Registration under GST & maintenance of record thereafter.

 What is GST Registration and who requires it to register?

Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been implemented in India since 1^st July, 2017. So, it is very important to know about the GST and GST registration. GST registration is the process of obtaining a unique number from the tax authority of India for collecting tax on behalf of Indian government. In GST taxation system, any business which carries taxable supply of goods or services whose annual turnover exceeds the limit of twenty lakhs (However, it is ten lakhs for North-East and other Hilly states of India) needs to register for GST.  Apart from that those persons who was already registered for excise, VAT, service tax or for any other pre-GST law also needs to be registered under GST irrespective of their turnover. Moreover, a casual taxable person, non-resident taxable person, suppliers with inter-state sales even having turnovers less than prescribed threshold, e-commerce operator, etc. also needs to be registered under GST. However, as per the latest update of 22^nd GST council meeting which was held on 6^th October, 2017 it was decided that the service-providers who provides inter-state supplies are exempted from GST registration if their annual turnover is not more than twenty lakhs (10 lakhs for North-East, J&K and other special states).

What is the easy process for GST registration?

You can register for GST from GST online portal (https://services.gst.gov.in/services/quicklinks/registration) or at GST Seva Kendra that has been set up by the Government of India. some software are also providing facilities for simpler registration process. Once the GST registration is done and GST number is obtained one can feed this registration number in the accounting software so than every invoice generated through GST enabled software such as AlighnBooks, by the tax payer should contain the valid registration number on each invoice.   . After getting the GST registration, each business is required to maintain its books of accounts and to keep proper records of each sales & purchase and inventory. Hence, after registration it becomes imperative for each registered tax payer to obtain one good GST enabled accounting software that could records its business transactions and could provide timely report as well as could help to submit in GST compliance by filing all the requisite periodic GST returns. The online accounting software could be one of the good option because these are cost effective and provide the flexibility of accessing the data anywhere anytime.

Benefits of GST Registration

Registering for GST and obtaining GSTIN is beneficial for all taxpayers. After registering for GST, the taxpayers will be considered as a legal supplier of goods or services. Apart from that he will also be authorized to collect taxes from his customers and can pass the credit of the tax that was paid on the goods or services supplied to the purchasers. Moreover, he can also claim for input tax credit of the taxes paid which he can use for paying taxes that are due on supply of goods or services.  Above all, the GST provides a seamless flow of input tax credit from suppliers to the recipients and to obtain such benefit the entrepreneur need to be registered with GST Though GST registration would increase a bit compliance burden but it would help the entrepreneur to keep themselves in the mainstream of organized sector and that in turn could help them to proceed on the path of growth.