FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) ON GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) PART – 3

2nd Edition: 31st March, 2017
(Updated as on 1st January, 2018)

Important Keyword: Section 22 CGST/SGST Act 2017, Section 24 Act, Art.279A(4)(g) Constitution, Section 23 Act, Section 2(6) CGST/SGST Act, Section 52 CGST/SGST Act, Section 9(5) CGST/SGST Act, Section 51 CGST/SGST Act, Section 9(5) CGST/SGST Act, Notification no. 65/2017-Central Tax (Rate), Notification no. 32/2017-Central Tax, Section 22(1) CGST/SGST Act. Section 25(2) CGST/SGST Act, Section 25(3) CGST/SGST Act, Section 22 CGST/SGST Act, Section 25(6) CGST/SGST Act, Income Tax Act,1961(43 of 1961), Section 25(7) CGST/SGST Act, Section 25(8), Section 25(10) CGST/SGST Act, Section 25(9) CGST/SGST Act, Section 2 (20) CGST/SGST Act, Section 2(77) CGST/SGST Act, Section 27(1) CGST/SGST Act, Section 27(2) CGST/SGST Act, Section 28 CGST/SGST Act, Section 29 CGST/SGST Act, Section 29(4) SGST Act , Section 29(2) CGST/SGST Act, Section 29(2)(e) CGST/SGST Act, Section 25(2) CGST Act 2017, Section 2(61) CGST/SGST Act, Section 2(89) CGST/SGST Act, Section 2(85) CGST/SGST Act, Section 26(2) CGST Act, Section 29(5) CGST/SGST Act, Sections 2(20)CGST/SGST Act, Section 2(77) CGST/SGST Act.

CENTRAL BOARD OF EXCISE & CUSTOMS
NEW DELHI

Index

1. Overview of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
2. Levy of and Exemption from Tax
3. Registration
4. Meaning and Scope of Supply
5. Time of Supply
6. Valuation in GST
7. GST Payment of Tax
8. Electronic Commerce
9. Job Work
10. Input Tax Credit
11. Concept of Input Service Distributor in GST
12. Returns Process and matching of Input Tax Credit
13. Assessment and Audit
14. Refunds
15. Demands and Recovery
16. Appeals, Review and Revision in GST
17. Advance Ruling
18. Settlement Commission [Omitted]
19. Inspection, Search, Seizure and Arrest
20. Offences, Penalties, Prosecution and Compounding
21. Overview of the IGST Act
22. Place of Supply of Goods and Service
23. GSTN and Frontend Business Process on GST Portal
24. Transitional Provisions

Registration

Q 1. What is advantage of taking registration in GST?

Ans. Registration under Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime will confer following advantages to the business:

• Legally recognized as supplier of goods or services.
• Proper accounting of taxes paid on the input goods or services which can be utilized for payment of GST due on supply of goods or services or both by the business.
• Legally authorized to collect tax from his purchasers and pass on the credit of the taxes paid on the goods or services supplied to purchasers or recipients.
• Getting eligible to avail various other benefits and privileges rendered under the GST laws.

Q 2. Can a person without GST registration claim ITC and collect tax?

Ans. No, a person without GST registration can neither collect GST from his customers nor can claim any input tax credit of GST paid by him.

Q 3. What will be the effective date of registration?

Ans. Where the application for registration has been submitted within thirty days from the date on which the person becomes liable to registration, the effective date of registration shall be the date on which he became liable for registration. Where an application for registration has been submitted by the applicant after thirty days from the date of his becoming liable to registration, the effective date of registration shall be the date of grant of registration.
In case of a person taking registration voluntarily while being within the threshold exemption limit for paying tax, the effective date of registration shall be the date of order of registration.

Q 4. Who are the persons liable to take a Registration under the GST Law?

Ans. As per Section 22 of the CGST/SGST Act 2017, every supplier (including his agent) who makes a taxable supply i.e. supply of goods and / or services which are leviable to tax under GST law, and his aggregate turn over in a financial year exceeds the threshold limit of twenty lakh rupees shall be liable to register himself in the State or the Union territory of Delhi or Puducherry from where he makes the taxable supply.
In case of eleven special category states (as mentioned in Art.279A(4)(g) of the Constitution of India), this threshold limit for registration liability is ten lakh rupees. Besides, Section 24 of the Act mentions certain categories of suppliers, who shall be liable to take registration even if their aggregate turnover is below the said threshold limit of 20 lakh rupees.
On the other hand, as per Section 23 of the Act, an agriculturist in respect of supply of his agricultural produce; as also any person exclusively making supply of non-taxable or wholly exempted goods and/or services under GST law will not be liable for registration.

Q 5. What is aggregate turnover?

Ans. As per section 2(6) of the CGST/SGST Act “aggregate turnover” includes the aggregate value of:
(i) all taxable supplies,
(ii) all exempt supplies,
(iii) exports of goods and/or service, and,
(iv) all inter-state supplies of a person having the same PAN.
The above shall be computed on all India basis and excludes taxes charged under the CGST Act, SGST Act, UTGST Act, and the IGST Act. Aggregate turnover shall include all supplies made by the Taxable person, whether on his own account or made on behalf of all his principals.
Aggregate turnover does not include value of supplies on which tax is levied on reverse charge basis, and value of inward supplies.
The value of goods after completion of job work is not includible in the turnover of the job-worker. It will be treated as supply of goods by the principal and will accordingly be includible in the turnover of the Principal.

Q 6. Which are the cases in which registration is compulsory?

Ans. The following categories of persons are required to be registered compulsorily irrespective of the threshold limit:
i) persons making any inter-State taxable supply, except persons making inter-state supply of certain handicraft goods, and services;
ii) casual taxable persons except persons making supply of certain handicraft goods;
iii) persons who are required to pay tax under reverse charge;
iv) persons who are required to pay tax under sub-section (5) of section 9;
v) non-resident taxable persons making taxable supply;
vi) persons who are required to deduct tax under section 51;
vii) persons who make taxable supply of goods or services on behalf of other registered taxable persons whether as an agent or otherwise;
viii) Input service distributor (whether or not separately registered under the Act);
ix) persons who supply goods, other than supplies specified under Section 9(5), through such e-commerce operator who is required to collect tax at source under section 52;
x) every electronic commerce operator;
xi) every person supplying online information and database retrieval services from a place outside India to a person in India, other than a registered person; and,
In addition, the Government may notify other person or class of persons who shall be required to be registered mandatorily.
The Government, however, has granted exemption from compulsory registration vide Notification no. 32/2017-Central Tax dated 15/09/2017 (casual taxable person making taxable supplies of handicraft goods) and Notification no. 65/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 15/11/2017 (supplier of services through an e-commerce platform).

Q 7. What is the time limit for taking a Registration under GST?

Ans. A person should take a Registration, within thirty days from the date on which he becomes liable to registration, in such manner and subject to such conditions as is prescribed under the Registration Rules. A Casual Taxable person and a non-resident taxable person should however apply for registration at least 5 days prior to commencement of business.

Q 8. If a person is operating in different states, with the same PAN number, whether he can operate with a single Registration?

Ans. No. Every person who is liable to take a Registration will have to get registered separately for each of the States where he has a business operation and is liable to pay GST in terms of Sub-section (1) of Section 22 of the CGST/SGST Act.

Q 9. Whether a person having multiple business verticals in a state can obtain different registrations?

Ans. Yes. In terms of the proviso to Sub-Section (2) of Section 25, a person having multiple business verticals in a State may obtain a separate registration for each business vertical, subject to such conditions as prescribed in the registration rules.

Q 10. Is there a provision for a person to get himself voluntarily registered though he may not be liable to pay GST?

Ans. Yes. In terms of Sub-section (3) of Section 25, a person, though not liable to be registered under Section 22 may get himself registered voluntarily, and all provisions of this Act, as are applicable to a registered taxable person, shall apply to such person.

Q 11. Is possession of a Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for obtaining a Registration?

Ans. Yes. As per Section 25(6) of the CGST/SGST Act every person shall have a Permanent Account Number issued under the Income Tax Act,1961(43 of 1961) in order to be eligible for grant of registration.
However as per the proviso to the aforesaid section 25(6), a person required to deduct tax under Section 51, may have, in lieu of a PAN, a Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number issued under the said Income Tax Act, in order to be eligible for grant of registration.
Also, as per Section 25(7) PAN is not mandatory for a non-resident taxable person who may be granted registration on the basis of self-attested copy of valid passport.

Q 12. Whether the Department through the proper officer, can suo-moto proceed to register of a Person under this Act?

Ans. Yes. In terms of sub-section (8) of Section 25, where a person who is liable to be registered under this Act fails to obtain registration, the proper officer may, without prejudice to any action which may be taken under this Act, or under any other law for the time being in force, proceed to register such person in the manner as is prescribed in the
Registration rules.

Q 13. Whether the proper officer can reject an Application for Registration?

Ans. Yes. In terms of sub-section 10 of section 25 of the CGST/SGST Act, the proper officer can reject an application for registration after due verification.

Q 14. Whether the Registration granted to any person is permanent?

Ans. Yes, the registration Certificate once granted is permanent unless surrendered, cancelled, suspended or revoked.

Q 15. Is it necessary for the UN bodies to get registration under GST?

Ans. Yes. In terms of Section 25(9) of the CGST/SGST Act, all notified UN bodies, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries and any other class of persons so notified would be required to obtain a unique identification number (UIN) from the GST portal. The structure of the said ID would be uniform across the States in conformity with GSTIN structure and the same will be common for the Centre and the States. This UIN will be needed for claiming refund of taxes paid on notified supplies of goods and services received by them, and for any other purpose as may be notified.

Q 16. What is the responsibility of the taxable person supplying to UN bodies?

Ans. The taxable supplier supplying to these organizations is expected to mention the UIN on the invoices and treat such supplies as supplies to another registered person (B2B) and the invoices of the same will be uploaded by the supplier.

Q 17. Is it necessary for the Govt. Organization to get registration?

Ans. A unique identification number (ID) would be given by the respective state tax authorities through GST portal to Government authorities / PSUs not making outwards supplies of GST goods (and thus not liable to obtain GST registration) but are making inter-state purchases.

Q 18. Who is a Casual Taxable Person?

Ans. Casual Taxable Person has been defined in Section 2 (20) of the CGST/SGST Act meaning a person who occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods and/or services in the course or furtherance of business, whether as principal, or agent or in any other capacity, in a State or a Union territory where he has no fixed place of business.

Q 19. Who is a Non-resident Taxable Person?

Ans. In terms of Section 2(77) of the CGST/SGST Act, a non-resident taxable person means any person who occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods and/or services whether as principal or agent or in any other capacity, but who has no fixed place of business or residence in India.

Q 20. What is the validity period of the Registration certificate issued to a Casual Taxable Person and non- Resident Taxable person?

Ans. In terms of Section 27(1) read with proviso thereto, the certificate of registration issued to a “casual taxable person” or a “non-resident taxable person” shall be valid for a period specified in the application for registration or ninety days from the effective date of registration, whichever is earlier. However, the proper officer, at the request of the said taxable person, may extend the validity of the aforesaid period of ninety days by a further period not exceeding ninety days.

Q 21. Is there any Advance tax to be paid by a Casual Taxable Person and Non-resident Taxable Person at the time of obtaining registration under this Special Category?

Ans. Yes. While a normal taxable person does not have to make any advance deposit of tax to obtain registration, a casual taxable person or a non-resident taxable person shall, at the time of submission of application for registration is required, in terms of Section 27(2) read with proviso thereto, to make an advance deposit of tax in an amount equivalent to the estimated tax liability of such person for the period for which the registration is sought. If registration is to be extended beyond the initial period of ninety days, an advance additional amount of tax equivalent to the estimated tax liability is to be deposited for the period for which the extension beyond ninety days is being sought.

Q 22. Whether Amendments to the Registration Certificate is permissible?

Ans. Yes. In terms of Section 28, the proper officer may, on the basis of such information furnished either by the registrant or as ascertained by him, approve or reject amendments in the registration particulars within a period of 15 common working days from the date of receipt of application for amendment. It is to be noted that permission of the proper officer for making amendments will be required for only certain core fields of information, whereas for the other fields, the certificate of registration shall stand amended upon submission of application in the GST common portal.

Q 23. Whether Cancellation of Registration Certificate is permissible?

Ans. Yes. Any Registration granted under this Act may be cancelled by the Proper Officer, in circumstances mentioned in Section 29 of the CGST/SGST Act. The proper officer may, either on his own motion or on an application filed, in the
prescribed manner, by the registered taxable person or by his legal heirs, in case of death of such person, cancel the registration, in such manner and within such period as may be prescribed. As per the Registration Rules, an order for cancellation is to be issued within 30 days from the date of receipt of reply to SCN (in cases where the cancellation is proposed to be carried out suo moto by the proper officer) or from the date of receipt of application for cancellation (in case where the taxable person/legal heir applies for such cancellation)

Q 24. Whether cancellation of Registration under CGST Act means cancellation under SGST Act also?

Ans. Yes, the cancellation of registration under one Act (say CGST Act) shall be deemed to be a cancellation of registration under the other Act (i.e. SGST Act). (Section 29 (4))

Q 25. Can the proper Officer Cancel the Registration on his own?

Ans. Yes, in certain circumstances specified under section 29(2) of the CGST/SGST Act, the proper officer can cancel the registration on his own. Such circumstances include contravention of any of the prescribed provisions of the CGST Act or the rules made there under, not filing return by a composition dealer for three consecutive tax periods or non-furnishing of returns by a regular taxpayer for a continuous period of six months, and not commencing business within six months from the date of voluntary registration. However, before cancelling the registration, the proper officer has to follow the principles of natural justice. (Proviso to Section 29(2) (e))

Q 26. What happens when the registration is obtained by means of willful mis-statement, fraud or suppression of facts?

Ans. In such cases, the registration may be cancelled with retrospective effect by the proper officer. (Section 29(2) (e))

Q 27. Is there an option to take centralized registration for services under GST Law?

Ans. No, the tax paper has to take separate registration in every state from where he makes taxable supplies.

Q 28. If the taxpayer has different business verticals in one state, will he have to obtain separate registration for each such vertical in the state?

Ans. No, however the taxpayer has the option to register such separate business verticals independently in terms of the proviso to Section 25(2) of the CGTST Act, 2017.

Q 29. Who is an ISD?

Ans. ISD stands for Input Service Distributor and has been defined under Section 2(61) of the CGST/SGST Act. It is basically an office meant to receive tax invoices towards receipt of input services and further distribute the credit to supplier units (having the same PAN) proportionately.

Q 30. Will ISD be required to be separately registered other than the existing tax payer registration?

Ans. Yes, the ISD registration is for one office of the taxpayer which will be different from the normal registration.

Q 31. Can a taxpayer have multiple ISDs?

Ans. Yes. Different offices of a taxpayer can apply for ISD registration.

Q 32. What could be the liabilities (in so far as registration is concerned) on transfer of a business?

Ans. The transferee or the successor shall be liable to be registered with effect from such transfer or succession and he will have to obtain a fresh registration with effect from the date of such transfer or succession. (Section 22(3)).

Q 33. Whether all assesses / dealers who are already registered under existing central excise/service tax/ vat laws will have to obtain fresh registration?

Ans. No, GSTN shall migrate all such assessees/dealers to the GSTN network and shall issue a provisional registration certificate with GSTIN number on the appointed day, which after due verification by the departmental officers within six months, will be converted into final registration certificate. For converting the provisional registration to final registration the registrants will be asked to submit all requisite documents and information required for registration in a prescribed period of time. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of the provisional GSTIN number.
The service tax assessees having centralized registration will
have to apply afresh in the respective states wherever they have their businesses.

Q 34. Whether the job worker will have to be compulsorily registered?

Ans. No, a Job worker is a supplier of services and will be obliged to take registration only when his turnover crosses the prescribed threshold of 20/10 Lakhs.

Q 35. Whether the goods will be permitted to be supplied from the place of business of a job worker?

Ans. Yes. But only in cases where the job worker is registered, or if not, the principal declares the place of business of the job worker as his additional place of business.

Q 36. At the time of registration will the assessee have to declare all his places of business?

Ans. Yes. The principal place of business and place of business have been separately defined under section 2(89) & 2(85) of the CGST/SGST Act respectively. The taxpayer will have to declare the principal place of business as well as the details of additional places of business in the registration form.

Q 37. Is there any system to facilitate smaller dealers or dealers having no IT infrastructure?

Ans. In order to cater to the needs of tax payers who are not IT savvy, following facilities shall be made available: –
GST Practitioners: A taxable person may prepare his registration application /returns himself or can approach the GST Practitioner for assistance. GST Practitioner will prepare the said registration document / return in prescribed format on the basis of the information furnished to him by the taxable person. The legal responsibility of the correctness of information contained in the forms prepared by the GST Practitioner will rest with the registered person only and the GST Practitioner shall not be liable for any errors or incorrect information.
Facilitation Centre (FC): shall be responsible for the digitization and/or uploading of the forms and documents including summary sheet duly signed by the Authorized Signatory and given to it by the taxable person. After uploading the data on common portal using the ID and Password of FC, a print-out of acknowledgement will be taken and signed by the FC and handed over to the taxable person for his records. The FC will scan and upload the summary sheet duly signed by the Authorized Signatory.

Q 38. Is there any facility for digital signature in the GSTN registration?

Ans. Tax payers would have the option to sign the submitted application using valid digital signatures. There will be two options for electronically signing the application or other submissions- by e-signing through Aadhar number, or
through DSC i.e. by registering the taxpayer’s digital signature certificate with GST portal. However, companies or limited liability partnership entities will have to sign mandatorily through DSC only. Only level 2 and level 3 DSC certificates will be acceptable for signature purpose.

Q 39. What will be the time limit for the decision on the on line registration application?

Ans. If the information and the uploaded documents are found in order, the State and the Central authorities shall have to respond to the application within three common working days. If they communicate any deficiency or discrepancy in the application within such time, then the applicant will have to remove the discrepancy / deficiency within 7 days of such communication. Thereafter, for either approving the application or rejecting it, the State and the Central authorities will have 7 days from the date when the taxable person communicates removal of deficiencies. In case no response is given by the departmental authorities within the said time line, the portal shall automatically generate the registration.

Q 40. What will be the time of response by the applicant if any query is raised in the online application?

Ans. If during the process of verification, one of the tax authorities raises some query or notices some error, the same shall be communicated to the applicant and to the other tax authority through the GST Common Portal within 3 common working days. The applicant will reply to the query/rectify the error/ answer the query within a period of seven days from the date of receipt of deficiency intimation. On receipt of additional document or clarification, the relevant tax authority will respond within seven common working days from the date of receipt of clarification.

Q 41. What is the process of refusal of registration?

Ans. In case registration is refused, the applicant will be informed about the reasons for such refusal through a speaking order. The applicant shall have the right to appeal against the decision of the Authority. As per sub-section (2) of section 26 of the CGST Act, any rejection of application for registration by one authority (i.e. under the CGST Act / SGST Act) shall be deemed to be a rejection of application for registration by the other tax authority (i.e. under the SGST Act / UTGST Act/ CGST Act).

Q 42. Will there be any communication related to the application disposal?

Ans. The applicant shall be informed of the fact of grant or rejection of his registration application through an e-mail and SMS by the GST common portal. Jurisdictional details would be intimated to the applicant at this stage.

Q 43. Can the registration certificate be downloaded from the GSTN portal?

Ans. In case registration is granted; applicant can download the Registration Certificate from the GST common portal.

Q 44. Can cancellation of registration order be revoked?

Ans. Yes, but only in cases where the initial cancellation has been done by the proper officer suo moto, and not on the request of the taxable person or his legal heirs. A person whose registration has been cancelled suo moto can apply to the proper officer for revocation of cancellation of registration within 30 days from the date of communication of the cancellation order. The proper officer may within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of application for revocation of cancellation or receipt of information/clarification, either revoke the cancellation or reject the application for revocation of cancellation of registration.

Q 45. Does cancellation of registration impose any tax obligations on the person whose registration is so cancelled?

Ans. Yes, as per Section 29(5) of the CGST/SGST Act, every registered taxable person whose registration is cancelled shall pay an amount, by way of debit in the electronic cash/credit ledger, equivalent to the credit of input tax in respect of inputs held in stock and inputs contained in semi-finished or finished goods held in stock or capital goods or plant and machinery on the day immediately preceding the date of such cancellation or the output tax payable on such goods, whichever is higher.

Q 46. What is the difference between casual and non-resident taxable persons?

Ans. Casual and Non-resident taxable persons are separately defined in the CGST/SGST Act in Sections 2(20) and 2(77) respectively. Some of the differences are outlined below:

Casual Taxable Person	Non-resident Taxable Person
Occasional undertakes transactions involving supply of goods or services in a state or UT where he has no fixed place of business.	Occasional undertakes transactions involving supply of goods or services but has no fixed place of business residence in India.
Has a PAN Number	Do not have a PAN Number; A non-resident person, if having PAN number may take registration as a casual taxable person
Same application form for registration as for normal taxable persons viz GST REG-01	Separate application form for registration by non-resident taxable person viz GST REG-9
Has to undertake transactions in the course or furtherance of business	Business test absent in the definition
Has to file normal GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 returns	Has to file a separate simplified return in the format GSTR-5
Can claim ITC of all inward supplies	Can get ITC only in respect of import of goods and /or services.

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Download More: https://gstcouncil.gov.in/sites/default/files/faq/fq-gst-2018.pdf

Read More: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS(FAQs) ON GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) PART – 2

Official Income Tax Return filing website: https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/
Official GST common portal website: https://www.gst.gov.in/