It has been a little more than a year that the Government launched the GST amendment to the Indian constitution. It took away all the indirect taxes that were stuffed in the production process and blended them all into one tax called the Goods and Services Tax.
How and when do you deal with GST?
All registered businesses have to file monthly, quarterly and/or annual GST return based on the type of business they are running. Furthermore, the amount of money paid as GST varies based on the nature of the work being done. The Government made changes to the due date for filing of GST sales returns by businesses with a turnover exceeding Rs 1.5 crore to the 11th day of the succeeding month. These businesses are also required to file quarterly returns, the GSTR-1 (which is a form) giving details of outward supplies by the last date of the subsequent month.
How do you handle the GST process online?
A taxpayer needs to create a return of the income they received in the previous month for the tax authorities. This return is then used to calculate the liability of that specific payer for that month. When handling the same for GST, the supplier has to make sure they include
When you sign up for GST, you receive a GST number, referred to as GSTIN. When you are being charged GST, the other person has to provide their GSTIN number on the invoice. Any person can use the GSTIN number of another to get their information. Furthermore, you would get details auto-populated when you are going through the process if you have already filled the first form. This makes for a faster processing time and smoother functioning system.
Has GST actually made a difference to the country?
According to the Government's prediction, Pre-GST, the statutory tax rate for most goods in India was about 26.5%, and post-GST, most goods are expected to be in the 18% tax range. These predictions turned out to be true. The State and Central Government decided to put their resources together for the better good of the economy, making it easier to administer taxes and increase revenue collection through an efficient process.
When taxes were collected separately by the various states, it was difficult to keep track of the amounts and suppliers were spending amounts that varied each time. Now the system made it easier to monitor everything reducing the redundancies and additional tax amounts in between. This made it easier for the people paying tax as well, and they found themselves paying less and in one go. The prices were now quite transparent as compared to the past.