Goods and Services Tax (GST)

OVERVIEW

It is a destination based tax on consumption of goods and services. It is proposed to be levied at all stages right from manufacture up to final consumption with credit of taxes paid at previous stages available as set-off. In a nutshell, only value addition will be taxed and burden of tax is to be borne by the final consumer GST is a win-win situation for the entire country. It brings benefits to all the stakeholders of industry, government and the consumer.GST aims to make India a common market with common tax rates and procedures and remove the economic barriers thus paving the way for an integrated economy at the national level. By subsuming most of the Central and State taxes into a single tax and by allowing a set-off of prior-stage taxes for the transactions across the entire value chain, it would mitigate the ill effects of cascading, improve competitiveness and improve liquidity of the businesses.

What are GST Returns?

A GST return is a document containing details of all income/sales and/or expense/purchase which a taxpayer (every GSTIN) is required to file with the tax administrative authorities. This is used by tax authorities to calculate net tax liabilityUnder GST, a regular taxpayer needs to furnish monthly returns and one annual return. There are separate returns for a taxpayer registered under the composition scheme, nonresident taxpayer, taxpayer registered as an Input Service Distributor, a person liable to deduct or collect the tax (TDS/ TCS) and a person granted Unique Identification Number. It is important to note that a taxpayer is NOT required to file all types of returns. In fact, taxpayers are required to file returns depending on the activities they undertake Following table lists the various types of returns under GST Law:

TYPES OF GST RETURNS

Return Form	Description	Frequency	Due Date
GSTR1	Details of outward supplies of taxable goods and/or services affected.	Monthly ——————— Quarterly (If opted under the QRMP scheme)	11TH OF THE NEXT MONTH ———————– 13TH OF THE MONTH SUCCEEDING THE QUARTER
GSTR-4	Return for a taxpayer registered under the composition scheme	Annually	30th of the month succeeding a financial year.
GSTR-5	Return for a non-resident foreign taxable person.	Monthly	20th of the next month.
GSTR-6	Return for an input service distributor to distribute the eligible input tax credit to its branches.	Monthly	13th of the next month.
GSTR-7	Return for government authorities deducting tax at source (TDS).	Monthly	10th of the next month.
GSTR-8	Details of supplies effected through e-commerce operators and the amount of tax collected at source by them.	Monthly	10th of the next month.
GSTR-9	Annual return for a normal taxpayer.	Annually	31st December of next financial year.
GSTR-9C	Certified reconciliation statement	Annually	31st December of next financial year.
GSTR-10	Final return to be filed by a taxpayer whose GST registration is cancelled.	Once, when GST registration is cancelled or surrendered.	Within three months of the date of cancellation or date of cancellation order, whichever is later.
GSTR-11	Details of inward supplies to be furnished by a person having UIN and claiming a refund	Monthly	28th of the month following the month for which statement is filed.
GSTR-7	Return for government authorities deducting tax at source (TDS).	Monthly	10th of the next month.