Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax (or consumption tax) used in India on the supply of goods and services.
It is a comprehensive, multistage, destination based tax – It is comprehensive because it has subsumed almost all the indirect taxes except a few state taxes. It is multi-staged as it is imposed at every step in the production process, but is meant to be refunded to all parties in the various stages of production other than the final consumer. It is a destination based tax as it is collected from point of consumption and not point of origin like previous taxes.
Goods and services are divided in into five different tax slabs for collection of tax – 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
The tax came into effect from July 1, 2017 through the implementation of the One Hundred and First Amendment of the Constitution of India by the Indian government. The GST replaced existing multiple taxes levied by the central and state governments.
The tax rates, rules and regulations are governed by the GST Council which consists of the finance ministers of the central government and all the states.
India has adopted the Dual GST model in which both States and Central levies tax on Goods or Services or both.
SGST – State GST, collected by the State Govt.
CGST – Central GST, collected by the Central Govt.
IGST – Integrated GST, collected by the Central Govt.

What Are the Advantages of GST?

It consolidates several different taxes into one
It abolishes the cascading tax effect
It reforms Indian taxation and represents the country as a common national market
It helps make Indian goods, commodities, and services more competitive in the global as well as the local markets

HSN

HSN is a 4 to 8-digit code for identifying the applicable rate of GST on different products as per CGST rules of government of India.

e-Way Bill

An e-Way Bill is an electronic permit for shipping goods any another similar to a waybill.
It was made compulsory for inter-state transport of goods from 1 June 2018.
It is required to be generated for every inter-state movement of goods beyond 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) and the threshold limit of ₹50,000.
It is a paperless, technology solution and critical anti-evasion tool to check tax leakages and clamping down on trade that currently happens on a cash basis.
The pilot started on 1 February 2018 but was withdrawn after glitches in the GST Network.
The states are divided into four zones for rolling out in phases by end of April 2018.
A unique e-Way Bill Number (EBN) is generated either by the supplier, recipient or the transporter.
The EBN can be a printout, SMS or written on invoice is valid.
The GST/Tax Officers tally the e-Way Bill listed goods with goods carried with it. The mechanism is aimed at plugging loopholes like overloading, understating etc.
Each e-way bill has to be matched with a GST invoice.
Transporter ID and PIN Code now compulsory from 01-Oct-2018.

Reverse Charge Mechanism

Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) is a system in GST where the receiver pays the tax on behalf of unregistered, smaller material and service suppliers.
The receiver of the goods is eligible for Input Tax Credit, while the unregistered dealer is not.

GST Council

GST Council is the governing body of GST having 34 members, out of which 2 members are of centre and 32 members are from 29 states and 3 Union territories with legislation.
The council contains the following members (a) Union Finance Minister (as chairperson) (b) Union Minister of States in charge of revenue or finance (as member) (c) the ministers of states in charge of finance or taxation or other ministers as nominated by each states government (as member).
GST Council is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.
The council is headed by the union finance minister assisted with the finance minister of all the states of India.
The GST council is responsible for any revision or enactment of rule or any rate changes of the goods and services in India.

Goods and Services Tax Network

The GSTN software is developed by Infosys Technologies and the Information Technology network that provides the computing resources is maintained by the NIC.
Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) is a nonprofit organisation formed for creating a sophisticated network, accessible to stakeholders, government and taxpayers to access information from a single source (portal).
The portal is accessible to the Tax authorities for tracking down every transaction, while taxpayers have the ability of connect for their tax returns.
It is a wholly owned government company having equal shares of state and central government