Chartered Accountants have a huge role to play for businesses, both large and small, to register for GST. It is mandatory, for all businesses operating in India with a specific turnover, to register with the Goods and Services Tax Council, or the GST Council, in order to get a unique number and charge clients GST. To understand the role of chartered accountants or CAs, it’s important to get a background on the Goods and Services Tax, incorporated by the Indian government in 2017.
What is GST?
GST is the acronym for the Goods and Services Tax charged by businesses to customers. A form of indirect taxation, GST has been launched with the aim of bringing multiple taxes levied within a single tax, making taxation simple. The GST tax is governed by the GST Council. Being a destination-relevant tax, this tax is uniform to businesses working in the entire country. GST provides a solution in which multiple domestic taxes are collected under one tax category. The tax is collected as a portion of the final cost of the product or service purchased. The business that collects the GST then hands it over to the government.
GST registration in India
The GST Council has regulations for every business with a turnover of Rs. 40 lakhs to be mandatorily registered with the council. For any business with its operations in the northeast of India, the minimal turnover requirement is Rs. 10 lakhs. As businesses are taxable entities, they must register for GST. After GST registration, the taxpayer receives a GSTIN, a distinctive 15-digit number that reflects in the Income Tax Department’s records. This determines whether a business is required to pay GST. Since every business has a Chartered Accountant on its payroll, to undertake various tasks, such as filing audits and business income tax returns, the role of the CA in context to the GST is important.
The Role of the CA
Any business, large or small, uses the aid of a chartered accountant or a CA to register the business, execute business invoices, etc. In earlier times, under old value-added tax laws, businesses were run under a single system of centralized registration. Within the purview of GST, it is important to have your business registered in every place where it operates. Consequently, to register for GST, in such a scenario, is a challenging task without the help of chartered accountants who have invaluable knowledge of tax laws and processes. Besides simple registration, there are a number of GST-linked services that chartered accountants offer.
GST charges by a CA
GST tax-related consultation and services are charged by CAs according to the cities in which they are availed of. Charges may vary from CA to CA, but average charges provide benchmarks. For a GST registration with a consultation, a CA would typically charge the following according to the city:
- Cities of Class A – Rs.20,000
- Cities of Class B – Rs.15,000
- Cities of Class C – Rs.10,000
Concluding Remarks
For the finances and taxation part of a business to run smoothly, the input of a CA is necessary. Especially with GST-related laws changing, a CA who has expertise can help any business meet its financial goals while monitoring finances.
