As per the GST rules, every business having a turnover of more than Rs. 40 lakh must register as a normal taxable body. They can log in to the GST portal to get GST registration in India. For hill states and North-Eastern states 

As per the GST rules, it is mandatory for any businesses with a turnover of more than Rs.40 lakhs to get itself registered as a normal taxable entity. This is explained as the GST registration process. The turnover for the businesses that are present in hill states and North-Eastern states is Rs.10 lakhs. It takes around 6 working days to complete the GST registration process. GST rules are amended and updated by the Government regularly to ease the provisions for the taxpayers. GST Budget 2021 aims at helping the businesses by reducing their compliance burden etc.

GST Budget 2021 Updates

The GST Budget 2021 has brought a big relief to the small and medium-sized enterprises with regard to GST annual compliance. Self-certification in GSTR-9C by the taxpayers will lead to a fast, convenient and reduced compliance cost. The Union Government proposed the following amendments in GST Budget 2021:

• Section 16 was amended-The taxpayers through this amendment can claim Input Tax Credit on both GSTR-2A and 2B.
• Businesses with a turnover of more than Rs. 5 crore does not need to get their accounts audited. Along with this Annual Certification of Reconciliation statement has also been abolished by the Government.
• The CGST Act was amended to specify that now the interest will be applicable only on net liability.
• Amendments have also been proposed by the Government to specify that tax appeals can be filed in definite circumstances after 25% of the specified amount with the GST department. This gives more power to the GST commissioner to ask any person with regard to matters related to the CGST Act.

Advantages of GST Law

Some of the advantages of the GST law is explained below:

• Removes the negative tax effect.
• Permits businesses to have more threshold for registration.
• Small businesses for operational purpose get a composition scheme.
• The GST tax filing process is very convenient and easy as it is completely online.
• The tax compliance is comparatively low.
• The logistics efficiency has enhanced.

Different Types of GST

GST has been divided into four types:

• The CGST or Central Goods and Services Tax.
• The SGST or State Goods and Services Tax.
• The UTGST or Union Territory Goods and Services Tax.
• The IGST or Integrated Goods and Services Tax.

How the GST Council Takes Decisions?

The GST council takes decisions with the agreement of both the Union Government and the State Government. 75 % majority of members votes is necessary to take any decision. GST Budget 2021 accepted most of the amendments proposed in the 39th GST council meeting that was held on March 20, 2020.

GST Rates 

The GST rates are divided into four slabs:

• 5%- Some of the household items such as coffee, edible oil, sugar, sweets etc comes under this slab.
• 12%- Processed foods such as ghee or cheese, computers, fertilizers etc are included in this slab.
• 18%- Toothpaste, hair oil, soaps etc qualifies under this slab.
• 28%- AC, Premium Cars, Refrigerators etc comes under this slab. This slab includes luxurious items.

Who Needs to Pay GST and File the GST Returns?

• Businesses with a turnover of more than Rs. 20 lakhs per annum need to file the GST as well as GST returns.
• For North-Eastern states the limit is Rs. 10 lakhs.
• You need to pay the IGST irrespective of whatever your turnover is.
• To claim Input Tax Credit you need to file the GST returns.

In a Nutshell

In GST Budget 2021 the Union Government announced some reforms on taxation concerned to the indirect tax. The tax compliance process was made easy for the taxpayers. The positive development for the businesses in GST Budget 2021 is the omission of the GST Audit or certification from the qualified professionals.