The indirect tax system in India has undergone a major change in July 2017 with the introduction of GST, replacing the erstwhile systems of excise, VAT, Service Tax, etc. The new regime aims at greater transparency and fairness across the range of goods and service providers, however it also introduces significantly higher compliance requirements in the form of multiple returns every month, multiple tax payments every month and constant reconciliation of tax credits being claimed by each entity.

With this change, many small and large businesses in India are at a loss to understand the transition and fulfil their tax liabilities correctly. All GST filings are necessarily required to be done online. The following are some of the issues being faced by businesses in meeting GST requirements:

• The number of returns to be filed has also increased to 2 per month, which when added to the annual return takes the total number of returns to 25 in a year.

• The reduction in thresholds means that many small manufacturers previously not under excise regulations are now required to register under GST.

• Since this is a pan-India single tax regime, therefore there are three categories of filing – central, state and interstate. The entity filing GST returns need to be clear about the category of filing required, the specific tax rate (there are three different slabs), and also the correct time for the monthly returns.

Because of these changes several businesses are opting for professional indirect tax services, instead of placing the responsibility on their own teams. A good GST services provider understands the system and challenges well and ensures that the transition to the new tax regime is seamless.

VAA has successfully assisted all its clients in transitioning to the new system and is helping them on a periodic basis in meeting the legal requirements around GST. Our team is involved in every step of the process and in several cases, eliminates the need for our clients to hire more employees to keep up with the additional GST workload. We provide the following indirect tax services to our clients:

• GST registration and migration

• Ongoing calculation of GST liabilities and credits

• Filing of GST returns

• Liaising with tax authorities in cases of tax demands, scrutiny or disputes for both GST and erstwhile indirect tax issues (service tax, VAT, excise, etc.)

• Interpretation of GST Act and specific sections based on clients’ industry, products, exporter/importer status and other unique circumstances

For questions relating to Indian indirect tax consultant laws and GST, reach out to us at ca.vinit.shah@gmail.com