GST Council decides Extension of tax exemptions for exporters for six months 

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26th Meeting of the GST Council meets 

Filing of GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 is extended for another three months

 New Delhi : Sending a strong positive signal to the exporting community, the GST Council in its 26^thmeeting held here today decided to extend the available tax exemptions on imported goods for a further 6 months beyond 31.03.2018. Thus, exporters presently availing various export promotion schemes can now continue to avail such exemptions on their imports upto 01.10.2018, by which time an e-Wallet scheme is expected to be in place to continue the benefits in future.

In a related development which would benefit the exporters, the Council reviewed the progress in grant of refunds to exports of both IGST and Input Tax Credit.  The Council appreciated that the pace of grant of IGST refund has picked up. Thereafter, the Council directed GSTN to expeditiously forward the balance refund claims to the Customs/Central GST/State GST authorities, as the case may be, for their immediate sanction and disbursal.

            It may be recalled that in its meeting held on 06.10.2017 the Council had noted that exporters are experiencing difficulties of cash blockage on account of having to upfront pay GST / IGST on the inputs, raw materials etc. / finished goods imported / procured for purposes of exports. An interim solution was found by re-introducing the pre-GST tax exemptions on such imports. Additionally, for merchant exporters a special scheme of payment of GST @ 0.1% on their procured goods was introduced. Also, domestic procurement made under Advance Authorization, EPCG and EOU schemes were recognized as ‘deemed exports’ with flexibility foreither the suppliers or the exporters being able to claim a refund of GST / IGST paid thereon. All these avenues were made available upto 31.03.2018.

The permanent solution agreed to by the Council was to introduce an e-Wallet scheme w.e.f. 01.04.2018. The e-Wallet scheme is basically the creation of electronic e-Wallets, which would be credited with notional or virtual currency by the DGFT. This notional / virtual currency would be used by the exporters to make the payment of GST / IGST on the goods imported / procured by them so their funds are not blocked.

            On 16.12.2017, Finance Secretary constituted a Working Group with representatives of Central and State Governments to operationalize the e-Wallet scheme. After reviewing the progress, the Council noted that whereas some preparatory work had been done, more needs to be done to address a large number of technical, legal and administrative issues that have been identified. The Council appreciated that this would require more time. The Council was also unanimous that there should be no disruption that may affect the exports. Accordingly, the Councilagreed to:

(a)        Defer the implementation of the e-Wallet scheme by 6 months i.e., upto 01.10.2018; and

(b)        Extend the present dispensation in terms of exemptions etc. which is available up to 31.03.2018, for a further 6 months i.e., upto 01.10.2018.

Recommendations made during the 26th meeting of the GST Council held in New Delhi Today 

1. Return filing System

            The present system of filing of GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 is extended for another three months i.e., April to June, 2018 till the new return system is finalized. A new model was discussed extensively and Group of Ministers on IT has been tasked to finalize the same.

 

II.        Reverse charge mechanism 

The liability to pay tax on reverse charge basishas been deferred till 30.06.2018. In the meantime, a Group of Ministers will look into the modalities of its implementation to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the trade and industry.

 

III.       TDS/TCS

The provisions for deduction of tax at source (TDS) under section 51 of the CGST Act and collection of tax at source (TCS) under section 52 of the CGST Act shall remain suspended till 30.06.2018. In the meantime, the modalities of linking State and Central Governments accounting system with GSTN will be worked out so that seamless credit is available to the registered traders whose tax is deducted or collected at source.

 

IV.       Grievance Redressal Mechanism

            GST implementation Committee (GIC) has been tasked with the work of redressing the grievances caused to the taxpayers arising out of IT glitches.

 

Recommendations regarding E-way Bill made during  meeting of the GST Council 

In the 26th meeting held here today ,  the GST Council has recommended the introduction of e-way bill for inter-State movement of goods across the country from 01^st April 2018. For intra-State movement of goods, e-way bill system will be introduced w.e.f. a date to be announced in a phased manner but not later than 01^stJune, 2018.

Major improvements over the last set of rules, as approved by the Council now, are as follows:

• E-way bill is required to be generated only where the value of the consignment exceeds Rs. 50000/-. For smaller value consignments, no e-way bill is required.
• The provisions of sub-rule (7) of Rule 138 will be notified from a later date. Therefore, at present there is no requirement to generate e-way bill where an individual consignment value is less than Rs. 50,000/-, even if the transporter is carrying goods of more than Rs. 50,000/- in a single conveyance.
• Value of exempted goods has been excluded from value of the consignment, for the purpose of e-way bill generation.
• Public conveyance has also been included as a mode of transport and the responsibility of generating e-way bill in case of movement of goods by public transport would be that of the consignor or consignee.
• Railways has been exempted from generation and carrying of e-way bill with the condition that without the production of e-way bill, railways will not deliver the goods to the recipient. But railways are required to carry invoice or delivery challan etc.
• Time period for the recipient to communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment would be the validity period of the concerned e-way bill or 72 hours,whichever is earlier.
• In case of movement of goods on account of job-work, the registered job worker can also generate e-way bill.
• Consignor can authorize the transporter, courier agency and e-commerce operator to fill PART-A of e-way bill on his behalf.
• Movement of goods from the place of consignor to the place of transporter up to a distance of 50 Km [increased from 10 km] does not require filling of PART-B of e-way bill.They have to generate PART-A of e-way bill.
• Extra validity period has been provided for Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC). 
• If the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill, the transporter may extend the validity period in case of transhipment or in case of circumstances of an exceptional nature.
• Validity of one day will expire at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way bill.
• Once verified by any tax officer, the same conveyance will not be subject to a second check in any State or Union territory, unless and until, specific information for the same is received.
• In case of movement of goods by railways, airways and waterways, the e-way bill can be generated even after commencement of movement of goods.
• Movement of goods on account of Bill-To-Ship-To supply will be handled through the capturing of place of despatch in PART-A of e-way bill.