Frequently Asked Questions for E-Invoicing, Eway Bill and GST

E-Way Bill is an electronic way bill generated for the movement of goods where value of consignment is more than Rs. 50000. E-Way Bill has 2 components Part A containing details of consigner and consignee, delivery address, invoice number and date, HSN code, amount and value of goods, and Part B –comprising of transportation details transport document number and Vehicle number in case of road.

The E-Way Bill can be generated through multiple modes such as GSTrobo, a GSP (Goods and Services Tax Suvidha Provider) using GSTrobo Mobile Application, site to site integration via GSTrobo E-Way Bill APIs and using SMS based facility.

Part A details can be furnished to obtain a Temporary E-Way Bill Number. Validity of E-Way Bill begins only when Part B details are updated in case of road and a Permanent E-Way Bill Number is obtained. Temporary E-Way Bill number is valid for 15 days for first time update of Part-B.

If multiple consignments are intended to be transported in one conveyance, E-Way Bill Numbers generated in respect of each consignment can be added in a consolidated E-Way Bill. A consolidated E-Way Bill number can be provided in case of interception of goods.

In case where some of the consignments being transported are of value less than 50,000 and some are of value greater than 50,000. Then the user can generate E-Way Bills and Consolidated E-Way Bill for only consignments of value greater than 50,000 or for all of the consignments.

Consignor or supplier can provide his own GSTIN in transporter Id.

In such cases, the supplier or consigner shall issue the complete invoice before dispatch of the first consignment and must issue a delivery challan for each of the subsequent consignments, giving reference of the invoice. An E-Way Bill must be generated against each delivery challan. Each consignment must be accompanied by original delivery challan, a copy of invoice and a E-Way Bill number. The last consignment must be accompanied by original copy of invoice.

Yes. It needs to be issued in other cases as well involving the movement of goods such as to job-work, replacement under warranty, recipient not known, supply of liquid gas where quantity is not known, supply returns, exhibition or fairs, for own use, Sale on approval basis and others etc.

Yes, Validity of E-Way Bill can be extended. This can be done 8 hours before and after expiry of the validity of E-Way Bill.

The Part-B or transportation details can be updated as many times as one wants to update for the movement of goods until the E-Way Bill is valid. The details furnished in Part-B must always be true during the movement of goods. The validity of E-Way Bill is not re-calculated for subsequent entries in Part-B.

The information furnished in the Part-A of E-Way Bill on GSTrobo’s E-Way Bill Application shall be made available to the registered supplier on GSTrobo’s GST Application who may utilize the same for furnishing details in GSTR-1.

If multiple consignments are intended to be transported in one conveyance, E-Way Bill Numbers generated in respect of each consignment can be added in a consolidated E-Way Bill. A consolidated E-Way Bill number can be provided in case of interception of goods.

In case where some of the consignments being transported are of value less than 50,000 and some are of value greater than 50,000. Then the user can generate E-Way Bills and Consolidated E-Way Bill for only consignments of value greater than 50,000 or for all of the consignments.

E-Way Bill validity can be increased and the vehicle number can be updated.

The Vehicle Number must be entered in any one of the below format in the E-Way Bill Part B:

• AB121234
• AB12A1234
• AB12AB1234
• ABC1234
• AB123A1234
• AB12ABC1234
• DFXXXXXX (for Defense Vehicle)
• TRXXXXXX (for Temporary RC)
• BPXXXXXX (for Bhutan)

Consolidated E-Way Bill is a document containing the multiple E-Way Bills for multiple consignments being carried in one conveyance (goods vehicle). That is, the transporter,carrying multiple consignments of various consignors and consignees in one vehicle can generate and carry one consolidated E-Way Bill instead of carrying multiple E-Way Bills for those consignments.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax that has replaced existing 17 taxes, such as VAT, Octroi, Sales Tax, Service Tax, and Excise Duty, and so forth. Under GST the state in which goods or/and services are consumed receives the revenue unlike the old tax structure, where the state of origin received tax revenue.

Central taxes subsumed under GST:

• Service Tax
• Central Excise duty
• Additional Excise duties
• Additional Customs Duty, also known as Countervailing Duty (CVD)
• Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD)
• Central Sales Tax (CST)
• Surcharges
• Central CESS

State taxes subsumed under GST:

• Value Added Tax (VAT)
• Sales tax
• Entertainment tax not including entertainment tax levied by local bodies
• Luxury tax
• Entry tax
• Taxes on lotteries, betting, and gambling
• State CESS and Surcharge
• Octroi

The ‘supply’ of goods or services or both from registered person to any person or entity in India triggers GST.

Supply means any

• Sale of goods or/and services
• Barter of goods or/and services
• Transfer of goods or/and services
• Exchange of goods or/and services
• Rental of goods or/and services
• The license of goods or/and services
• Lease of goods or/and services
• Disposal of goods or/and services

There are 3 components of GST

• Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST): IGST is paid on all inter-state transactions or import of goods into India. It is managed and collected by the central government.
• Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST): CGST is paid on all the transactions made within a state. It is managed and collected by the central government.
• State Goods and Services Tax (SGST)/ Union Territory Goods and Services Tax (UTGST): SGST is paid on all intra-state transactions and is collected by the state government. Whereas, UTGST is paid on all the transactions made within a union-territory and managed and collected by the union government.

Export is considered to be Zero Rated supply and GST is a consumption-based tax, So, GST will not be applicable to exported goods and services as the place of consumption is outside India.

Yes, every supply made within the Indian Territory will attract GST. There are two types of transactions:

• Inter-State Transaction: Supply of goods or/and services from one state to another. In this case, IGST will be applicable.
• Intra-State Transaction: Supply of goods or/and services within a state. In this case, CGST and SGST/UTGST will be applicable.

For goods it’s the earliest of the following:

• Date of removal of goods
• The date on which goods are made available to the recipient
• Invoice issue date
• Date when payment was received
• Date when the recipient reflects the goods in books of accounts

For services it’s the earliest of the following:

• Invoice issue date
• Date when payment was received
• Date when services are rendered
• Date recipient reflects the services in books of accounts

Every taxable registered person whose turnover exceeds INR 20 Lakhs in an FY needs to obtain registration GST in India. However, in the case of North-Eastern States, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, any taxpayer whose turnover exceeds INR 10 Lakh in an FY needs to obtain GST registration in India.

GST is a consumption-based tax. Hence, GST is applicable at the place where the final/actual consumption of goods or services or both takes place. Moreover, GST is applicable at each stage of sale or purchase of goods or/and services in the supply chain.

Here is an illustration showing how GST is calculated:

Value of good before GST = INR 10,000 Let us assume that the GST rate applicable is 18% So the Total value of good after GST will be INR 10,000 + [10,000 (18/100)] = 10,000 + 1,800 = INR 11,800

No, there is no such area-based exemption concept under GST.

The GST rate structure has four major slab rates:

• 5%
• 12%
• 18%
• 28%

The payment of GST can be made through 3 different modes of payment:

• Internet banking
• RTGS/NEFT Payments
• Over the counter payments for payments up to INR 10,000 per tax period in cash, cheque, or Demand Draft.

Exports come under the zero-rated category under GST. The taxable person is allowed to claim a refund of the GST paid. 

The registered taxable person can claim a refund of the GST paid under one of the following two conditions:

• Exports of goods or services or both under Letter of Undertaking without paying any GST.
• Exports of goods or services or both on the payment of GST.

Note: The aforementioned refunds will be initiated based on rules and provisions as may be prescribed.

Time of supply indicates the time when the supply of taxable goods or/and services is deemed to have been made.

As we already know that GST is a destination-based tax, so the place of supply helps in determining whether the transaction made is intra-state or interstate.  In layman language, the place of supply helps in determining whether CGST and SGST/UTGST or IGST is applicable.

Reverse charge is a mechanism under GST where the liability to pay GST is reversed. In simple words, the recipient of the supply of goods or/and services will be liable to pay GST instead of the supplier.

Composition Scheme is a scheme under GST for the taxpayers whose turnover is less than or equal to INR 1.5 Crores. Using this scheme, the small taxpayer needs to just file 4 quarterly GST return and 1 annual GST return. Moreover, they need to pay GST at a fixed rate of turnover.

There are 5 categories of registered persons who are not eligible for the composition scheme:

• Services supplier excluding supplier of restaurant service
• Goods supplier not taxable under the CGST/SGST/UTGST Act
• An interstate goods supplier
• An e-commerce operator
• Certain notified goods manufacturer

Yes, as per section 25 (3) of the GST act can voluntarily register under GST and all provisions of this Act will apply to that person.

GST council consisting Finance ministers of the Center and all the State government decides GST rate. Currently, there are 33 members and is headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The implementation of the new GST tax system has resulted in substantial tax reform in the country. The new system combines several state and central taxes into a single tax.
Compliance standards have been created as part of the new GST framework, which requires companies to remain compliant. The government has mandated that all companies follow the GST compliance standards. Although these regulations are changed on a regular basis (in accordance with government standards), they may be divided into three categories:

• Compliance with the registration requirements
• Compliance with tax invoices
• Compliance with the filing of tax returns
• Other Compliances
• E-way Bill
• E-Invoice
• Payment of Tax

There are many other regulations that vary depending on the type of business.

Every person who is registered under GST needs to stay GST compliant. Non-compliance to any of the GST provisions will attract severe consequences such as penalties and interest.

A taxpayer needs to compulsorily file GST Return even if there is no transaction during the taxable period. However, there are still some challenges that you might face while complying with the GST return provisions and they are:

• Dealing with a significant amount of transactional data.
• Regular changes or amendments in the GST provision
• Returns, registers, and e-invoices reconciliation
• Credit reversal if payment is not received within 180 days after invoice issuance.
• Claiming 100% accurate Input Tax Credit.
• Corrections to GST returns in case of errors or omissions.

As we already know that the transporter or consignor/consignee needs to generate an e-way bill for all the consignments whose value exceeds INR 50,000. However, there are certain challenges that are faced by every transporter or consignor/consignee:

• The recipient requests a change in delivery location.
• The recipient rejects the good.
• The e-way bill's expiration date or the time limit for extending the e-way bill has passed.
• Calculation of the distance between the two destinations accurately.
• Tracking of the goods by the parties involved.

E-invoicing was implemented in India for the first time on October 1, 2020, for all taxpayers with a turnover of INR 500 crores. From January 1, 2021, e-invoicing got implemented for all those taxpayers whose aggregate turnover exceeded INR 100 crores.
E-invoicing is mandatory for taxpayers having a turnover of more than INR 50 crore as of April 1, 2021, according to the CBIC's Notification No. 5/2021. If a taxpayer's turnover surpasses a certain threshold in any financial year from 2017-18 to 2019-20, they must issue e-invoices. However, there are certain challenges that you may face at the time of issuing e-invoices and they are:

• Cancelling, modifying, or accepting only a portion of the items for which an e-invoice was issued.
• Human interaction causes errors in e-invoice data.
• Dealing with a significant amount of transactional data
• Request for a client to break-up an e-invoice into two or three parts.

With GST challenges expected to remain, bringing technology to enable effective and timely GST compliance is critical for improved GST, Governance, and Growth (GGG). As a result, the involvement of technology is unavoidable in overcoming the aforementioned challenges and providing standardization, harmonization, and uniformity.

Plagiarization Report

In general terms, reconciliation is the process of comparing two sets of data in order to assess discrepancies. However, under GST, reconciliation means matching outward supply and inward supply data using GST returns, sales, and purchase registers.

• GSTR-2A with Purchase Register
• GSTR-2B with Purchase Register
• GSTR- 3B with GSTR 2A/GSTR 2B
• Table-8A with Purchase Register
• Sales Register with E-Invoice data
• GSTR-3B with GSTR-1

• Item level reconciliation
• Monthly reconciliation
• Annual reconciliation
• Reconciliation of invoice-level data 
• Reconciling supplier-wise data to claim any unclaimed ITC or reverse any ineligible ITC
• Reconciling the vendor-wise data
• Reconciliation of PAN-level data

When doing GST reconciliation at various stages, you may encounter the following frequent mismatches. You must reconcile all discrepancies or risk receiving a scrutiny notice from the GST authorities.

• The supplier has reported the tax liability, the receiver has not claimed ITC.
• The supplier fails to report the tax liability, yet the receiver claims ITC.
• Data mismatch between stated liability and claimed ITC.
• Errors or omissions caused by human intervention.

There are two ways to perform GST reconciliation

• Manual GST Reconciliation Process
• Download the GST return from the GST portal
• Remove all duplicates
• Separate amended invoices for matching with previous return periods.
• Reconcile GST return with the purchase/sales register or e-invoice in excel manually using look-up and pivot table.
• GST Reconciliation Via Software

Using GST reconciliation software, you can simply download the GST return for all months of a fiscal year without browsing the GST portal. Reconciliation software will automatically detect one or more mismatches based on various permutations and combinations. In addition, our reconciliation software will assist you in identifying or matching when invoice numbers mismatch using advanced algorithms. Finally, create invoice and supplier level reports showing discrepancies and action to be taken on a comparable set of invoices.

If a taxpayer fails to reconcile GST return data, the GST authorities may issue a scrutiny notice. In rare instances, a GST officer may even suspend a taxpayer's GST registration in form REG-31. List of situations under which a GST officer may suspend a taxpayer's GST registration:

• A mismatch between the sales data provided in GSTR-1 and GSTR 3B.
• A mismatch between the purchase data provided in GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B.

Our advanced GST reconciliation software makes the whole process of matching and reconciling fast and easy. It swiftly scans through the data and highlights all the minute discrepancies.

Few advanced features of our GST Reconciliation Software

• AI-Based GST Reconciliation Software
  To help you filter, detect & reconcile even the minutest mismatches on the go
• Customized Invoice Mismatching
  This software lets you reconcile invoices based on the different customized filters such as invoice date, invoice value, taxable value, and so forth
• Intelligent Reporting System
  The intelligent reporting system will help you to analyze the data on a single dashboard thus empowering you to take the corrective measures accordingly.
• 4.Vendor & Buyer Communication System
  This smart feature will help you to notify those vendors or recipients who have not yet filed the GST return or have mistakenly entered the wrong data in it.

Plagiarization Report