakage from any transactions at any given point of time.

The tax rates with respect to works contract have been reduced from 18% to 12% wide Notification No 20 CGST (Rates) 2017 with respect to composite contracts undertaken for the Government, a local authority or a Governmental authority by way of construction, erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance, renovation, or alteration. These rates are in addition to the TDS rates. In the erstwhile regime, the contractors were billing under the composite scheme where they were not taking input tax credit, and the excise taxes were added to the cost of the project along with the VAT and Service Tax. But now going forward in GST, as input tax credit is available for all the inputs if used for the furtherance of the business, this means that pricing of the existing contracts has to be re worked to take the benefit of the ITC and it is required as part of the Anti-profiteering provisions of the CGST Act. It will be very tough to say on the face of it that the cost for all the contract will be coming down, it has to evaluated on case to case basis and if there is no remarkable reduction or increase in costs due to lower tax rates on the input supplies. This is most likely to be seen in the case of construction of roads as the major component is gravel which is taxed at 5%, bitumen @ 9%, labor if on pay roll the GST is not applicable as it is part of the wages. Each and every contract has to be evaluated, and price revision has to be carried out accordingly. GST is exempted for some contracts as given in Notification No 12 CGST (Rates), 2017. The prices for contracts falling under such contracts also have to be renegotiated as ITC is not available on inputs.

The rollout date for the TDS in GST will be notified by the government separately, and before that, all the deductors have to obtain new GST registration number for TDS separately. The process of registration for TDS will commence from 18^th of September 2017 based on the press release issued after the 21^st GST Council Meeting held on 9^th September 2017 at Hyderabad.

Any views or opinions represented above are personal and belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

Are we ready for the game ?

GST is rolled out from 1st of July 2017 and the trade and industry is able to adapt to the same with some teething troubles. Though all the issues are not resolved some of them are still and it takes some time to get resolved. One month has passed after the rollout of GST and now it is the time for filing of returns. The same is updated through a press release by CBEC on 18th June 2017 – http://www.cbec.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/press-release/press-note-on-return-filing.pdf

As there is a delay in filing of the returns, a new form is known as GSTR – 3B has been introduced and it has to be filed by 20th of Aug 2017. The format is released by the Government. It is basically a summary of the return for the month of July 2017 for determining the net tax liability to be paid. This statement looks simple but the challenge is on a careful review of the format it is clear that there is no provision for the opening balance of the input tax credit as of 30th June 2017. The reason is the GST Tran-1 form has to be filed within 90 days from the appointed date i.e 1st of July 2017. As a result of the closing balance of the Input Tax Credit will not be available for the taxpayers to use the same for payment of taxes for the month of July 2017.

This will have a huge impact on the cash flows as the tax payers have to pay in cash without using the available input tax credit and it is going to impact the MSME sector a lot especially for taxpayers who were not eligible to take registration under Central Excise in the erstwhile regime now they have to pay CGST.

The portal for the GST i.e GST.gov.in is not having the option of filing of the GSTR – 3B as on date, that means the taxpayers have to wait for some more time for filing of the return. This time lag should be utilized by the taxpayers for renegotiating with their customer to receive the payments or at least for the tax amount. Alternatively, they have to look out for additional cash flow either through additional funding or increase their CC limits or another means.  The same is likely to continue for the next month also.

Managing of the working capital is one area and another is ensuring that the data required for the return filing is also in place. GSTR – 3B is an interim return and the actual returns for GST have to be filed by 10th of September i.e, GSTR – 1 by 5th September 2017 and GSTR – 2 by 10th September 2017.

 

GST Acts

President signs GST Acts and you can download the same from here

Central Goods and Service Tax Act 2017

Integrated Goods and Service Tax Act 2017

Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017

In case of any queries on the GST Acts, you can drop a mail to askus@india-gst.in. You will get replies within 24 to 48 hours

GST Tip – 114

Input Service Distributor has to file a return known as GSTR – 6 every month within 13 days from the end of the month. It will contain all the taxes invoices issued during the month along with the input credit received details during the month.

GST Tip 109

GSTR – 3 is a monthly return to be filed on basis of the finalized data of outward supplies i.e GSTR – 1 and inward supplies i.e GSTR – 2 along with the amount of tax, interest, late fees and penalty paid for the month.

GST Tip 88

Services Accounting Code (SAC) is mandatory to be shown on the tax the invoice for the supply of services and also in the GSTR – 1 return.