GST TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 forms can be filed by the registered business owner under GST who were already registered under the old laws of indirect tax
Goods and Services Tax (GST): In a major decision, the Supreme Court has directed the GSTN portal to be kept open between September 1 and October 31 for the registered assessees to upload TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 forms. This benefit has been extended to all GST-registered assessees.
CBIC released TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 forms to make businesses transition smoothly and carry forward their input tax credit. These were GST forms that allowed the assesees to transition the pre-GST credit to the GST regime. These forms can be filed by the registered business owner under GST who were already registered under the old laws of indirect tax.
Abhishek Jain, tax partner at KPMG in India, said, “This decision comes in light of the on-going dispute wherein various tax payers had contested that on account of technical glitches these forms could not be filed in timely manner, and even otherwise their right to transition the credit cannot be denied to them. This is a golden opportunity for the industry players irrespective of whether they were a party to the writ petition or not, and all businesses should look at any pre-GST credit that was not duly transitioned, in light of this SC judgment.”
Meanwhile, a writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the levy of the goods and services tax (GST) on disability equipment and it was mentioned before the apex court on Friday. The counsel mentioned before a bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud that in 2020, the Court had granted the petitioner liberty to move a representation before the GST Council seeking waiver of GST on disability equipments. However, the levy is not abolished, according to a livelaw report.
“This is something in the policy domain…then we will have to hold that there should be no GST on medical devices”, Justice Chandrachud said, according to the report. “There is a 5% GST on braille paper, wheelchairs..an able bodied person pays no GST for walking…”, the counsel submitted, it added.
“Our concern is how to unshackle a policy matter, otherwise you have a point”, Justice Chandrachud said. The judge agreed to list the matter in September for hearing, livelaw reported.
Recently, a number of pre-packaged food items saw a price hike as the government decided to put them under the ambit of GST. The GST Council in its 47th meeting had unanimously decided to go for a rate hike on several daily essential items. Single packages of food items like cereals, pulses and flour weighing up to 25 kg will be considered as ‘prepackaged and labelled’, and liable to 5 per cent GST from July 18, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBIC) has said.
Pre-packaged and pre-labelled retail pack, including pre-packed, pre-labelled curd, lassi and butter milk will now attract GST at the rate of 5 per cent, as opposed from their previous exempt status. Pulses, cereals like rice, wheat, flour and other such items, weighing below 25 kg or 25 litres, will also attract GST at the same rates. The new GST rate of 5 per cent will also apply on a package containing 10 retail packs of flour of 10 kg each.
