Question 1

We conduct training programmes and events in different cities. Which state's GST applies?

Accepted Answer

Two rules operate. For admission to an event, including tickets to exhibitions or conferences, the place of supply is where the event is held. For organising an event or providing training, the place of supply is the registered recipient's location when the client is registered; if the client is unregistered, it shifts to the venue where the event or training is actually performed. So a Avadi trainer running a workshop in Hyderabad for a registered Chennai company charges CGST plus SGST of Tamil Nadu, but the same workshop sold to unregistered individuals is taxed in Telangana. Invoice each engagement after checking the client's registration.

Question 2

How many digits of the HSN code must I print on my tax invoices?

Accepted Answer

Under Notification 78/2020 Central Tax, taxpayers with aggregate turnover up to Rs.5 crore in the preceding financial year must mention a 4-digit HSN code on all B2B tax invoices, though it is optional on B2C invoices. Taxpayers with turnover above Rs.5 crore must mention 6-digit HSN codes on every invoice, including B2C. Eight digits are required for specified goods such as certain chemicals and for export documentation. Services follow the same rule using SAC codes, which begin with 99. Printing truncated or wrong codes on invoices creates mismatches later, so set the codes correctly in your billing software once.

Question 3

My GST status shows suspended. What does that mean for my business in Avadi?

Accepted Answer

Suspension is an intermediate state that occurs when you apply for cancellation, or when the officer initiates cancellation proceedings, commonly for return defaults or data mismatches. While suspended, you cannot make taxable supplies, meaning you should not issue tax invoices or charge GST, and e-way bill generation is blocked. The fix depends on the cause: if you triggered it by applying for cancellation, await the order; if the department triggered it, reply to the show cause notice in REG-18 within seven working days and clear pending returns. Acting within the notice window usually gets the suspension lifted; call +91 - 9600 606 444 if you have received one.

Question 4

How do I register my DSC on the GST portal, and why does the emSigner error keep appearing?

Accepted Answer

After logging in, open My Profile and select Register or Update DSC, choose the authorised signatory's PAN, and sign with the USB token; the certificate must be Class 3 and the PAN on it must match the signatory's PAN on the portal. Signing requires the emSigner utility running in the background, and the common failure to establish connection error means emSigner is not started, is blocked by the browser, or another application occupies its port. Run emSigner as administrator, keep the token connected, and use the trusted-site settings the portal recommends. We troubleshoot DSC issues for Avadi companies routinely; call +91 - 9600 606 444.

Question 5

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 Avadi markets routinely check name boards first, so a few hundred rupees of signage is the cheapest compliance in the entire GST law.

Question 6

Our head office in Avadi supports branches in other states. Is a cross-charge invoice really required?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Branches with separate GSTINs are distinct persons, and Schedule I treats supplies between them as taxable even without consideration. Services your head office renders to branches, such as accounting, IT support or management oversight, should be cross-charged through a tax invoice with IGST, which the branch claims as credit. On valuation, Rule 28 helps: where the recipient branch is entitled to full ITC, the value declared on the invoice is deemed to be the open market value, and Circular 199/11/2023 clarifies that internally generated services need not include the salary cost of head office employees. A documented cross-charge policy keeps audits short; call +91 - 9600 606 444 to set one up.

Question 7

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 Avadi 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 8

Which food items became completely tax-free under GST 2.0?

Accepted Answer

From 22 September 2025, UHT milk, pre-packaged and labelled paneer and chena, and all Indian breads including roti, chapati, paratha and khakhra attract nil GST. In the pharma space, thirty-three notified lifesaving drugs and medicines for cancer and rare diseases also moved to nil rate. Remember that selling nil-rated goods still has compliance effects: you issue a bill of supply instead of a tax invoice for such items, and input tax credit attributable to nil-rated supplies must be reversed proportionately under Rules 42 and 43. Grocery retailers in Avadi commonly need help splitting mixed billing correctly.

Question 9

How do I round off tax amounts on a GST invoice?

Accepted Answer

Section 170 of the CGST Act prescribes normal rounding to the nearest rupee: where the tax contains a part of a rupee, fifty paise or more is rounded up to one rupee, and less than fifty paise is ignored. The rounding is applied to the tax amount on each invoice, separately for each tax head, so CGST and SGST are each rounded individually rather than rounding only the invoice total. Most billing software handles this automatically, but spreadsheets and manual bills often round the grand total instead, creating one-rupee mismatches that clutter reconciliations across thousands of invoices.

Question 10

What happened to the old 12 percent and 28 percent GST slabs?

Accepted Answer

Both slabs were abolished with effect from 22 September 2025. Nearly all goods that were at 12 percent moved down to 5 percent, and the bulk of the 28 percent items moved to 18 percent, with only a small set of luxury and demerit goods shifted up to the special 40 percent rate. This means old rate charts, printed price lists and software masters created before September 2025 are unreliable. Before quoting or billing, confirm the current rate against the CBIC rate notifications for your exact HSN code, or call +91 - 9600 606 444 and we will verify it for your product list.

Question 11

How is GST charged on hotel room tariffs after the rate changes?

Accepted Answer

Hotel accommodation with a value of supply up to Rs.7,500 per unit per day attracts 5 percent GST without input tax credit, a reduction from the earlier 12 percent. Rooms priced above Rs.7,500 per day attract 18 percent with full input tax credit. The rate is determined by the actual transaction value charged for the room, so seasonal discounts can change the applicable rate on the same room across bookings. Lodges and hotels around Avadi should configure billing software to test the per-day value on each invoice rather than fixing one rate for the property.

Question 12

Something is malfunctioning on the GST portal. How do I raise a formal grievance ticket?

Accepted Answer

Use the GST Self-Service Grievance Redressal Portal at selfservice.gstsystem.in. Select Report Issue, type a keyword describing the problem, and the system suggests the matching category along with FAQs; if those do not resolve it, proceed to raise the ticket by entering your GSTIN or ARN, contact details and a description, and attach screenshots of the error. A ticket reference number is issued instantly by email and SMS. Raising a ticket also creates a record that the failure was on the system side, which helps later if a deadline was missed because of a portal outage. Our Avadi office logs tickets for clients as part of retainer support.

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