Few serious concerns regarding the new gst

This query is : Resolved

Querist : Anonymous

Querist : Anonymous (Querist)

23 June 2017 Hi,
Before I begin, I have a disclaimer. I have no accounting background, so please do kindly explain as if you are giving your explanation to a school kid. Thanks.

My Case:
I am running a Spoken English training center ( startup ) in Kerala. We just started 1 year ago and till date our annual turn over is less than 5 lakhs. However, since I expected an increase in our turn over (surpassing 9 Lakhs threshold of service tax) in the coming fiscal year, I actually did enroll for Service Tax just to be prepared so that I can start collecting and filing once we actually cross the threshold.

Then the GST storm has hit and all my acquired knowledge via, articles, blogs and news about taxation is now a cloud.
I will be getting a provisional id and a password from ACES post 25th and I am supposedly required to enroll for the GST in 6 months time, however as per my projection I won't be crossing the 19 lakh threshold this fiscal year.

My Queries:

1: Am I liable to enroll for GST?

2: What would happen if I don't enroll with in 6 months? If my provisional id gets cancelled, do I have an option to enroll later? would that be a complicated step?

3: What would happen if I cross 9 lakh threshold for the Service Tax which I am already registered with?

4: If I enroll for GST, should I start collecting and filing/paying GST irrespective of my business crossing the threshold which is 19 lakhs?

5: Even if I start collecting GST for my services, is there any way I can not collect for certain services for example:

Assume I have a tie up with another institution (hereafter referred to as A) where they regularly refer students to my place. 'A' collects a caution deposit (eg. 5000/-) from the students and pays an amount (eg. 3000/-) to us as our service charges. They get to keep the balance. Let us assume, 'A' is not willing to pay the extra 18% GST, so I would have to make the 3000/- that I get from them inclusive of tax so that leaves me with just 2460/- which would definitely hurt my business. However, I can and will be able to collect 18% tax directly from other students who directly enroll at my institution. So how do I go about with the GST? How can I not pay GST for the 3000/- that I directly get from A? and pay all the taxes I collect directly from other sources? Is there any other option to deal with such a situation?

Looking forward to a healthy discussion and answers from all the experts of this community.

Thanks a ton in advance.
Regards
Alex

Amol S Joglekar

Amol S Joglekar (Expert)
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23 June 2017 01. No you need not get yourself registered merely because you have service tax registration nenrollment
02. You always have the option to get yourself registered under the GST as and when your turnover becomes liable so to do
03. For GST threshhold is 20 lakh. So forget the figure of 9 lakh for the time being
04. You are not required to collect GST unless you cross the thresh hold limit, even though you have GST registration. (In this situation, when filing NIL return, you may face serious problems of convincing the authorities as to why the hell you registered for GST even though your turnover is below thresh hold limit.)
05. No way to avoid GST on 3000. 2543 basic price + 457 = 3000

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