Page 41 - Banking Finance August 2017

ARTICLE

2. How and when will you get your signed and developed by the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of
India to establish a uniform interface for the tax payer and
business registered under GST law? a common and shared IT infrastructure between the Cen-
You must know that GST registration is mandatory for any tre and States. The GSTN portal has been taken as a trusted
business when its aggregate supply of goods or service or National Information Utility (NIU) which provides reliable,
both exceeds Rs 20-lakh (Rs 10 lakh for NE States). The said efficient and robust IT Backbone for the smooth function-
aggregate turnover (supply) is the basic consideration and ing of the Goods & Services Tax system.
count for mandatory registration under GST. In other words
the aggregate turnover shall determine who needs to be The system is expected to process 3.5 billion invoices every
registered under GSTN (Goods and Service Tax Network). month, with the country's 8 million taxpayers required to
file about 37 tax returns every year in the GST Regime.
So if you have not registered your business under GST or if
you are a new business without having a VAT or service tax The necessary training has been conducted by CBEC in re-
or excise registration, you must get your business registered spect of GST Registration, Returns and Payment Modules
as per law and within the time limit prescribed for it. developed by GSTN GSTN has also conducted a pilot train-
ing on GST System Software, where about 3,200 taxpayers
3. What is the status of GST Registra- drawn from each state/UT and Centre have participated.

tion as on 20th May? 5. Who decides GST Rates, Rules, Re-
GST Registration status may give you certain idea about the
need of registration. AS per Revenue department report, funds, Levy and collection?
about 60.5-lakh entities have been registered in the GSTN GST Rates are finalized by the Central Government and the
(Goods and Services Tax Network) system up to 30th April. State Governments on the basis of recommendation of GST
The process of registration of the taxpayers in the GSTN Council. As per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitu-
portal was suspended on April 30. As notified by the Gov- tion, the GST Council has been constituted by the President
ernment the registration process would re-open for 15 days of India within 60 days of the commencement of Article
from June 1, 2017 for remaining taxpayers to be enrolled 279A. As per Article 279A of the amended Constitution, the
under GST. The government intends to roll out GST (the GST Council is a joint forum of the Centre and the States.
Goods and Services Tax) w.e.f 1st July 2017.
The Parliament in April passed four bills to implement the
tax, while the GST Council has finalized rules and procedures
4. What is GSTN and how does work? regarding tax refund, registration; invoice debit and credit,
Let me mention briefly what the GSTN is meant for. The input-tax credit, valuation, transitional provisions and com-
GSTN is a unique and complex IT initiative and portal de- position for final approval by the Government and neces-
sary notification thereof. GST rates for Levy and collection
are recommended by GST Council. Importantly GST Coun-
cil consists of a) Union Finance Minister- Chairperson, b) The
Union Minister of State, in-charge of Revenue of finance-
Member, c) The Minister In-charge of finance or taxation
or any other Minister nominated by each State Government
Members.

6. What are the roles and objectives of
GST Council?
The mechanism of GST Council would ensure harmonization
on different aspects of GST between the Centre and the

BANKING FINANCE | AUGUST | 2017 | 41

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