Question 1

Are any goods exempt from GST when transported by a GTA?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Transport by a GTA of agricultural produce, milk, salt and foodgrains including flours and pulses, organic manure, newspapers and magazines registered with the Registrar of Newspapers, relief materials for victims of calamities, and defence or military equipment is exempt regardless of freight value. Note that the older exemptions for small consignments, Rs.1,500 for a full truckload and Rs.750 for a single consignee, were withdrawn with effect from 18 July 2022, so ordinary cargo enjoys no value-based relief now. Transporters serving agricultural markets should describe the produce accurately on the consignment note to support the exemption.

Question 2

I deposited money under the wrong head in my GST cash ledger. Why can the amount not be used?

Accepted Answer

The cash ledger is divided into major heads, IGST, CGST, SGST and cess, and minor heads, tax, interest, penalty, fee and others. An amount deposited under one combination, say CGST-penalty, cannot be directly used to pay under another, say IGST-tax, which is why your balance appears unusable despite money lying in the ledger. The remedy is Form PMT-09, which transfers the amount to the correct head instantly without any officer approval. Many Alwarpet taxpayers wrongly deposit a fresh challan in this situation; a two-minute PMT-09 filing saves that duplication. Call +91 - 9600 606 444 if your ledger looks stuck.

Question 3

I have taken a house on rent and I am GST registered. Does reverse charge hit my house rent?

Accepted Answer

Only in defined situations. From 18 July 2022, renting of a residential dwelling to a registered person attracts 18 percent under reverse charge in the tenant's hands. However, where a registered proprietor rents the dwelling in a personal capacity for use as his own residence, and on his own account rather than for the business, the exemption applies and no tax arises. If a company takes a flat as a guest house or for employee accommodation, RCM applies, and note that ITC on such rent may face challenge as a personal consumption expense. Document the purpose of the tenancy in the rent agreement so the correct treatment is defensible.

Question 4

Our small lodge in Alwarpet gets bookings through online travel apps. Who pays the GST?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your registration status. If the lodge is registered, you charge GST on the accommodation and the platform collects TCS on payments routed through it, which you claim back on the portal. If the lodge is not liable to be registered, the law shifts the liability to the e-commerce operator itself under Section 9(5), so the app pays the tax on accommodation booked through it and the small lodge need not register merely because it lists online. Direct walk-in business remains within your threshold computation. Keep the platform agreements and statements, since they determine who reported the tax.

Question 5

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 6

What is the difference between ISD and cross-charge, and when is each used?

Accepted Answer

They solve different problems. The Input Service Distributor mechanism distributes credit on third-party input services received at the head office but consumed by branches, such as an audit fee or software licence billed centrally; the ISD passes the credit itself through ISD invoices and GSTR-6, without charging tax again. Cross-charge applies where the head office performs a service for branches using its own resources; here the head office makes an outward supply, issues a tax invoice with tax, and the branch claims ITC. With ISD distribution mandatory for common third-party input services from 1 April 2025, businesses must now run both mechanisms side by side, each for its correct category.

Question 7

What is the difference between the electronic cash ledger and the electronic credit ledger?

Accepted Answer

The electronic cash ledger reflects actual money you have deposited through challans, plus TDS and TCS credits you have accepted; it can pay tax, interest, penalty, late fee and any other amount. The electronic credit ledger reflects input tax credit claimed through your returns, and it can be used only for paying output tax, never for interest, penalty or late fee. Both are visible under Services, then Ledgers, after login. Refund of an excess cash balance is possible, while credit is refundable only in specified cases such as exports and inverted duty structure.

Question 8

Which everyday goods now attract 5 percent GST?

Accepted Answer

The 5 percent slab now covers most household essentials that earlier fell in the 12 or 18 percent brackets: soaps, shampoos, toothpaste and toothbrushes, hair oil, bicycles, kitchen utensils and tableware. Packaged foods such as butter, ghee, cheese, namkeens, sauces, pasta, biscuits and chocolates are also at 5 percent, as are most medicines, medical devices and agricultural machinery. Apparel and footwear priced up to Rs.2,500 per piece attract 5 percent as well. Retailers in Alwarpet should update billing software rate masters item by item rather than assuming old rates continue.

Question 9

Is GST charged before or after the discount shown on my invoice?

Accepted Answer

Discounts given before or at the time of supply and recorded on the face of the invoice are excluded from the value of supply under Section 15(3)(a). You therefore charge GST on the net amount after discount. For example, a Rs.10,000 item with a 10 percent trade discount shown on the invoice is taxed on Rs.9,000. The condition is documentation: the discount must appear on the invoice itself. Informal reductions settled outside the bill do not reduce taxable value. Retail schemes such as festival discounts and trade margins should always be structured to print on the invoice.

Question 10

What is the GST rate for salons, gyms and yoga centres?

Accepted Answer

From 22 September 2025, beauty and physical well-being services, covering salons, barbers, beauty parlours, gyms, fitness centres and yoga institutes, attract 5 percent GST without input tax credit, reduced from the earlier 18 percent. The condition attached to the concessional rate is important: because credit is barred, the GST paid on your rent, equipment, cosmetics and consumables becomes part of your cost base. Service businesses in Alwarpet moving to the 5 percent rate should reprice services keeping this embedded tax in mind, and must not continue charging 18 percent, since excess tax collected has to be deposited with the government.

Question 11

How do I track the status of a grievance ticket or any ARN I have on the GST portal?

Accepted Answer

For grievance tickets, open selfservice.gstsystem.in and use Check Status by entering the ticket reference number; the screen shows whether it is open, under processing or resolved, with the resolution comments. For applications filed on the main portal, log in and use Services, then Track Application Status, choosing the module and entering the ARN, or open My Applications to see every application with its case detail folder, notices and replies in one place. Diarise every ARN the day it is generated, because reply windows run from portal timestamps. ChennaiGST maintains an ARN tracker for every client engagement.

Question 12

Is there really a penalty for not displaying my GST number at my shop?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Rule 18 of the CGST Rules requires every registered person to display the registration certificate in a prominent location at the principal place of business and every additional place, and to display the GSTIN on the name board at the entry of each such premises. There is no separate penalty provision for this lapse, so officers invoke the general penalty under Section 125, which can extend to Rs.25,000 under CGST with a matching state penalty. Inspection teams visiting Alwarpet markets routinely check name boards first, so a few hundred rupees of signage is the cheapest compliance in the entire GST law.

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