Question 1

Which GST office handles Alandur businesses?

Accepted Answer

Businesses in Alandur (PIN 600016) generally fall under the CGST Chennai South Commissionerate, with state-jurisdiction cases handled by the Tamil Nadu Commercial Taxes Department. Your exact division and range can be confirmed from your GSTIN on the GST portal. We regularly appear before this jurisdiction for registrations, clarifications and hearings, so we know the local practice and documentation preferences.

Question 2

Are there any hidden charges for GST refund RFD-01?

Accepted Answer

No. The fee quoted before we start is the fee you pay. Government fees, portal charges or statutory late fees, where they apply, are separate and disclosed to you in advance with the exact amount. We issue a proper GST invoice for our professional fee. If the scope of work changes — for example, an unexpected notice or additional periods — we tell you the revised fee before doing anything further.

Question 3

What are deemed exports and who claims the refund, the supplier or the buyer?

Accepted Answer

Deemed exports are notified domestic supplies treated like exports even though goods do not leave India, such as supplies to Export Oriented Units, supplies against Advance Authorisation, and supplies of capital goods against EPCG authorisation. Tax is paid on these supplies, and the refund of that tax can be claimed through RFD-01 by either the recipient or, where the recipient furnishes an undertaking that it will not claim the refund and will not avail ITC, by the supplier. The claim must be filed within two years and supported by the prescribed acknowledgements and undertakings.

Question 4

What is the time limit for filing a GST refund application?

Accepted Answer

Form RFD-01 must be filed within two years from the relevant date defined in Section 54 of the CGST Act. For export of goods, the relevant date is the date the ship or aircraft leaves India; for export of services, it is the date of receipt of foreign exchange or the invoice date, whichever is later; for inverted duty structure, it is the due date of the return for the period in which the claim arises. Missing the two-year window makes the refund time-barred, so track pending claims carefully and file early.

Question 5

How can I track my GST refund status, and is there help near me in Chennai?

Accepted Answer

Log in to the GST portal and go to Services, then Refunds, then Track Application Status, where each ARN shows its stage: filed, acknowledged, provisional refund issued, or final order passed. For IGST-paid exports, refund status is tracked on ICEGATE against the shipping bill. If an application shows no movement past sixty days, you are entitled to interest on the delayed amount and can escalate through a grievance on the portal. ChennaiGST assists businesses across Alandur with follow-up and escalation of stuck refunds; call +91 - 9600 606 444 with your ARN for a status review.

Question 6

What is an inverted duty structure refund and does my business qualify?

Accepted Answer

An inverted duty structure arises when the GST rate on your inputs is higher than the rate on your outward supplies, causing input tax credit to accumulate. For example, a manufacturer buying raw material at 18 percent and selling finished goods at 5 percent will qualify. Refund of the accumulated ITC is claimed through RFD-01 using the formula prescribed in Rule 89(5), filed within two years of the due date of the relevant return. Certain notified goods are excluded from this refund, so eligibility should be checked against current CBIC notifications before applying.

Question 7

I run a software services company in Alandur billing US clients. Can I claim a GST refund?

Accepted Answer

Yes, provided your supplies qualify as export of services: the recipient is outside India, payment is received in convertible foreign exchange, and you and the client are not merely establishments of the same person. Export of services is zero-rated, so if you supply under LUT without charging IGST, the ITC on your rent, software subscriptions and other business inputs can be refunded through RFD-01. You must attach FIRC or bank realisation certificates proving foreign exchange receipt. Many IT exporters in Alandur accumulate lakhs in unclaimed credit; call +91 - 9600 606 444 for a free eligibility review.

Question 8

I deposited extra money in my GST cash ledger by mistake. Can I get it back?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Excess balance lying in the electronic cash ledger can be claimed back by filing RFD-01 under the category refund of excess balance in electronic cash ledger. This is one of the simplest refund types because no invoice statements are required; the portal auto-populates the ledger balance and you simply select the amount and the bank account for credit. This commonly happens when tax is deposited under the wrong head, for example CGST instead of IGST. Businesses in Alandur facing this issue can call +91 - 9600 606 444 and the claim can usually be filed the same day.

Question 9

How do I handle GST when expired medicines are returned to the distributor?

Accepted Answer

CBIC Circular 72/46/2018 gives two routes for time-expired drugs. The return can be treated as a fresh supply by the person returning them, with a tax invoice if that person is registered, or the original supplier can issue a credit note under Section 34; the tax adjustment on a credit note is available only if it is reported within the statutory window, now 30 November following the financial year of supply. Where the manufacturer ultimately destroys the expired stock, input tax credit relating to the destroyed goods must be reversed under Section 17(5)(h). Pharmacies should reconcile expiry returns quarterly; call +91 - 9600 606 444 for help.

Question 10

How is GST charged on manpower supply, and is the old partial reverse charge still in force?

Accepted Answer

No. The partial reverse charge that applied to manpower supply in the service tax era was not carried into GST; manpower supply is now taxable at 18 percent under forward charge by the supplier, with security personnel supply being the only related category under reverse charge in specified cases. Valuation is the recurring dispute: GST applies on the entire consideration, including wages, EPF, ESI and other reimbursements recovered from the client, unless the strict pure agent conditions are genuinely satisfied. Agencies billing Alandur factories should structure invoices carefully, because taxing only the service margin is a frequent and costly error. Call +91 - 9600 606 444 before adopting that model.

Question 11

My medical shop also sells supplements, cosmetics and baby products. Do they all take the medicine rate?

Accepted Answer

No, and this is where pharmacies slip. Only items answering the description of drugs and medicaments take 5% or nil. Nutraceuticals and protein supplements generally attract 18%, beauty and makeup preparations 18%, while daily-use items such as soaps, shampoos and toothpaste came down to 5% in September 2025. Each product must be mapped to its own HSN code and rate in your billing software, and your GSTR-1 HSN summary must reflect that mix. A single wrong default rate applied across the counter creates either short payment or overcharging. ChennaiGST runs product-master audits for pharmacies in Alandur; call +91 - 9600 606 444 to schedule one.

Question 12

I returned an advance because the deal was cancelled. What document do I issue?

Accepted Answer

It depends on how far the paperwork went. If you had issued only a receipt voucher and no tax invoice, you issue a refund voucher under Rule 51 when returning the advance, and the tax paid on that advance can be adjusted. If a tax invoice had already been issued, the cancellation is handled through a credit note under Section 34 instead. The refund voucher records the original receipt voucher reference, the amount refunded and the tax involved. Event managers and contractors see cancellations regularly, and using the wrong document between these two is a common reconciliation error.

Question 13

What are the rules for numbering GST invoices?

Accepted Answer

The invoice serial number must be consecutive, must not exceed sixteen characters, and may contain alphabets, numerals and the special characters hyphen and slash, in one or multiple series. Each number must be unique for a financial year, so most businesses restart their series every April with a year prefix such as 2026-27/001. Gaps in a series invite questions during audit because officers may suspect unreported invoices, and cancelled invoice numbers should be retained in records with the cancelled copy. The document series you use must also be declared in Table 13 of GSTR-1 each period.

Question 14

Our company paid fees to a lawyer. Who pays the GST on this?

Accepted Answer

You do, as the recipient. Legal services supplied by an individual advocate, a firm of advocates or a senior advocate to a business entity are notified under Section 9(3), so the advocate does not charge GST and your business pays 18 percent under reverse charge in cash through GSTR-3B, claiming it back as ITC if otherwise eligible. Relief exists for small recipients: legal services to a business entity whose turnover is within the registration threshold are exempt. Since the advocate is usually unregistered, remember to raise a self-invoice and payment voucher for the transaction. Litigation-heavy businesses in Alandur should reconcile their legal expense ledger against RCM paid every quarter.

Question 15

How do I decide whether to charge CGST plus SGST or IGST on an invoice?

Accepted Answer

Compare two data points: the location of the supplier and the place of supply determined under the IGST Act. If both fall in the same state, the supply is intra-state and you charge CGST plus SGST; if they fall in different states, it is inter-state and you charge IGST. The buyer's billing address alone is not the test; the place of supply rules for the specific goods or service govern. Common traps include hotel stays, property-linked services and bill-to ship-to chains, where the place of supply departs from the customer's address. Configuring these rules in your billing software saves Alandur businesses repeated corrections; call +91 - 9600 606 444 for a setup review.

Question 16

Is GST payable on hostel or paying guest accommodation in Alandur?

Accepted Answer

A specific exemption effective 15 July 2024 covers accommodation services supplied at a value up to Rs.20,000 per person per month, provided the accommodation is supplied for a minimum continuous period of ninety days. Student hostels and working men's or women's PGs in Alandur charging within this limit for long stays are therefore exempt. Where the monthly charge exceeds Rs.20,000, or the stay is shorter than ninety days, the supply is taxable like ordinary accommodation. Operators should maintain stay records and agreements evidencing the duration, because the ninety-day condition is what officers test first during verification.

Question 17

Can one document cover both taxable and exempt items sold together?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in one specific situation. Rule 46A permits a registered person supplying both taxable and exempt goods or services to an unregistered recipient to issue a single invoice-cum-bill of supply covering the entire transaction. This saves retail counters from splitting every mixed basket into two documents. The concession applies only when the buyer is unregistered; for a registered buyer, you must still issue a tax invoice for the taxable items and a separate bill of supply for the exempt items. Supermarkets and pharmacies with mixed inventories use this format daily, and billing software handles the split automatically once configured.

Question 18

My customer in Mumbai asked me to deliver goods directly to his buyer in Alandur. How do I bill this?

Accepted Answer

This is a bill-to ship-to transaction under Section 10(1)(b). When goods are delivered to a third party on the instruction of your customer, the law deems your customer's principal place of business as the place of supply, not the actual delivery point. So you invoice the Mumbai customer with IGST even though the goods physically moved within Tamil Nadu, and the Mumbai customer raises a second invoice on the ultimate recipient in Alandur. Only one e-way bill is needed for the movement, generated by either party with both invoice legs captured. Wrongly billing the delivery-point state is a classic error that misplaces the credit chain entirely.

Question 19

What documents are required for GST refund RFD-01 in Alandur?

Accepted Answer

For GST refund RFD-01 you will generally need: Export invoices and shipping bills, for export refund claims, FIRC or bank realisation certificates for export proceeds, Copy of LUT filed in RFD-11, for exports without payment of tax, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filed copies for the claim period, GSTR-2B and purchase invoices supporting input tax credit. The exact list depends on your constitution — proprietorship, partnership, LLP or company — and on the specifics of your case. Send what you have on WhatsApp to +91 - 9600 606 444 and we will confirm within the same working day exactly what else is needed, so nothing is rejected later for a missing paper.

Question 20

Can I get GST refund RFD-01 done online without visiting the office?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the entire process can be handled online. You share scanned documents on WhatsApp or email, we prepare and file everything on the GST portal, and you receive the acknowledgement and filed copies digitally. Businesses in Alandur regularly complete GST refund with us without a single office visit. If a physical verification or personal hearing is required by the department, we guide you through it.

Question 21

Do you provide gst refund application for small businesses and proprietorships in Alandur?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A large share of our clients in Alandur are proprietors, small traders, shop owners, freelancers and family businesses rather than large companies. The fee of Rs.4,999 and the process are the same regardless of size, and we explain the compliance position in plain language — in Tamil or English — so you understand what is being filed on your behalf and why.

Aspect	With ChennaiGST	DIY / Unattended
Portal credentials and data	Logins handled by a small engaged team under strict confidentiality, with credentials stored securely and never passed onward.	Passwords circulating on chats with freelancers and part-timers, and no accountability for who has accessed your business data.
Input tax credit	Purchase register matched against GSTR-2B each period, with defaulting suppliers chased so eligible credit is actually captured.	Credit claimed from books alone; mismatches with GSTR-2B mean lost credit or excess claims that invite departmental queries.
Supplier defaults	Suppliers who stop uploading invoices are identified within the period and pursued before their default becomes your blocked credit.	Missing supplier invoices surface only when credit is denied, by which time recovering the amount from the vendor is difficult.
Keeping up with changes	Rate changes, portal updates and new thresholds such as the Rs.5 crore e-invoice limit are tracked by us and applied to your case proactively.	Changes are discovered after the fact — often through a rejected filing, a blocked e-way bill or a departmental letter.
Late fees and interest	Filings go in ahead of statutory dates, so the Rs.50-per-day late fee and 18 percent interest never arise.	Late fees accumulate silently every delayed day, and interest on unpaid tax runs at 18 percent per annum.
When a notice arrives	A professional drafts the reply in the department's format and files it within the statutory window, such as thirty days for ASMT-11.	You face departmental language alone, and a missed reply deadline can convert a simple query into a demand with penalty.

GST Refund RFD-01 near 1st Cross Street, Alandur, Chennai

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Trade Profile and GST Jurisdiction for 1st Cross Street, Alandur

Why 1st Cross Street, Alandur Businesses Choose ChennaiGST

E-Invoice and E-Way Bill Fluency

Proactive Alerts Before Problems Become Notices

Notice-Proof Filing Discipline

Cancelled GSTIN? We Handle Revocation Too

Notice Support Does Not Stop at Filing

Free Health Check of Your Past Filings

Our GST Refund Process

Eligibility and computation

Document compilation

RFD-01 filing

Departmental follow-up

Sanction and credit

Documents Required for GST Refund RFD-01

What GST Refund RFD-01 Costs in Alandur

What You Get

Slips Settled Before They Become Notices

Notices Answered Within the Time Limit

Faster GST Refunds

Export Benefits Fully Utilised

Tax Paid Under the Right Head

Growth Without Compliance Anxiety

With ChennaiGST vs Doing It Yourself

GST Support on 1st Cross Street, Alandur

The Current Law on This Service — relevant to Alandur businesses

Service exemption clarifications following the 52nd Council

Madras High Court: IGST refund on exports cannot be denied merely because duty drawback was claimed

Electronic toys attract 18 percent while other toys stay at 12 percent

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Related GST Services & Nearby Areas

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