Advance Rulings

  • The Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR), West Bengal, has ruled that the supply of UPS and battery is to be considered as mixed supply within the meaning of Section 2(74) of the GST Act, as they are supplied under a single contract at a combined single price. The AAR's decision regarding UPS and battery is in line with the Supreme Court's decision State of Punjab & Others vs Nokia India Pvt Ltd [2015 (315) E.L.T. 162] wherein it is was held that a charger cannot be held as an integral part of the mobile phone, making it a composite good. Merely making a composite package of cell phone charger will not make it a composite supply.
  • The AAR, West Bengal, has ruled that a person engaged exclusively in supplying goods and services that are wholly exempt from tax is not required to be registered under the GST Act if he is not otherwise liable to pay tax under reverse charge under Section 9(3) of the GST Act.

Order by the National Anti-Profiteering Authority

The very first order has been passed by the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) under GST - Case No. 1/2018 on 27 March 2018, regarding whether the benefit of reduction of the tax rate post the introduction of GST on the supply of motor car was passed on to the consumer. It was held by NAA that the overall reduction in tax rate on the supply of motor cars post the introduction of GST accounts to 2%, (from 31.254% pre-GST to 29% post-GST) was appropriately passed on to the consumer.

Intra-state e-Way Bills

  • The Government of Maharashtra has made it mandatory from 1 May 2018.
  • Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Puducherry would be implementing e-Way Bill system for intra-state trade from 25 April 2018.
  • Six more states viz. Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura and Uttarakhand have already made mandatory generation of e-Way Bill for intra-state trade from 20 April 2018.
  • Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have already made intra-state e-Way Bill mandatory from 15 April 2018.

Discussion on new models in the Group of Ministers meeting

A ministerial panel, chaired by Mr. Sushil Modi, held a meeting on 17 April 2018 to discuss the new simplified model for GST return. 15 leading indirect tax professionals, along with 40 industry representatives were also invited to share their views.
As per the reports, the committee is considering three models of return filing process, viz.:

  • Model A: Monthly summary return (with annexure of outward supplies) allowing for Provisional Credit with quarterly reconciliation.
  • Model B: Auto population of draft return. Availability of credit linked to Supplier Declarations with no provisional Input Tax Credit (ITC).
  • Fusion of model A and B: Akin to Model B which allows for ITC only on the basis of linkage and acceptance of invoice by the recipient (i.e., no provisional credit) and a semi-automated process of ITC reversal through an administrative order.

SKP's Comments

  • Taxpayers are advised to closely track the applicability of intra-state e-Way Bill requirements being rolled out in a phased manner in various states.
  • Simplification of returns is a much-awaited step in GST compliances. It is expected that the GST council will arrive at a decision post stakeholder consultation.

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