This article is written while pursuing the Diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration And Business Laws from NUJS, KOLKATA. This article discusses How to respond to a show cause notice issued on not filling of the GST returns.
Introduction
Demand and recuperation can be commenced for quick-levy, non-levy, quick paid, non-paid, faulty refund, incorrect and wrong utilization of entering tax credit. All demand and recuperation lawsuits underne GST start with the issuance of a show cause notice note. This article discusses legal provisions pertaining to show cause notice under GST act.
GST could be an immense reform for the indirect taxation in India. It is something which the country has not seen post-Independence. GST can change indirect taxation, cut back complexities, and take away the cascading impact. Experts believe that it’ll have an enormous impact on all the businesses from huge to small, and alter the way the economy functions. To under the GST and present indirect taxation system, it requires an understanding of the filing of returns and the aftermath of non-compliance. Direct taxes (e.g. income tax) are levied directly from the person who owes the responsibility. It suggests that the tax burden cannot be shifted to anyone else. The liability of an indirect taxes on the opposite hand can be shifted to a different person. So, the person liable to pay the tax will collect the tax from somebody else and then pay it to the government. The GST tax falls in this class.
Why registration is important
Under GST regime GST-registration is mandatory even for small businesses Registration is not the solution for all but and many people don’t register because they want to keep the aggregate income. Therefore It’s necessary to notice that registering only, will not solve the problem of not paying taxes. Registration means people have got themselves recognized taxation system, after registration, it becomes easy for the government to keep a check on them.
On the other hand, it doesn’t let people do away with the taxable income. Therefore registration discourages people to evade taxes and helps the government to collect all the taxable income.
WHAT IS GST RETURN
A return is a document which contains the details of the income which a taxpayer is required to file with the tax administrative authorities. Tax authorities use this information to calculate tax liability.
Taxable individuals and entities under GST are obliged to file several GST returns. Under GST, return filing plays a very significant role. It works as a link between the taxpayer and the government. In the GST return, the taxpayer is obliged to provide specific information e.g. the particulars of business doings, an assertion of tax liability, reimbursement of taxes and other data specified under the law.
All returns in GST are to be filed electronically and the facility is to be delivered for the manual filing of GST returns, whereby the return may be set offline and uploaded on the GSTN by the remunerator or a help center.
Under the GST law, a standard remunerator will need to furnish three times monthly and one annual return. Moreover, the law provides separate returns for a payer registered under the composition theme, payer registered as an Input Service Distributor, someone liable to deduct or collect the tax.
WHO SHOULD FILE GST RETURNS
Registered persons who are assessable under GST are required to file GST returns. Therefore, any registered entity that has not crossed the exemption limit (i.e., Rs.20 lakhs across India, aside from Northeastern and Hill states whereby its Rs.10 lakhs) is not required to file a GST return until he crosses the exemption limit. However, once the exemption limit is crossed and the remunerator begins with filing GST returns, (there’s no assessable supplied created or received throughout a period) the remunerator is supposed to file a nil return. It shows that not filing GST isn’t a choice. Without filing the return of an amount, next return can’t be filed.
According to section 37(1) of GST act “Every registered person, other than an Input Service Distributor, a non-resident taxable person and a person paying tax under the provisions of section 10 or section 51 or section 52, shall furnish, electronically, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, the details of outward supplies of goods or services or both affected during a tax period on or before the tenth day of the month succeeding the said tax period and such details shall be communicated to the recipient of the said supplies within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed”.
Provided that the registered person shall not be allowed to furnish the details of outward supplies during the period from the eleventh day to the fifteenth day of the month succeeding the tax period.
Provided further that the Commissioner may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, by notification, extend the time limit for furnishing such details for such class of taxable persons as may be specified therein.
Provided also that any extension of time limit notified by the Commissioner of State tax or Commissioner of Union territory tax shall be deemed to be notified by the Commissioner.
Now the question arises that who all are registered entities? Every person who is registered under an earlier law can take registration under GST too. Wherever a registered business is transferred to somebody, the transferee shall take registration with the impact from the date of transfer. Registration is obligatory for anyone who makes an inter-state supply of products and/or services.
Furthermore, Registration is obligatory for Casual assessable Person, Non-Resident assessable Person, Agents of a distributor, Taxpayers paying tax under reverse charge mechanism, Input Service Distributors, E-commerce operator or aggregator and their suppliers, Person supplying online data and information access or retrieval services from an area outside to someone in India, apart from a registered assessable person.
SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ON NON COMPLIANCE WITH GST RETURN?
Section 73 of CGST Act deals with issuance of show cause notice to assesses for
- Tax is unpaid/short paid or,
- Refund is wrongly made or,
- Input tax credit has been wrongly availed/ utilized
for any reason, other than fraud etc. i.e., there is no motive to evade tax. The proper officer (i.e., GST authorities) will serve a show cause notice on the taxpayer. They will be required to pay the amount due, along with interest and penalty.
All assessable persons registered in the ambit of GST are needed to file GST returns timely. The date and the type of return to be filed is based on the kind of GST registration obtained by the taxpayers. Regular taxpayers registered under GST have to file 3 GST returns a month specifically, GSTR-1, GSTR-2, and GSTR-3. Casual assessable persons, non-resident assessable persons, and taxpayers registered within the Composition theme need to file different types of GST returns on the due date.
GSTR-3A
As per the rule sixty-eighth of CGST rules, GSTR-3A could be a notice for not filing GST returns issued under the GST laws. A notice in type GSTR-3A shall be issued, electronically, to a registered entity who fails to furnish return under section 39 or section 42 or section 45 or section 52. GSTR-3A is issued by the GST department when a remunerator does not file GST returns continuously.
In the initial form of GSTR-3A notice, the remunerator is given a chance to file the unfinished GST returns with a penalty or interest and regularize GST compliance. It mandates the filing of GST return even if the business is closed or there aren’t any transactions during a month. Thus, if such a notice is received from the GST department, the remunerator should file any unfinished GST returns as soon as possible. Once the GST returns are filed and liabilities are cleared, the remunerator will apply for the cancellation, if there are no dealings with the business and the remunerator desires to discontinue GST compliance.
In any case, if the remunerator regularizes GST compliance within 15 days, the GST registration would be valid. Just in case the remunerator fails to reply to the above notice, GST registration may be canceled.
What if the GST Registration is canceled
After the cancellation, the show cause notice in type GSTR REG-17 would be issued. In such case, the remunerator is required to file the due GST returns within seven days, offer a written reply to the tax office regarding the explanation for the delay in filing of GST returns and appear before the involved officer personally on the date and time mentioned within the show cause notice.
In case the remunerator isn’t able to file GST returns, a reply citing reasons for the delay in filing GST return along with a request for extension may be submitted in writing. The licensed person under GST will have to appear before the tax officer for the non-public hearing and judge on a course of action.
2nd form of GSTR-3A notice is issued after the cancellation or surrender of a GST registration if the remunerator has not filed a GSTR-10 return within three months.
In case, the above notice has been issued by the GST department, then it is advisable to file a GSTR-10 return within fifteen days in conjunction with any penalty or fines, as applicable. Just in case the remunerator fails to reply to the above tax notice, the GST department may levy extra fines or penalty on the remunerator for non-compliance.
Steps to be followed while responding to a Show Cause Notice (SCN)
Step I
This is how you receive the show cause notice on your email. Here a person gets the SCN reference number which is needed to log in GST registration.
the
Step II
After the first stage, one needs to login to GST account by accessing GST official website. but even before that, the person has to select New Registration option from SERVICES. After doing this the following screen would pop up. Here, you’ll see Temporary Reference Number which is supposed to be filled with your details.
Step III
After following the above step you need to click on proceed thereafter you’ll get an OTP on your registered email id.
This is how you get OTP on your email id:-
Step IV
After submitting OTP you’ll see the following window on your screen:-
Step V
From the above web page, you need to select Application for filing registrations from the services option. It will look like the below picture:-
Step VI
After following the above instruction, a window will appear which will look like the following picture:-
Step VII
After filling above asked information, the window that pops up will be like this:-
Here you need to click on NO to the modification in registration.
Step VIII
After clicking on No, there would be some queries on the screen. You need to answer this query and after filling all the relevant information it has to be saved by clicking on the Save option.
The above seven steps are useful when a person wants to respond to the show cause notice.
Conclusion
GST is still in its salad days in India. It has both pros and cons which are to be taken into account while giving any opinion on GST. This article gives the details about the show cause notice which is issued a person when he does not comply with GST regulations. GST registration helps the government to identify tax evaders. GST act does not let a person go without paying the tax set by the government. Moreover if paying tax is the duty of citizens, tax collection is the right of government. The government should come up with every reasonable step which helps it to exercise this right.
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