Question 1

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 2

When can goods move on a delivery challan instead of a tax invoice?

Accepted Answer

Rule 55 permits movement on a delivery challan where the transportation is not itself a supply: sending inputs or capital goods for job work, taking goods to an exhibition or for approval where the sale is not yet certain, supplying liquid gas where the quantity is unknown at removal, and moving goods in semi-knocked-down form in multiple consignments, where the full invoice travels with the first lot. The challan is prepared in triplicate and an e-way bill is still required where value thresholds are crossed. Goods sent on approval must be invoiced within six months, failing which tax becomes payable.

Question 3

Does compensation cess still apply on any goods?

Accepted Answer

For most goods, no. With the rate restructuring of 22 September 2025, compensation cess was discontinued on items such as cars, and the demerit burden was merged into the single 40 percent rate. The cess continues only on pan masala and specified tobacco products during the transition period while past compensation cess loan obligations are being discharged. A practical point for traders: balances of unutilised compensation cess credit cannot be cross-utilised against CGST, SGST or IGST liability, so businesses holding old cess credit should evaluate their position rather than assuming it will set off future tax.

Question 4

We pay for foreign software subscriptions and overseas consultants. Is GST payable in India?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Import of services, meaning services from a supplier located outside India received by a person in India for business, attracts IGST under reverse charge in the recipient's hands, payable in cash and claimable as ITC if eligible. This catches cloud software, foreign professional fees, overseas advertising and licence fees. Two nuances matter: services from a related foreign party, such as your parent company, are taxable even without consideration under Schedule I, and OIDAR services supplied to unregistered consumers are taxed in the foreign supplier's own hands, not under RCM. Startups and IT firms in Santhome paying by card frequently miss these entries; reconcile foreign remittances against RCM paid annually.

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

Question 6

My customer says he cannot claim ITC because of my late filing. Is that correct?

Accepted Answer

Yes, he is right. A buyer can claim input tax credit only for invoices appearing in his GSTR-2B, which is generated from suppliers' GSTR-1 and IFF filings. If you file GSTR-1 after the 11th, your invoices miss that month's GSTR-2B and your customer's credit gets pushed to the next month, straining his working capital. Repeated delays lead buyers to withhold the GST portion of payments or move to more compliant vendors. Timely GSTR-1 filing is therefore a commercial necessity, not just a legal one. ChennaiGST ensures clients in Santhome never face this complaint.

Question 7

Is GST payable on my YouTube AdSense earnings?

Accepted Answer

AdSense payments come from a Google entity located outside India and are remitted in convertible foreign exchange, so for an Indian creator this revenue generally qualifies as export of services, zero-rated when supplied under an LUT after registration. The income still counts towards your Rs.20 lakh aggregate turnover, so a creator whose combined receipts cross the threshold must register even if the entire revenue is export. Brand sponsorships from Indian companies, by contrast, are domestic supplies taxable at 18 percent. Keep the remittance advices safely, as they establish the forex receipt if you later claim a refund of input tax credit.

Question 8

Which daily-use grocery items became cheaper under GST from September 2025?

Accepted Answer

The 56th GST Council's rationalisation, effective 22 September 2025, moved a large basket of daily essentials from 12% or 18% down to 5%, including butter, ghee, cheese, namkeens, sauces, pasta, chocolates, biscuits, cornflakes, hair oil, shampoo, soaps and toothpaste. UHT milk, pre-packaged paneer and all Indian breads such as roti, chapati and paratha became nil rated. Aerated and caffeinated beverages, by contrast, went to the 40% demerit rate. Grocery and supermarket billing masters needed a near-complete refresh from that date, and old stock is simply sold at the new rate applicable on the date of supply.

Question 9

How is GST charged on clothes and footwear after the rate change?

Accepted Answer

The rate now turns on a per-piece price line of Rs.2,500. Apparel, made-up textile articles and footwear with a sale value up to Rs.2,500 per piece attract 5 percent GST, while pieces priced above Rs.2,500 attract 18 percent. The test applies item by item, so a single invoice from a garment shop in Santhome can carry both rates: a Rs.1,800 shirt at 5 percent and a Rs.4,000 pair of shoes at 18 percent on the same bill. Configure the billing software to test the price of each line item automatically rather than applying one blanket rate.

Question 10

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 Santhome commonly need help splitting mixed billing correctly.

Question 11

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 12

Can I transfer cash ledger balance from one GSTIN to another GSTIN of the same PAN?

Accepted Answer

Yes, within limits. Under Section 49(10), unutilised IGST and CGST balances in the electronic cash ledger can be transferred through PMT-09 to the cash ledger of a distinct person, that is, another GSTIN registered on the same PAN in the same or another state. SGST balances cannot be moved across states in this manner. The transfer is not permitted if the transferring GSTIN has any unpaid liability standing in its electronic liability register. Multi-state businesses headquartered in Santhome use this to shift idle deposits to the branch that actually needs the cash, avoiding fresh working capital outflow.

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