The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a successor to VAT used in India on the supply of goods and services. GST is a digitalized form of VAT where you can also track the goods & services. Both VAT and GST have the same taxation slabs. It is a comprehensive, multistage, destination-based tax: comprehensive because it has subsumed almost all the indirect taxes except a few state taxes. Multi-staged as it is, the GST is imposed at every step in the production process, but is meant to be refunded to all parties in the various stages of production other than the final consumer and as a destination-based tax, it is collected from point of consumption and not point of origin like previous taxes.

 

Goods and services are divided into five different tax slabs for collection of tax: 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. However, petroleum products, alcoholic drinks, and electricity are not taxed under GST and instead are taxed separately by the individual state governments, as per the previous tax system.[citation needed] There is a special rate of 0.25% on rough precious and semi-precious stones and 3% on gold.[1] In addition a cess of 22% or other rates on top of 28% GST applies on several items like aerated drinks, luxury cars and tobacco products.[2] Pre-GST, the statutory tax rate for most goods was about 26.5%; post-GST, most goods are expected to be in the 18% tax range.

 

The tax came into effect from 1 July 2017 through the implementation of the One Hundred and First Amendment of the Constitution of India by the Indian government. The GST replaced existing multiple taxes levied by the central and state governments.

 

The tax rates, rules and regulations are governed by the GST Council which consists of the finance ministers of the central government and all the states. The GST is meant to replace a slew of indirect taxes with a federated tax and is therefore expected to reshape the country's $3.5 trillion economy, but its implementation has received criticism.[3][4] Positive outcomes of the GST includes the travel time in interstate movement, which dropped by 20%, because of disbanding of interstate check posts.[5]

 

 

GST Registration Certificate

A GST Certificate is a legal document that the relevant authorities issue to a company that has registered for the GST system. Under this system, enterprises having a yearly revenue of at least Rs. 20 lakh and some special businesses must register. Form GST REG-06 is used to issue the GST registration certificate. From the official GST Portal, you can download the GST Certificate if you are a registered taxpayer under this system.

 

The certificate is not physically handed out. It is only accessible digitally. GSTIN, Legal Name, Trade Name, Business Constitution, Address, Date of Liability, Validity Period, Types of Registration, Particulars of Approving Authority, Signature, Specifications of the Approving GST Officer, and Date are all included on the GST Certificate.

 

GST Returns

A GST Returns is a document that contains information about the income that a taxpayer must file with the authorities. This information used to compute the taxpayer's tax liability. Under the Goods and Services Tax, registered dealers must file their GST returns with details regarding their purchases, sales, input tax credit, and output GST. Businesses are expected to file 2 monthly returns as well as an annual return.