Mumbai: You are on the road to meet a client and realise you have forgotten to bring your pen. Fortunately, you spot a kiosk; you buy a pen costing Rs 10 and drive away. When you claim the expenditure as it was a purchase made for the company, the accountant tears his hair in frustration. Is he over-reacting? Unfortunately, he is not.
Even as GST is being welcomed by India Inc and tax experts, a few sections are being regarded as impractical and challenging. Section 9(4) of the GST Bill provides that if a supplier (say, a stationery store) is not registered, and there is a sale to a registered entity (say, a company), then the buyer shall bear the GST on such sale under what is technically referred to as a reverse charge mechanism.
“Not everyone who is unregistered is a GST defaulter. A seller may be unregistered because his entire output (product being sold) is exempt or because he falls below the threshold limit set for application of GST. The reverse charge mechanism will impact working capital. Continuing with this illustration, the company will have to bear this tax and then seek a credit (for input tax) against its own tax liability,” says Badri Narayanan, partner, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, a law firm. Currently, the exemption limit for GST is a turnover of Rs 20 lakh (with Rs 10 lakh in NE states). “The buyer, such as this company, will have to ascertain the GST rate for each and every product it buys from an unregistered party and then pay this tax,” adds Uday Pimprikar, indirect tax partner at EY India.
“Another section, section 31(3)(f) makes this even more cumbersome. The buyer has to ‘self-invoice’ — in other words, he has to issue an invoice for the purchase made by him from the unregistered seller. This invoice is to be uploaded in the GST system. Creating an invoice has its own complexities as the HSN (classification number) is required to be known,” says Sunil Gabhawalla, chartered accountant and indirect tax expert. “The government doesn’t gain anything from the GST paid under the reverse charge mechanism, as the buyer will claim an input credit. Further bringing such a reverse charge defeats the purpose of having a threshold limit for registration,” adds Gabhawalla.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/gst-india-inc-faces-complex-input-tax-credit/articleshow/57902773.cms
