Press Release regarding examination for GST Practitioners

November 1^st, 2018

EXAMINATION FOR CONFIRMATION OF ENROLLMENT OF GST PRACTITIONERS

The National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) has been authorized to conduct an examination for confirmation of enrollment of Goods and Services Tax Practitioners (GSTPs) in terms of the sub-rule (3) of Rule 83 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, vide Notification No. 24/2018-Central Tax dated 28.5.2018.

The GSTPs enrolled on the GST Network under sub-rule (2) of Rule 83 and covered by clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 83, i.e. those meeting the eligibility criteria of having enrolled as sales tax practitioners or tax return preparer under the existing law for a period not less than five years, are required to pass the said examination before 31.12.2018 in terms of second proviso to Rule 83(3). The first examination for such GSTPs has already been conducted on 31.10.2018. The next examination for them shall be conducted on 7.12.2018 from 1100hrs to 1330 hrs at designated examination centres across India.

It will be a Computer Based Exam. The registration for the exam can be done by the eligible GSTPs on a registration portal, link of which will be provided on NACIN and CBIC websites. The registration portal for exam scheduled on 7.12.2018 will be activated on 16^th November, 2018 and will remain open up to 25^rd November 2018. For convenience of candidates, a help desk will also be set up, details of which will be made available on the registration portal. The applicants are required to make online payment of examination fee of Rs. 500/- at the time of registration for this exam.

Pattern and Syllabus of the Examination

PAPER: GST Law & Procedures:

Time allowed: 2 hours and 30 minutes

Number of Multiple Choice Questions: 100

Language of Questions: English and Hindi

Maximum marks: 200

Qualifying marks: 100

No negative marking

Syllabus:

1.      Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

2.      Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

3.      State Goods and Services Tax Acts, 2017

4.      Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

5.      Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017

6.      Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017

7.      Integrated Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017

8.      All State Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017

9.      Notifications, Circulars and orders issued from time to time

Note: As GST Law and Procedures are still evolving, the various items of the above syllabus will be considered as on 1.9.2018 for the purpose of this examination.

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Press Release for RCP Meeting

A Regional Contact Point (RCP) meeting of Asia Pacific (A/P) Region of World Customs Organisation (WCO) is being organized by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) at Jaipur from 14th to 16th November, 2018 as a part of the functions of Vice Chair of A/P Region of WCO. Customs delegations from more than twenty five countries of the A/P region along with the regional bodies of the WCO, Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), Regional Intelligence Liaoning Office (RILO) are also attending the meeting The meeting was inaugurated by the Chairman, CBIC Mr. S. Ramesh. In his remarks, Chairman, CBIC reiterated the following strategic guiding principles while working as the Vice Chair of the A/P region – i. Greater communication and connectivity within the region ii. Harness technology advancements iii. Inclusive approach iv. Consensus on core issues He also talked about the key focus areas where to lay higher thrust which included the implementation of trade facilitation, cross border ecommerce transactions, working for small island economies and review of the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC). Mr. Ricardo Trevino, Dy Secretary General of WCO was the keynote speaker. In his remarks, Mr. Ricardo discussed about various issues having importance for the region and the WCO e.g., working for the digital customs, making the RKC up to date and as per the emerging needs of the member administrations. The meeting is being chaired by Member (Customs), CBIC Mr. P.K. Das. In addition to the mutual discussions on the Focus Areas highlighted above, the meeting will also deliberate on activities of WCO, Vice Chair office, ROCB, RILO, Regional Training Centres (RTC), security related issues, trade facilitation etc. countries will also share their experiences on WCO Regional customs laboratories set up by them to address the regional needs relating to the testing of various products exchanged during cross border trade.

Advisory to UIN Entities claiming GST Refunds

The GST Act provides for allotting a Unique Identification Number (UIN) to Consulates, Embassies and other UN Organizations to enable such entities to claim refund of GST paid. One of the conditions for claiming this refund is to file invoice level data in their FORM GSTR-11 on the common portal. There are common discrepancies which have been noticed by GST Authorities while processing refund applications. FORM GSTR-11 under Rule 82 of the CGST Rules, 2017 mandates reporting “Place of Supply” for every invoice on which refund is applied for. Many UIN entities while filling invoice data have been reporting their place of supply as the State where they are registered instead of the place of supply as reflected in the invoice. For example, it was observed that Embassies registered in Delhi have been consistently declaring their place of supply as “New Delhi” even on hotel service consumed in the State of Maharashtra for which the place of supply is Maharashtra. It may be noted that under the GST law, place of supply determines the chargeability of CGST / SGST or IGST tax on an invoice. Generally, except few exceptions, if the location of the supplier and the place of supply are in the same State then CGST + SGST is charged on an invoice and if the location of the supplier and the place of supply are in separate States then IGST is charged. Therefore, it is advised that while reporting the “place of supply” and charging of CGST / SGST or IGST on an invoice, the details shall be exactly as per the details mentioned in the invoice issued by the supplier of goods or services. Wrong reporting of invoice level data in FORM GSTR-11 or in the statement of invoice submitted may lead to delay in processing / rejection of refund claims.

National Informatics Centre E-way Bill Project

Proposed improvements in e-way bill generation,

being released on 16.11.2018

 1.     Checking of duplicate generation of e-way bills based on same invoice number

The e-way bill system is enabled not to allow the consignor/supplier to generate the duplicate e-way bills based on his one document. Here, the system checks for duplicate based on the consignor GSTIN, document type and document number. That is, if the consignor has generated one e-way bill on the particular invoice, then he will not be allowed to generate one more e-way bill on the same invoice number. Even the transporter or consignee is not allowed to generate the e-way bill on the same invoice number of that consignor, if already one has been generated by the consignor.

Similarly, if the transporter or consignee has generated one e-way bill on the consignor’s invoice, then any other party (consignor, transporter or consignee) tries to generate the e-way bill, the system will alert that there is already one e-way bill for that invoice, and further it allows him to continue, if he wants.

2.     CKD/SKD/Lots for movement of Export/Import consignment

CKD/SKD/Lots supply type can be used for movement of the big consignment in batches. When One ‘Tax Invoice’ or ‘Bill of Entry’ is there, but the goods are moved in batches from supplier to recipient with the

‘Delivery Challan’, then this option can be used. Here, the batch consignment will have ‘Delivery Challan’ along with copy of the ‘Tax Invoice’ or ‘Bill of Entry’ in movement. The last batch will have the ‘Delivery Challan’ along with original ‘Tax Invoice’ or ‘Bill of Entry’.

Some exports or imports will be in big consignment and may not be moved in one go from the supplier or to the recipient. Hence, CKD/SKD/Lots supply can be used for this.

For CKD/SKD/Lots of Export consignment, the ‘Bill To’ Party will be URP or GSTIN of SEZ Unit with state as ‘Other Country’ and shipping address and PIN code will be of the location (airport/shipping yard/border check post) from where the consignment is moving out from the country.

For CKD/SKD/Lots of Import consignment, the ‘Bill From’ Party will be URP or GSTIN of SEZ Unit with state as ‘Other Country’ and dispatching address and PIN code will be of the location (airport/shipping yard/border check post) from where the consignment is entered the country.

3.     Shipping address in case of export supply type

For Export supply type, the ‘Bill To’ Party will be URP or GSTIN of SEZ Unit with state as ‘Other Country’ and shipping address and PIN code will be of the location (airport/shipping yard/border check post) from where the consignment is moving out from the country.

4.     Dispatching address in case of import supply type

For Import supply, the ‘Bill From’ Party will be URP or GSTIN of SEZ Unit with state as ‘Other Country’ and dispatching address and PIN code will be of the location (airport/shipping yard/border check post) from where the consignment is entered the country.

5.     ‘Bill To – Ship To’ transactions

There are four types of ‘Bill To – Ship To’ transactions. These types depend upon the number of parties involved in the billing and movement of the goods. The following paras explain the same.

o Regular: This is a regular or normal transaction, where Billing and goods movement are happening between two parties - consignor and consignee. That is, the Bill and goods movement from consignor to consignee takes place directly.

o Bill To – Ship To: In this type of transaction, three parties are involved. Billing takes places between consignor and consignee, but the goods move from consignor to the third party as per the request of the consignee.

o Bill From – Dispatch From: In this type of transaction also, three parties are involved. Billing takes places between consignor and consignee, but the goods are moved by the consignor from the third party to the consignee.

o Combination of both: This is the combination of above two transactions and involves four parties. Billing takes places between consignor and consignee, but the goods are moved by the consignor from the third party to the fourth party, as per the consignee’s request.

6.     Changes in Bulk Generation Tool

New columns have been added in the Bulk Generation Tool. The same will be released on 16^th November 2018.