Your compliance partner for every GST filing.

Any business supplying goods worth more than ₹40 lakh, or services worth more than ₹20 lakh, in a financial year must register for GST (₹20 lakh and ₹10 lakh in special category states). Registration gives you a GSTIN, the 15-digit number you'll quote on every invoice, return, and e-way bill. Voluntary registration below these limits is also allowed, which can help if your buyers want to claim input tax credit on what they buy from you.

Since the GST 2.0 reform took effect, the slab structure has been simplified: most everyday and essential goods sit at 5%, the bulk of goods and services fall under 18%, and select luxury or "sin" items — premium cars, tobacco, aerated drinks — are taxed at 40%. A few niche rates sit outside this, including 3% on gold and finished jewellery and 0.25% on rough diamonds. Getting the slab right at the invoice stage avoids a reclassification dispute later.

ITC lets you offset the GST you've already paid on business purchases against the GST you collect on sales, so you only pay tax on the value you add. To claim it you need a valid tax invoice, the goods or services must actually have been received, your supplier must have paid the tax and filed their return, and the credit must show up in your GSTR-2B. A handful of purchases — most motor vehicles, food and beverages for personal use, and most construction-related works contracts — are blocked from ITC altogether.

Unclaimed ITC isn't open-ended — it has to be claimed by 30 November of the following financial year, or the date you file your GSTR-9 annual return, whichever comes first. If you don't pay your supplier within 180 days of the invoice, the credit has to be reversed, with interest, though you can reclaim it once payment is made. Missed deadlines and supplier non-payment are two of the most common reasons ITC gets disallowed in a department review.

If your turnover is up to ₹1.5 crore (₹75 lakh in a few special category states, ₹50 lakh for service providers), you can opt for the Composition Scheme instead of regular GST. You pay a small flat rate on turnover — typically 1% for traders, 5% for restaurants not serving alcohol, and 6% for eligible service providers — file one return a quarter (CMP-08) plus an annual return (GSTR-4), and skip detailed invoice-level record-keeping.

The trade-off: you can't claim input tax credit on what you buy, you can't charge GST separately on your invoices, and you generally can't make inter-state sales. Your customers can't claim ITC on what they buy from you either, which matters if most of your buyers are GST-registered businesses rather than end consumers. You opt in once a year, from 1 April, using Form CMP-02.

Normally the supplier collects and pays GST. Under RCM, that responsibility shifts to the buyer — this applies to specific notified goods and services, such as certain transport and legal services. If RCM applies to you, you pay the tax directly to the government and can usually claim it back as ITC in the same return, provided the purchase itself is otherwise eligible.

GSTR-1 is where you report every sale invoice for the period — it's what builds your buyers' GSTR-2B, so a late or incorrect GSTR-1 holds up their ITC, not just yours. GSTR-3B is the summary return where you declare total tax liability and pay it. Most regular taxpayers file both monthly, though smaller taxpayers can opt for quarterly filing under the QRMP scheme.

GSTR-9 reconciles a full financial year's sales, purchases, and ITC against what was filed month to month, and is due by 31 December after the year ends. Businesses above a notified turnover threshold also file GSTR-9C, a reconciliation statement comparing your audited accounts with your GST returns.

Moving goods worth more than ₹50,000 generally requires an e-way bill before the consignment leaves the supplier's premises — it records the goods, the vehicle, and a validity period based on distance. Goods found in transit without a valid e-way bill can be detained, along with the vehicle, until the matter is resolved and any penalty paid.

Businesses above the notified turnover threshold must generate every B2B invoice through the government's Invoice Registration Portal before it's valid — this stamps the invoice with a unique IRN and QR code. An invoice that should have been e-invoiced but wasn't isn't treated as a valid tax invoice, which puts your buyer's ITC at risk too.

Refunds typically arise from export of goods or services, an inverted duty structure (tax on inputs higher than tax on output), or an excess balance sitting in your cash ledger. Applications are filed online with supporting documents, and the department aims to process most claims within 60 days, though incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delay.

Certain government departments and notified entities must deduct TDS on payments above a set threshold under a single contract. E-commerce operators must collect TCS on the net value of taxable supplies made through their platform by other sellers. Both show up as credit in the supplier's cash ledger and can be used to pay their own GST liability.

Every item you sell needs an HSN code (goods) or SAC code (services) on the invoice — these determine which rate slab applies, and how many digits you need depends on your turnover. Using the wrong code is one of the most common triggers for a classification query during scrutiny.

GST is a destination-based tax, so where a sale is taxed depends on where the goods or services are supplied to, not just where your business sits. Get this wrong between an intra-state sale (CGST + SGST) and an inter-state sale (IGST), and you'll need to reverse the wrong tax head and pay the correct one — a paperwork-heavy correction worth avoiding upfront.

A mismatch between your returns, a disputed ITC claim, or a missed filing can trigger a notice — common ones include ASMT-10 for return scrutiny and DRC-01 for a tax demand. Interest on late payment runs at 18% per annum, and penalties for specific violations can be substantial, so a notice is worth responding to within its deadline rather than ignoring it.