Question 1

What are the GST rates on gold, silver and diamond jewellery?

Accepted Answer

The special rates on precious metals were retained in the GST 2.0 restructuring. Gold, silver and articles of jewellery attract 3 percent GST, rough and unworked diamonds attract 0.25 percent, and jewellery making charges billed separately attract 5 percent. When a jeweller bills a customer, the metal value and making charges can appear as separate line items with their respective rates on the same tax invoice. Old gold purchased from an unregistered customer in exchange transactions does not attract GST in the customer's hands, but valuation of the net supply must be documented carefully.

Question 2

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 Selaiyur should reconcile their legal expense ledger against RCM paid every quarter.

Question 3

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

Question 4

What are OIDAR services under GST and who pays the tax on them?

Accepted Answer

OIDAR means Online Information Database Access or Retrieval services, delivered over the internet, such as cloud services, e-books, streaming, online advertising and automated e-learning. When a foreign OIDAR provider supplies these to unregistered persons in India, the foreign provider itself must take a simplified registration in Form REG-10 and file monthly return GSTR-5A. From 1 October 2023, the definition was widened, so almost every unregistered Indian recipient is covered. When the Indian recipient is GST-registered, the tax instead falls on the recipient under reverse charge as an import of services.

Question 5

Which purchases commonly attract GST under reverse charge for a regular business?

Accepted Answer

Under Section 9(3), the recipient pays tax on notified supplies. The entries a typical business in Selaiyur encounters are: goods transport agency services, services of advocates and arbitral tribunals, sponsorship provided to companies and partnership firms, services of directors, security services from non-corporate providers, renting of passenger motor vehicles from non-corporate operators charging five percent, import of services, and renting of property from unregistered landlords in notified cases. Each month, scan your expense ledger for these heads, pay the tax in cash through GSTR-3B, and claim it back as ITC where eligible. Missed RCM is among the top audit findings; call +91 - 9600 606 444 for an RCM exposure review.

Question 6

How is interest calculated on a GST demand or late payment?

Accepted Answer

Interest runs at 18 percent per annum under Section 50 on tax paid after the due date, computed day-wise from the day following the due date until payment. Following amendments, interest on delayed GSTR-3B liability applies on the portion paid through the electronic cash ledger, and interest on wrongly availed ITC arises where the credit has been both availed and utilised. Interest is payable even where no penalty applies, and it cannot be waived by the officer. Because interest compounds silently over long disputes, paying the admitted tax early through DRC-03, even while contesting the rest, often saves a substantial amount.

Question 7

What is the GST treatment for an event management company handling corporate events?

Accepted Answer

Event management services attract 18 percent with full input tax credit. Place of supply rules deserve attention: for organising an event for a registered client, the place of supply is the client's location, so a Chennai company organising a Goa offsite for a Bengaluru-registered client charges IGST to Karnataka. For unregistered clients, the place of supply is where the event is actually held. Admission tickets are taxed where the event takes place. Getting the state wrong means the client's credit is jeopardised and the tax may need repayment under the correct head, so event companies serving multi-state clients should map each contract before invoicing.

Question 8

What GST do hotels charge on room tariffs after the 2025 rate changes?

Accepted Answer

From 22 September 2025, hotel accommodation with a value of supply up to Rs.7,500 per unit per day attracts 5 percent GST without input tax credit, and accommodation above Rs.7,500 attracts 18 percent with input tax credit. The earlier 12 percent slab for mid-range rooms was abolished in the rate rationalisation. Tax applies on the actual transaction value charged, so a discounted rate below Rs.7,500 falls in the 5 percent bracket even if the printed tariff is higher. Hotels should reconfigure billing software slab-wise and watch the ITC restriction on the 5 percent category, which changes costing materially.

Question 9

What are the common types of GST notices a business can receive?

Accepted Answer

The frequent ones are: REG-03 seeking clarification on a registration application; GSTR-3A for non-filing of returns; ASMT-10 pointing out discrepancies found on scrutiny of returns; DRC-01A intimating an ascertained tax liability before formal proceedings; DRC-01, the show cause notice under Section 73 or 74; ADT-01 intimating a departmental audit; REG-17 proposing cancellation of registration; RFD-08 proposing rejection of a refund claim; and summons under Section 70. Each has its own reply form and deadline, ranging from seven working days to thirty days, so identifying the notice type correctly is the first step in responding. When in doubt, call +91 - 9600 606 444.

Question 10

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 11

What is the penalty for running a business without GST registration?

Accepted Answer

A taxable person who is liable to register but fails to do so faces a penalty of Rs.10,000 or the amount of tax evaded, whichever is higher, under Section 122 of the CGST Act. Beyond the penalty, the department can demand the tax for the entire unregistered period with interest at 18 percent per annum, and you cannot recover that tax from customers you billed without GST. Goods moved without registration and e-way bills, required for consignments above Rs.50,000, also risk detention. If your turnover has crossed the threshold, registering within thirty days is far cheaper than regularising later.

Question 12

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 Selaiyur 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.

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