Food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato will have to collect and deposit tax at 5 percent rate starting today, a move which will widen the tax base as food vendors who are currently outside the GST threshold will become liable to GST when provided through these online platforms. Currently, restaurants registered under GST are collecting and depositing the tax.
Also, cab aggregators like Ola and Uber will have to collect 5 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) for booking 2 and 3 wheeler vehicles effective January 1. Also, footwear irrespective of prices will attract 12 percent tax from today. These are among the many changes in the GST regime that have come into effect in this new year 2022.
Also to tackle evasion, the GST law has been amended to state that the input tax credit will now be available only once the credit is appearing in GSTR 2B (purchase return) of the tax payer. Five per cent provisional credit, earlier allowed in GST rules, will not be permitted post January 1, 2022.
What experts say
EY India Tax Partner Bipin Sapra said, “This change will have an immediate impact on working capital of taxpayers who are currently availing credit of 105 percent of matched credit. The change will also mandate industry to validate that the procurements are made from genuine and compliant vendors.”
Other changes in GST rules
The other anti-evasion measures, which would come into effect from the new year, include mandatory Aadhaar authentication for claiming GST refund, blocking of the facility of GSTR-1 filing in cases where the business has not paid taxes, and filed GSTR-3B in the immediate previous month. Currently, the law restricts the filing of returns for outward supplies or GSTR-1 in case a business fails to file GSTR-3B of the preceding two months.
While businesses file GSTR-1 of a particular month by the 11th day of the subsequent month, GSTR-3B, through which businesses pay taxes, is filed in a staggered manner between the 20th-24th day of the succeeding month. Also, the GST law has been amended to allow GST officers to visit premises to recover tax dues without any prior show-cause notice, in cases where taxes paid in GSTR-3B is lower based on suppressed sales volume, as compared to supply details given in GSTR-1.
