Top 10 Amendments in GST in February and March 2023 which will impact your business

1. Last date for issuance of order and notice under Sec 73 has been extended for various FY as follows -

2. Reverse Charge Mechanism made applicable to services supplied by Courts and Tribunals to

• business entity located in taxable territory in respect of any services excluding, -
  1. renting of immovable property, and
  2. services specified below-
     1. services by the Department of Posts by way of speed post, express parcel post, life insurance, and agency services provided to a person other than Central Government, State Government or Union territory or local authority;
     2. services in relation to an aircraft or a vessel, inside or outside the precincts of a port or an airport;
     3. transport of goods or passengers.
• any person registered under the CGST Act, 2017 in respect of services by way of renting of immovable property.Eg. Courts and Tribunals supply services such as renting of premises to telecommunication companies for installation of towers, renting of chamber to lawyers etc. in which case registered person will be liable to pay GST on RCM basis.

3. Rule 8(4A) has been amended -

• The government had implemented a biometric-based Aadhaar authentication and risk-based physical verification of applicant for registration for the state of Gujarat from 26-12-2022.
• With the amended rule 8(4A), which is has been amended retrospectively from 26-12-2022, the government has taken powers with itself to implement, based on data analysis and risk parameters, biometric-based Aadhaar authentication and taking photograph of the applicant process as described in Rule 8(4A) of CGST Rules, in other states as well.

4. Changes in GST rates of Goods and Services -

• Rab from 18% to
  1. 5%, if sold pre-packaged and labelled
  2. Nil, if sold otherwise
• Pencil Sharpener from 18% to 12%

5. Compensation Cess rates changed and maximum rates altered.

• To boost the first stage collection of the revenue and plug the leakages, now levy of compensation cess is based on retail sale price for the following items -

1. Pan-Masala
2. Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes, including tobacco products like chewing tobacco, gutka etc.

• Compensation cess levied on Pan-Masala and Tobacco to be changed from ad valorem to specific tax-based levy.
• Maximum rates of Pan-Masala and Tobacco altered.
• Amend entry at Sl. No. 41A of notification No. 1/2017-Compensation Cess (Rate)so that exemption benefit covers both coal rejects supplied to and by a coal washery, arising out of coalon which compensation cess has been paid and no input tax credit thereof has been availed by anyperson.

6. Late fee for GSTR-9 (Annual Return) has been reduced in respect of return to be furnished for the FY 2022-23 onwards for taxpayers having aggregate turnover upto Rs. 20 crores in the following manner -

7. Amnesty scheme announced for pending returns in FORM GSTR-4, FORM GSTR-9 and FORM GSTR-10. Meaning thereby that pending returns of the following period can be filed with reduced late fees -

8. Amnesty Scheme for filing application for revocation of cancellation of registration till June 30, 2023

• An Amnesty has been provided in the cases, where registration has been cancelled on account of non-filing of the returns under clause (b) or clause (c) of section 29(2) of CGST Act, 2017 on or before 31-12-2022, but application for revocation of cancellation of registration could not be filed within the time specified in section 30 of CGST Act, by allowing such persons to file such application for revocation by a 30th June, 2023, subject to certain conditions.

9. Amnesty provided for withdrawal of assessment orders against non-filers of GSTR 3B & GSTR 10

• An amnesty scheme has been provided for conditional deemed withdrawal of assessment orders in cases where the concerned return could not be filed within 30 days of the assessment order issued on or before the 28-2-2023but has been filed along with due interest and late fee upto 30-6-2023, irrespective ofwhether appeal has been filed or not against the assessment order, or whether the said appeal has been decided or not.

10. The exemption available to educational institutions and Central and State educational boards for conduct of entrance examination has been extended

• to any authority, board or a body set up by the Central Government or State Government including National Testing Agency for conduct of entrance examination for admission to educational institutions.