Last Week of FY: Taxpayers Must Complete These GST Compliance

The current financial year is in its last week.This fiscal year witnessed a complete overhaul of the previous taxation policy. The dawn of GST in July last year was welcomed with high hopes and promises by traders, companies, common taxpayers and the One India Nation at large. Eight months down the line there are still debates about the success of GST but maybe this week will not be as loud as earlier weeks as far as trade and commerce circles are involved. There is a wide plethora of file work that has to be completed before March 31. Although the government has tried to bring some respite for traders and companies by extending some concessions related to GST till June 30, Taxpayers must crosscheck the following points this week:

• Taxpayers must get all the tax invoice matching with their cash, credit and liability ledgers. The entries must be done before March 31st.
• All payments for invoices issued before October 1st, 2017, must be made by March 31st.
• In case the receiver fails to make payment within 180 days of the date of issue for the invoice, the credit is taken on the invoice will be reversed.

For example, a credit of Rs 1500 taken in lieu of Rs10,000 fees paid to your CA means that you have to pay the fees before 31st March or else pay the extra amount of Rs 1500 as part of tax after 31st March.

Invoices and HSN Code

• If turnover of the financial year 2017-18  is in between Rs 1.5 to 5 crores, then make sure that the first invoice of the financial year contains HSN Code in 2 digits
• For invoices greater than 5 Crore, fill in the HSN Code in 4 digits.
• For invoices less than 1.5 Crore for the financial year 2017-18, no HSN Code is required

Composition Scheme Under GST

• If you want to get benefits any composition scheme, make sure you fill the CMP-02 form by March 31. Taxpayers have time till April 7, if they want to cancel any composition schemes used by them
• Traders will also have to fill last quarter and monthly returns for the current financial year in the next financial year. It will depend on their turnover till March 31st.

As per experts, those who do not have paid excise bills for closing stocks till June 30, need to fill TRAN-2 before March 31 to avail the input credit under 40-60% scheme. Also, the taxpayer must ensure that there is no error in the valuation of closing stock until March 31st. In case ITC claims have not been made yet then one should also carefully evaluate the depreciation on capital goods.

Input Service Traders must fill the returns for July to February before March 31st in the form of GSTR-6.

Extra ICT and Anti-Profiteering

Taxpayers must remember that there is no provision for refund of additional input credit. Additional ITC’s are carried forward. Hence always ensure that you check the purchases via GSTR-2A. Last but not the least, please ensure that there is no violation of anti-profit clauses from your end. Input service distributors must fill the returns for July to August in using GSTR-6 before March 31st. Make sure that you cross-check each month’s gross profit to avoid any later frictions with the ROC.