The New GST Returns - Normal, Sugam and Sahaj

There have been lots of changes introduced to the GST filing process in the 31st GST Council Meeting. One of the changes that has been brought in is the New GST Return. The main aim of the new return system is to simplify the filing process for taxpayers registered under GST.

This new return will consist of one main return, which will be filed on a monthly or quarterly basis, and two main annexures: GST ANX-1 and GST ANX-2.

Taxpayers with a turnover of less than 5 crores in the previous financial year can file the new return on a quarterly basis. Previously, all taxpayers had to file a total of 16 returns every year, but with the new return, taxpayers have to file just 4 returns annually. You can upload transactions at any time of the month, and this process is termed Continuous Upload.

Returns to be filed and period of filing

Based on your annual turnover, you can choose your filing period:

• Monthly (annual turnover > 5 crore)

• Quarterly (annual turnover < 5 crore)

Monthly

If you are filing on a monthly basis, you’ll have to file the GST Normal.

GST Normal

The GST Normal is the tax return which will be filed by default when you opt to pay tax on a monthly basis. This return is for all types of businesses including B2B, B2C, import, export and SEZ supplies.

You can also use this return if you opt to pay on a quarterly basis.

Quarterly

If you are filing on a quarterly basis, you can choose to file any one of the following return based on the type of business you conduct.

• GST Sahaj

• GST Sugam

• GST Normal

GST Sahaj  

The GST Sahaj is a simplified, one-page GST summary return, that was introduced in October 2019. Taxpayers with a revenue base of up to five crore rupees in the previous financial year and those who deal with B2C supplies (supplies to consumers and unregistered persons) may opt to file this return.

GST Sugam

This return is for small taxpayers who deal with both B2B (business-to-business, or supplies to GST registered persons) and B2C (business-to-consumer, or supplies to consumers and unregistered persons under GST) supplies in India. The revenue for these businesses is now capped at 5 crore rupees rather than the previous 1.5 crore rupees.

 Annexures

The ANX-1 and ANX-2 will have to be processed every month irrespective of the reporting period (monthly or quarterly).

ANX-1 

The GST ANX-1 is an annexure to the main return GST RET-1 introduced under the new filing system. This annexure will contain details of outward supplies, imports, and inward supplies attracting reverse charge. Details in this annexure will have to be reported invoice-wise (except for B2C supplies). The supplier can upload transactions into ANX-1 at any time during the return period.

ANX-2

The GST ANX-2 annexure contains the documents uploaded by the supplier for the user’s inward supplies. These documents are made available to users on a real-time basis. The user can take the following actions:

• Accept

• Reject

• Mark as Pending

If no action is taken on a transaction, it will be considered Accepted by default.

Applying actions to annexure return transactions

 There are some limitations on how actions can be applied to transactions on annexure returns.

• Accepted transactions cannot be amended.

• Pending transactions cannot be amended by suppliers until the recipients accept, reject, or mark them as pending.

• Suppliers will be notified of rejected transactions only after the recipient files the annexure.

• If rejected transactions are rectified by the supplier, then the supplier needs to pay the tax for those rejected transactions in the current month. However, the ITC for those transactions can be claimed by the recipient only in the next month.

• The annexure returns contain multiple tables. You can shift transactions from one table to another table.

New GST returns in Zoho Books

Zoho Books aims to implement all the latest GST return features in the app for full GST compliance. We have enabled a trial version of the new GST return, to give you a hands-on experience on how to use it, by the time it is implemented officially by the government (1st October 2020).

The option to push and file the new returns directly will be available once the GST portal’s API is released. We will also enable the option to export the returns in CSV, XLS, XLSX and JSON formats and import them into the portal.

Zoho Books is working to add appropriate updates and enhancements every time there is an update from the GST Council.

How to access the new return in Zoho Books

To view the new GST return settings in Zoho Books:

• Go to Settings > Taxes > Online Filing Settings.

• Select the Return Type based on the type of business you conduct.

To view the new GST return:

• Go to the GST Filing module in the left sidebar.

• Click New Returns (Trial) in the top right corner of the page.

Here, you can view the summary of the ANX-1 and ANX-2 under each return by simply clicking the transactions below it. You will be able to view the list of transactions for each section.

Do try out this feature and let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Or if you have any queries, write to us at support.india@zohobooks.com.