Reverse Charge Under GST

[Alok Agarwal]

Reverse charge on specified Goods & Services

Section 9(3) of CGST/SGST acts provides that, Government may specify categories of supply of goods or services which shall be paid on reverse charge basis i.e. tax shall be paid by the recipient of such goods or services.  In this regards two notifications have been issued providing the list of goods and services, wherein the purchaser/recipient has the liability to pay GST.

Goods subject to reverse charge – Notification no. 04/2017 dated 28^th June 2017

Description of supply of Goods Supplier of goods	Supplier of Goods	Recipient of supply
Cashew nuts, not shelled or peeled	Agriculturist	Any registered person
Bidi wrapper leaves (tendu)	Agriculturist	Any registered person
Tobacco leaves	Agriculturist	Any registered person
Silk yarn	Any person who manufactures silk yarn from raw silk or silk worm cocoons for supply of silk yarn	Any registered person
Supply of lottery.	State Government, Union Territory or any local authority	Lottery distributor or selling agent

Services subject to reverse charge- Notification 13/2017 dated 28^th June 2017

Category of Supply of Services	Supplier of service	Recipient of Service
Supply of Services by a goods transport agency (GTA)	Goods Transport Agency (GTA)	(a) Any factory registered under or governed by the Factories Act, 1948(63 of 1948); or (b) any society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) or under any other law for the time being in force in any part of India; or (c) any co-operative society established by or under any law; or (d) any person registered under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act or the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act or the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the 2 Central Goods and Services Tax Act or the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act or the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act; or (e) any body corporate established, by or under any law; or (f) any partnership firm whether registered or not under any law including association of persons; or (g) any casual taxable person. Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act; or (e) any body corporate established, by or under any law; or (f) any partnership firm whether registered or not under any law including association of persons; or (g) any casual taxable person; located in the taxable territory
Services supplied by an individual advocate including a senior advocate by way of representational services before any court, tribunal or authority by way of legal services, to a business entity.	An individual advocate including a senior advocate or firm of advocates	Any business entity located in the taxable territory
Services supplied by an arbitral tribunal to a business entity.	An arbitral tribunal	Any business entity located in the taxable territory
Services provided by way of sponsorship to a body corporate or partnership firm.	Any person	A body corporate or partnership firm located in the taxable territory.
Services supplied by the Central Government, State Government, Union territory or local authority to a business entity excluding, - (1) renting of immovable property, and (2) services specified below- (i) services by the Department of Posts by way of speed post, express parcel post, life insurance, and  agency services provided to a person other than Central Government, State Government or Union territory or local authority; (ii) services in relation to an aircraft or a vessel, inside or outside the precincts of a port or an airport; (iii) transport of goods or passengers	Central Government, State Government, Union territory or local authority	Any business entity located in the taxable territory.
Services supplied by a director of a company or a body corporate to the said company or the body corporate.	A director of a company or a body corporate	The company or a body corporate located in the taxable territory.
Services supplied by an insurance agent to any person carrying on insurance business	An insurance agent	Any person carrying on insurance business, located in the taxable territory.
Services supplied by a recovery agent to a banking company or a financial institution or a nonbanking financial company.	A recovery agent	A banking company or a financial institution or a non-banking financial company, located in the taxable territory.
Supply of services by an author, music composer, photographer, artist or the like by way of transfer or permitting the use or enjoyment of a copyright covered under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957 relating to original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works to a publisher, music company, producer	Author or music composer, photographer, artist, or the like	Publisher, music company, producer or the like, located in the taxable territory

Reverse Charge on Procurement by Registered Person from Unregistered Person

Section 9(4) of CGST/SGST Act provides that in case of procurement of goods or services by a registered person from an unregistered person then the registered person shall pay GST on reverse charge basis as if he is the person liable for paying the tax.

This provision of section 9(4) is applicable for all the procurement whether same is for procurement of raw material or any other direct or indirect expenses.

Section 9(4) shall come into play if the below conditions are met:

• There should be supply.
• Supply should be in respect of taxable goods or services or both.
• Supply must be by unregistered person.
• Supply must be to registered person.

1. If the supply involved exempt goods or services or both this section won't be applicable.

Examples:

1. A registered person hire auto rickshaw for commuting from one place to another. Section 9(4) would not be applicable since transportation of passenger by auto rickshaw is exempted services.

2. A registered person stay in a hotel whose room tariff is less than ₹ 1,000. Section 9(4) won't be applicable since services by a hotel having declared tariff less than ₹ 1,000 per day or equivalent is an exempt service.

3. The Section is applicable to intra state taxable supplies only. As per section 24, in case of inter-state taxable supply, registration is mandatory without any turnover limit. So there could not be any taxable supply from unregistered to registered person under reverse charge in case of inter-state.

4. Supplier should be unregistered whether he is liable to registered or not.

5. Recipient should be registered.

Exemption to Section 9(4)

Vide Notification 08/2017 dated 28/06/2017, reverse charge provisions would not be applicable if the aggregate value of such supplies of goods or service or both received by a registered person from any or all the suppliers, who is or are not registered, does not exceed ₹ 5000 in a day

In our view, the above limit of ₹ 5000 is only for taxable supplies by unregistered person. If any exempt supply is procured then such amount shall not be considered for the limit of ₹ 5000.

Registration

All persons  procuring gods/services notified above, on which GST  is payable on reverse charge, have to  be registered mandatorily as per Section 24 (iii) of CGST/SGST law,  irrespective of the threshold.

Time of supply for goods under reverse charge

In case of reverse charge, the time of supply shall be the earliest of the following dates -

• the date of receipt of goods OR
• the date of payment OR
• the date immediately after 30 days from the date of issue of invoice by the supplier

If it is not possible to determine the time of supply under (a), (b) or (c), the time of supply shall be the date of entry in the books of account of the recipient.

Time of supply for services under reverse charge

In case of reverse charge, the time of supply shall be the earliest of the following dates -

(a) The date of payment

         OR

(b) The date immediately after 60 days from the date of issue of invoice by the supplier

If it is not possible to determine the time of supply under (a) or (b), the time of supply shall be the date of entry in the books of account of the receiver of service.

Input tax credit on reverse charge supplies

Tax paid on reverse charge basis will be available for input tax credit if such goods and/or services are used in the course or furtherance of business. The service recipient (i.e., who pays reverse tax) can avail input tax credit

Invoice in case of reverse charge

As per section 31(3)(f), person discharging GST liability under reverse charge under section 9(3) or 9(4) shall issue an invoice in respect of goods or services or both received by him from the supplier. Further as per 31(3) (g) shall issue a payment voucher at the time of making payment to the supplier.