Top 5 recent GST portal updates you must be aware of

The GST Network (GSTN) has released a few critical updates on the GST portal for GST return filing. These have been summarised below.

• Difference between tax payable and paid

A new statement is available on the GST portal for regular taxpayers. The GSTN has begun displaying the tax liability in GSTR-1/IFF, GSTR-2B/2A, and the tax paid as per GSTR-3B return. 

The tax paid also includes the DRC-03 payment in this month-wise statement. The statement gives the figure of excess or shortfall in tax payment after considering the payment through DRC-03. Further, the statement also shows a breakup of tax types as CGST, SGST, IGST and cess.

The statement also gives the percentage of tax liability paid. If it is below 100%, some percentage of liability is not paid. However, if it is above 100%, then it implies tax payment is made more than the requirement. 

The statement provides an option for taxpayers to also pay towards any shortfall in tax payment as per the statement.

• Search GSTIN/UIN facility is upgraded

GST registered buyers can now get additional details when they search a GSTIN using the facility on the GST portal. Apart from the active status of the GSTIN and the return filing status, they can also fetch further information on the shortfall in payment of tax dues. 

The latest release summarises the percentage of liability paid in GSTR-3B compared to GSTR-1. The GST registered purchasers can henceforth search any GSTIN and know whether the supplier has paid the tax in GSTR-3B compared to the liability declared in GSTR-1 in percentage terms.

The Budget 2022 revised the erstwhile Section 38 of the CGST Act with additional restrictions on Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims. One of the new conditions for availing ITC is that the vendor or the supplier must have paid the tax to the government on which the buyer is claiming ITC. 

However, there was no facility available for buyers to verify whether a supplier had paid tax or not. The improved search GSTIN facility will accommodate the additional information for validation by buyers.

• Fresh validation to suspend GST registration

The GSTN has released a new feature to cancel the GST registration if the extent of ITC claimed in GSTR-3B is more than 10% compared to GSTR-2B of that period. GSTR-2B is auto-populated based on the GSTR-1 filed by their suppliers.

The GST portal can instantly identify and suspend the GSTIN wherever the 10% variance is seen. The difference can also be noticed in the liability reported in GSTR-3B compared to GSTR-1.

Hence, taxpayers must be more careful while filing their GSTR-3B to note the discrepancies with GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B. These must be addressed before filing the GSTR-3B to avoid business disruptions.

• Get contact information of GST officers.

The GST portal provides information such as the email address and mobile numbers of the State and Central GST officers on the GST portal.

A taxpayer can log into the GST portal and follow one of the two approaches. One can go to the ‘Services’ tab, select the ‘Ledger’, and open the negative liability statement in the first route. One can go to the ‘Services’ tab in the second route, select ‘User services’, and click on ‘Contacts’.

• Access the interest calculator while filing GSTR-3B

The newly launched interest calculator on the GSTR-3B window allows taxpayers to auto-compute their interest liability before filing GSTR-3B. It will be considered a self-assessment since the taxpayers can edit the auto-computed figures later. 

The taxpayers can also break the interest liability based on tax heads. It shall also calculate late payment interest on such tax liabilities of any previous tax periods declared in the current period’s GSTR-3B.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, don’t hesitate to contact the writer at annapoorna.m@cleartax.in.