GST, ASSOCHAM - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: GST Rate Cuts

Explanation:
The government has set up the National Anti-Profiteering Authority amid reports that some companies, particularly restaurants, are not passing on the benefit of the goods and services tax (GST) rate cuts to consumers.

B N Sharma, additional secretary in the department of revenue, was on 28^th Nov 2017 appointed chairman of the authority.

According to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Sharma is an IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre of the 1985 batch. He will have the rank and pay of a Secretary in the government.

The authority under the GST regime has been constituted to ensure that the benefit of lower indirect tax rates are passed on to consumers.

The anti-profiteering measures were recently approved by the Union Cabinet and have been designed to ensure that the full benefits of input tax credits and reduced GST rates on supply of goods or services flow to the consumers.

ANSWER: ASSOCHAM

Explanation:
India's food processing sector has the potential to attract $33 billion investment by 2024, according to a study released here on 20^thNov 2017 by ASSOCHAM.

The country's food and retail market is expected to touch $482 billion by 2020, up from $258 billion in 2015, with recent reforms making the sector more competitive and marke-oriented, it said.

ASSOCHAM: Know More

• The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) is one of the apex trade associations of India.
• The organisation represents the interests of trade and commerce in India, and acts as an interface between industry, government and other relevant stakeholders on policy issues and initiatives.
• The goal of this organisation is to promote both domestic and international trade, and reduce trade barriers while fostering conducive environment for the growth of trade and industry of India.

ANSWER: National Anti-profiteering Authority

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet approved setting up of National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA), an apex body with an overarching mandate under Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime so as to ensure the benefit of tax reaches consumers.

It also approved creation of posts of Chairman and Technical Members of National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) under GST regime.

NAA: Know More

• The establishment of the NAA, to be headed by a senior officer of the level of Secretary to the Government of India with four Technical Members from the Centre and/or the States.
• It is one more measure aimed at reassuring consumers that Government is fully committed to take all possible steps to ensure the benefits of implementation of GST in terms of lower prices of the goods and services reach them.
• It may be recalled that effective from midnight of 14th November, 2017 the GST rate has been slashed from 28% to 18% on goods falling under 178 headings.
• There are now only 50 items which attract the GST rate of 28%.
  Likewise, a large number of items have witnessed a reduction in GST rates from 18% to 12% and so on and some goods have been completely exempt from GST.
• The "anti-profiteering" measures enshrined in the GST law provide an institutional mechanism to ensure that the full benefits of input tax credits and reduced GST rates on supply of goods or services flow to the consumers.
• This institutional framework comprises the NAA, a Standing Committee, Screening Committees in every State and the Directorate General of Safeguards in the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC).

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The Goods and Services Tax Council took a slew of decisions during its 23rd meeting in Guwahati on Friday to benefit consumers and businesses alike.

While consumers will stand to benefit from a number of rate cuts, including the tax on restaurants, businesses stand to benefit from a significant easing of compliance norms to do with filing returns.

Up to November 15, when the decisions take effect, the GST system requires businesses to submit at least three forms to file their returns.

The GSTR-1 dealt with the invoice-wise details of supply, GSTR-2 dealt with the receipts of goods, and GSTR-3 was an overall summary derived from the two previous forms.

Now, the GST Council has decided that, in order to ease the compliance burden on businesses, companies would be allowed to only file the GSTR-1 form, up to March 31, 2018.

The Council has set up a committee to look into how to make the GSTR-2 form easier, following which it will be brought back into the system.

The Council also decided to extend the usage of the summary GSTR-3B form, meant to make life easier for those unfamiliar with the filing process, till March 31 from the earlier December 31 deadline.

Companies with a turnover of up to र1.5 crore a year will now be able to file their GSTR-1 forms for each month in a quarterly manner.

Companies earning र1.5 crore or more a year can file their July to October forms by December 31.

Not only did the latest Council meeting ease the deadlines, but it also slashed the penalties for filing late.

For companies with nil tax liability for a particular month, the penalty for delays has been cut to र20 per day from र200 per day. All other companies will have to file a penalty of र50 per day, down from र200 per day.

The GST Council - the apex body for decision making headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley - also decided to impose a uniform GST rate of 5 percent across all categories of standalone restaurants - air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned - but withdraw the benefits of input tax credit (ITC) from such businesses.

Restaurants in starred hotels and outdoor catering services will attract a GST of 18 percent along with ITC benefits.

Composition Scheme

• The annual turnover threshold on the composition scheme will be raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore.
• This will be done after the law is amended to raise the turnover ceiling for eligibility of composition.
• The law will be amended to raise the ceiling to Rs 2 crore. The limit will be raised immediately after the law amended to Rs 1.5 crore
• Under the scheme, traders, manufacturers and restaurants can pay tax at 1, 2 and 5 percent, respectively.
• The council has also decided to fix a uniform rate of 1 percent for traders and manufacturers.
• The move to widen the turnover threshold is aimed at easing the compliance burden for taxpayers as they will have to file returns only once in a quarter as against monthly returns that needs to be filed by other normal taxpayers.
• However, dealers cannot avail input tax credit, unlike a normal taxpayer.
• Also, traders availing the composition scheme on goods, who also provide small services upto Rs 5 lakh annually, will not be considered ineligible for the scheme.
• GST, billed as the country's biggest indirect tax overhaul, has consolidated a dozen of state and central duties into one single levy.
• ll goods and services have been fitted into four broad slab structure - 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent -along with a cess on luxury and demerit goods such as tobacco, pan masala and aerated drinks.

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
The twenty-third meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council in Guwahati on Friday is set to tighten the noose on players who, authorities believe, have started splitting their business operations into smaller entities to avoid higher tax liabilities.

The Council is also set to cut tax rates on a large number of product lines.

The Council is expected to further liberalise the Composition Scheme for small businesses and traders to pay a flat and low tax on their turnover.

The annual turnover eligibility threshold is likely to be raised to ₹1.5 crore from the ₹1 crore limit, imposed at the Council's October meeting.

However, the government is concerned about the emergence of a parallel economy despite the restrictions on the Composition Scheme, whose original threshold limit was just ₹75 lakh a year.

Small States may have legitimate concerns, but the restriction on inter-State supplies by businesses under the Composition Scheme could also fuel the prospects for more informal trade outside the tax net.

The GoM has not been able to arrive at a consensus on the question of whether supplies from small firms that are part of the Composition Scheme should translate into input tax credits for larger firms who buy from them.

ANSWER: CAIT

Explanation:
Traders body CAIT's Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal has been nominated to be a part of the government's GST panel.

The panel -- which has been constituted with approval of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley -- includes other members like Araghya Sengupta (Research Director, Centre for Legal Policy), Vinod Jain (CA), Anuj Sahai (CEO of Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation) and Laghu Udyog Bharti President Om Prakash Mittal, CAIT said in a statement.

Gautam Ray, retired chief commissioner of Central Board of Direct Taxes, has been named as the convenor.

The group will discuss possible changes in GST law and its rules and will submit its recommendations to Law Review Committee by November 30.

The first meeting of the group has been convened on November 8 to discuss in-depth the GST law and rules and amendments needed to make compliance easier.

ANSWER: Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act 2017

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the proposal of the Finance Ministry to promulgate an ordinance to suitably amend the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017.

The approval would allow to increase the maximum rate at which the Compensation Cess can be levied from 15% to 25% on:

a. motor vehicles for transport of not more than thirteen persons, including the driver [falling under sub-headings 870210, 8702 20, 8702 30 or 8702 90]; and

b. motor vehicles falling under headings 8703.

The GST Council, in its meeting held in August 2017, taking into consideration the fact that post introduction of GST, the total incidence on motor vehicles [GST+ Compensation Cess] has come down vis-a-vis pre-GST total tax, incidence.

It had recommended increase in the maximum rate at which Compensation Cess can be levied on motor vehicles falling under headings 8702 and 8703 from 15% to 25%.

The issue regarding the increase in effective rate of Compensation Cess on motor vehicles will be examined by the GST Council in due course.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
A Case Study on the birth of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India – “The GST Saga: A Story of Extraordinary National Ambition” was released on 25th July 2017 by the Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley in his office in North Block in the national capital.

In view of the successful roll-out of the GST on 1 July 2017, it was felt that there was a need for the public to know of the story of how GST evolved, its timeline, the different stakeholders involved and how it eventually culminated in its inauguration in the Central Hall of the Parliament of India on the midnight of 30th June,2017 and 1st July, 2017 by the President and Prime Minister of India.

This case study accordingly captures the entire journey of GST right from its ideation in the Kelkar Task Force Report in 2003.

Other salient features such as the dates on which the SGST Laws were enacted in the 31 States, peculiarity of the Indian GST model, how the fitment of rates was done and the IT backbone of GST have also been addressed in the case study.

This makes it a concise yet comprehensive repository of the GST story.

ANSWER: GST Rates Finder

Explanation:
Government has launched an App - GST Rates Finder to verify the accurate tax rate on commodity and services under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

This will empower not only the taxpayers, but every citizen of the nation, to ascertain the correct GST rate on goods and services.

Through this app, user can determine GST rate by entering the name of the commodity or service.

The search result will list all the Goods and Services containing the name which was typed in the search box.

A taxpayer can search for applicable CGST, SGST, UTGST rate and Compensation Cess on a supply.

Finance Ministry said, this mobile app can be downloaded on any smart phone and can work in offline mode, once downloaded.

The application has been launched on Android platform, and will soon be available on iOS platform.

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has taken these initiatives for ease of doing business under the GST regime.

CBEC has also provided a GST rate finder on its portal - cbec-gst.gov.in to help taxpayers know applicable GST rate on their supplies.

ANSWER: J&K

Explanation:
The President of India has promulgated today two ordinances, namely, the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017.

This was for extending the domain of Central GST Act and the Integrated GST Act to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, with effect from 8th July, 2017.

With this, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has become part of the GST regime, making GST truly a “one nation, one tax” regime.

Earlier, the Goods and Services Tax was launched in the country from the midnight of 1st July, 2017.

However, because of the special provisions applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir extra steps had to be taken before the State could join the GST fold.

On 6th July 2017, the State of Jammu and Kashmir had taken the first step towards adopting the GST regime with the President of India giving assent to the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2017.

Resultantly, the One Hundred and First Amendment Act, 2016 to the Constitution of India that paved the way for introduction of GST in the country, became applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir also.

Following this, on 7th July, 2017, the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017 was passed by the State Legislature, empowering the State to levy State GST on intra-state supplies with effect from 8th July, 2017.

Concomitantly, the President of India has promulgated two ordinances, namely, the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017.