The Union government has shown strong determination in implementing a Goods and Services Tax (GST) that will subsume a majority of the present indirect tax levies in India. This paradigm shift in indirect tax is currently underway and the final GST law is expected to be implemented starting July 1, 2017. As part of this change, every taxpayer or assessee registered under the present indirect tax levies and who meets the criteria laid down in the Model GST Law, is required to register under GST.
The registration process involves migration to the GST portal in a phased manner. The process of GST migration for state value added tax (VAT) assessees began in November 2016 and was extended to cover excise and service tax assessees starting January 2017.
Furthermore, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has recently, via a notice on its website, requested assessees to whom a provisional identification has been issued for migration to GST, to complete the migration process by March 31, 2017.
In this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), business and tax consulting firm SKP has summarised some of the relevant aspects for assessees under the GST migration process.
Who is required to register under the GST regime?
Persons required to registerunder GST can be broadly classified into 3 categories:
(a) Personshaving a valid PAN (permanent account number issued for tax purposes) and existing registration under present Indirect tax laws(VAT, service tax or central excise).
(b) Persons crossing threshold limit of turnover of GST or desirous to obtain voluntary registration under GST.
(c) Registration for certain key compliance/specified assessees such as causal traders, persons liable to TDS (tax deducted at source), non-resident persons, etc.
What is GST migration?
GST migration means enrolment of existingIndirect tax assessees (i.e. assessees holding registrations under VAT, service tax or central excise) using the GST portal, in order to transfer such assessee to the GSTregime.
What is enrolment?
Enrolment under GST meansvalidating the data of existing taxpayers and filling up the remaining key information fields on the GST portal. In other words, the GST portal requires assessees holding existing registrations under the present indirect tax regime to validate their dataas displayed on the GST portal and upload supporting information.
Also Read: GST Council Approves All Five Draft Bills, Moving Closer To July 1 Rollout
What is last date for enrolment for existing assessees?
As per a notification on the CBEC website, existing assessees have been urged to enrol using the GST website on or before March 31, 2017.
How are existing assessesenrolling on the GST portal?
Assessees have toobtain a provisional identification and password from the state VAT website or ACES website (asthe case may be) and use them to access the GST portal. Having accessed or logged into the GST portal the assesseewill be required to create a new user ID and password. The assessee can obtain a provisional GST registration number once the new user ID has beencreated. Subsequently, the assessee is required to upload prescribed information such as proof of constitution of business, director details, etc. on the portalto generate an Application Reference Number (ARN) to complete the application formigration.
What is the provisional ID andprovisional GST number?
The provisional ID is a temporary IDprovided by current indirect tax authorities to enable exsiting assessees toaccess the GST portal for the first time. The provisional GST number is theGST number allotted to the assessee, which will be finalised once the application isprocessed by the department.
How many provisional IDs shall be granted in case of multiple central excise/service tax registrations on the same PAN in a state?
According to guidance issued by the CBEC,only one provisional ID shall be issued by the central indirect tax authorityto assessees holding a valid PAN and not having a provisional ID issued by any stateVAT authority.
How many provisional IDs shall be granted in case of centralised servicetax registration on the same PAN in multiple states?
As per documents issued by CBEC inrelation to GST registration, one provisional ID shall be issued per state(which will cover all premises in that particular state). However, variouscentralised service tax assessees are facing issues where only one provisionalID is being issued for all premises under the centralised service taxregistration. In such a case, given that GST registration is statewise, assessees are contacting the jurisdictional service tax office for a provisional ID andpassword for premises in different states.
Is it mandatory that the Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) of an authorised signatory should be PAN-based while authenticating the application?
In case the primary authorisedsignatory is a citizen of India, PAN is mandatory. However, if the primaryauthorised signatory is not a citizen of India, then PAN is not mandatory but a passport number is. Accordingly, the DSC of the authorised signatory may ormay not be PAN-based.
Also Read: Tax Department To Calculate GST's Impact On Inflation
When will the provisional GST number be finalised?
The date of finalisation of a provisional GST number has not been prescribed by the tax authorities as ofnow. However, as per the Model GST law, the provisional GST number shall bevalid for a period of six months from the date of issue, that is, implementation date ofGST. Given this, it is likely that the finalisation of applications filed willbe concluded within six months from the date of implementation of GST.
Will the provisional GST number change after finalisation?
It is likely that the provisionalGST number will not change after finalisation of application.
What is CBEC Mitra?
CBEC Mitra is a new CBEC GSThelpdesk which has been launched to provide assistance to assessees who face anydifficulty or if they have any query relating to GST registration. Thishelpdesk is an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) based service and will be operational 24/7.The assessee can email their difficulties/queries to cbecmitra.helpdesk@icegate.gov.inor call the helpdesk numbers - CBEC:1800-1200-232 and GSTN:0124-4688999
Has the GST registration processbeen prescribed for assessee who are not registered under the present indirect tax levies regime?
No, the procedure for registrationof assessees who are not registered under the present IDT regime has not yet been prescribed.
What do I do if the legalname of the entity as per PAN and service tax or VAT registration is different?
In case of such a mismatch the GSTportal will not be able to generate an ARN. The GST helpdesk suggests that the relevant authority should be contacted to correct such errorin name on respective records as well as request the VAT or CBECauthorities for a new provisional ID and password for access to the GST portal. In case ofproprietors, the GSTN portal will allow for the name, as per PAN, editable in theapplication form.
What should I do if I do not wantregistration under GST?
Some state VAT authorities areaccepting an undertaking from assessees who do not want to register under GSTregime along with the reason for not migrating or registering. However,presently, no procedure has been prescribed for the same and most of the stateVAT authorities as well as CBEC are mandating assessees toregister and migrate to the GST portal and opt for cancellation of registration under the GST regime in case they do not want a GST registration.
The above FAQ has been prepared based on the Model GST law (issued in November 2016), Draft GST Registration Rules published in September 2016 combined with a reading of ‘the User Manual for Web portal' and ‘FAQ on using GST portal', and other information available on the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), state VAT and Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) web portal.
Jigar Doshi is an indirect tax partner at consulting firm SKP Group.
The views expressed here are those of the author's and do not necessarily represent the views of BloombergQuint or its editorial team.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
