Mar’20: Key Goods & Services Tax (GST) Updates

Amendment in CGST Act

Central Government vide Notification No. 01/ 2020-Central Tax Seeks to bring into force certain provisions of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 to amend the CGST Act, 2017. The provisions 92 to 112, except section 92, section 97, section 100 and sections 103 to 110 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 will come into effect from 1 January 2020.

Amendment in GST Rules

Central Government vide Notification No. 02/ 2020-Central Tax has amended the GST rules as below: Amendment in Rule-117- TRAN-01 date is extended to 31 March 2020 and TRAN-02 date is extended to 30 April 2020  Amendment in Rule-8 – Option for obtaining GST registration as a SEZ Unit or SEZ developer is added in GST registration application form itself Amendment in Rule-48- The INV-01 GST invoice format is revised to accommodate the e-Invoicing schema.

Revisional Authority under GST Laws Notified

Central Government vide Notification No. 05/ 2020-Central Tax has notified following revisional authority under section 108 of CGST Act as below:

• The Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Central Tax for decisions or orders passed by the Additional or Joint Commissioner of Central Tax; and
• The Additional or Joint Commissioner of Central Tax for decisions or orders passed by the Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner or Superintendent of Central Tax.

Standard Operating Procedure for Exporters 

Under the GST regime, several cases of fraudulent refunds of input tax credit have been observed where exporters were non-existent at the addresses provided or fake invoices were issued. To curb this menace of fraudulent GST refunds CBIC has, through the Circular No. 131/1/ 2020-GST, introduced the following Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed by exporters:

1. At the outset, the Board through tools of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics shall select a small percentage of exporters for further verification. Refunds with respect to such exporters shall be kept in abeyance and their export consignments shall be subjected to 100 % examination at the customs port. The concerned exporter, on being informed or his own volition, shall furnish certain information in the Format as per Annexure-A to the circular.
2. On the basis of the information furnished, the Jurisdictional CGST authorities shall complete the verification procedure within 14 days, failing which it has been to be brought to the knowledge of nodal cell constituted in Pr. Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner Office.
3. After completion of 14 days from the date of submission of information to the jurisdictional CGST authorities, the exporter may escalate the matter to the Chief Commissioner by sending an email. The jurisdictional Pr. Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner shall get the verification procedure completed within the next 7 working days.
4. In any case, where the refund remains pending for more than a month, the exporter may file a grievance at cbic.gov.in/issue by giving certain details in the prescribed format of Annexure-A. These grievances shall be resolved by a committee headed by Member GST, CBIC.

GST Return (GSTR-3B) can be filed in a Staggered Manner

Central Government vide Notification No. 07/ 2020-Central Tax has notified the filing of GSTR 3B in a staggered manner as below:

Sl	Particulars	Due Dates
1.	Taxpayers having annual turnover (in previous financial year) of Rs 5 Crore or above irrespective of any states	20th of Every month
2.	Taxpayers having annual turnover (in previous financial year) less than Rs 5 Crore and registered Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh	22nd of Every Month
3.	Taxpayers having annual turnover (in previous financial year) less than Rs 5 Crore and registered in 22 States/UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Laddakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha	24th of Every Month

CBIC notifies the rate of GST on Supply of Lottery

Notification No. 01/2020-Central Tax (Rate) dated 21.02.2020 specifies the Single rate of GST @ 28% on both State-run and State-authorized lottery. Entry 242 in Schedule II of Notification No. 1/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.06.2017 omitted and Entry 228 in Schedule IV substituted to have a single rate of 28% for all lottery ( Any chapter). This change shall become effective from 1st March 2020. Last Updated: 16th March 2020 This article is contributed by:  Vaibhav Matta Assistant Director, Taxation

Tag: Goods and Services Tax India, GST