GST Countdown: Forget Technology, Small Businesses Are Clueless Even About Rates
GST is 18 days away; Ganesh and Biraj ask: Do we need to computerise all the invoices?
With just 18 days to go for the Goods and Services tax (GST) to go live, small businesses are struggling not just with complex concepts such as input tax credit, transition stock, valuation but even something as basic as the rates applicable to goods they consume.
On BloombergQuint’s special series, GST Countdown, Ganesh of Shrinathji’s and Biraj of Booze On Moods – managers at two restaurants in the Lower Parel area of Mumbai –asked Gagan Rai, managing director and chief executive officer, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd., the technology changes they will have to undertake to be GST ready. NSDL e-Governance is one of the 34 approved GST Suvidha Providers and an Application Service Provider as well.
Here are the edited excerpts from the conversation.
We’ve not got any training regarding GST. How will the invoice be generated?
I think businesses should consult with their tax consultants. They should know that they don’t have to file all the return forms on Day 1; they have to first file their sales, then match it with the purchases and then upload the return.
Once their supplier has uploaded the sales and they have uploaded their purchase, if after that there is some discrepancy, they will have to go back and consult their supplier on quantity and the tax paid. They will have to explain it to them that they are not getting the input tax credit because of the supplier has not uploaded the invoice; a purchase for them is a sale for someone else. They will have to sort out the mismatch.
Do all the bills need to be computerised? Will there be no manual billing?
You will have to put it in some computer; you won’t be able to upload it otherwise. You can have a manual billing but to prepare a return, you will have to digitise it. We are providing an offline utility that you can use at your establishment to upload invoices; you don’t need to go to a facilitation centre.
What is the percentage of GST that will be charged?
That depends on the items that you use; there are so many items, each will have a different rate.