GST News and Updates – April 2022

 

GSTR-1 enhancements & improvements :

 

The following changes are being done in this phase of the GSTR-1/IFF enhancements :

 

  1. Removal of ‘Submit’ button before filing : The present two-step filing of GSTR-1/IFF involving ‘Submit’ and ‘File’ buttons have been replaced with a simpler single-step filingprocess . It provides taxpayers with the flexibility to add or modify records till the filing is completed by pressing the ‘File Statement’ button.
  2. Consolidated Summary : Taxpayers will now be shown a table-wise consolidated summary before actual filing of GSTR-1/IFF. This consolidated summary will have a detailed & table-wise summary of the records added by the taxpayers. This will provide a complete overview of the records added in GSTR-1/IFF before actual filing.
  3. Recipient wise summary : The consolidated summary page will also provide recipient-wise summary, containing the total value of the supplies & the total tax involved in such supplies for each recipient. The recipient-wise summary will be made available with respect to the following tables of GSTR-1/IFF, which have counter-party recipients :
    –    Table 4A : B2B supplies
    –    Table 4B : Supplies attracting reverse charge
    –    Table 6B : SEZ supplies
    –    Table 6C : Deemed exports
    –    Table 9B : Credit/Debit notes

 

CBIC issues guidelines for scrutiny of GST returns for FY 2017-18 & 2018-19

Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) issued standard operating procedure (SoP) for GST to streamline the scrutiny of Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns filed for the financial year 2017-18 and 2018-19.

The CBIC said that the selection of returns for scrutiny is to be based on specific risk parameters. For this purpose, the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) has been assigned the task to select the GSTINs registered with Central tax authorities. Once returns will be picked up for scrutiny, it would be sent to proper officials, which will be of the rank of Superintendent of Central Taxes of the jurisdiction range of the taxpayer.

SOP aims to ensure that during the scrutiny exercise, the interface with the taxpayer be kept minimal and officials are asked to use existing data, including e-way bills, data from DGARM, GSTN, and other official data for this purpose, which would be updated and shared to field officials from time to time. Officials had been asked to pay attention to Input Tax credit filed by the companies.

E-invoicing Mandate – 20 Cr and above from April 1, 2022

 

In the forth phase of e-invoicing rollout, the government has mandated e-Invoicing for entities with a turnover of 20 Cr or above from 1st April 2022. This will make e-invoicing applicable for all business-to-business transactions.

The government initially rolled out e-Invoicing for entities with 500 crores and more turnover from October 1 2020 and later extended to entities with 100 crores and above from January 1, 2021. The next phase included e-Invoicing for entities with 50 crores turnover from April 1 2021

Notification no. 01/20212-Central Tax dated 24.02.2022 brought it into effect.

e-Invoicing is aimed at bringing in more transparency in sales reporting, minimizing errors and mismatches, automating data entry work, and improving compliance. This will help prevent tax evasion once it is made mandatory for small and medium firms in phases.

GST Collection – April 2022

The GST collection for the month of April has touched a record high of Rs. 1.67 lakh crore! The gross GST revenue collected in April 2022 is Rs. 1,67,540 crore, out of which CGST is Rs. 33,159 crore, SGST is Rs. 41,793 crore, IGST is Rs 81,939 crore (including Rs. 36,705 crore collected on import of goods), and cess is Rs. 10,649 crore (including Rs. 857 crore collected on import of goods).

The record goods and service tax (GST) collections in April were less due to increased consumption and more due to inflation and rising imports.

The Finance Ministry said that GST collection touched a record high of Rs 1.68 trillion in April, surpassing the Rs 1.5-trillion mark for the first time since the introduction of the tax regime in 2017. The mop-up was Rs 26,000 crore higher than the previous record of Rs 1.42 trillion in March, which indicated an improved economic activity.

The ministry attributed the robust mop-up to its tightened compliance measures and a crackdown on GST evaders and fake bills.