Question 1

What is the electronic liability register on the GST portal and why should I check it?

Accepted Answer

The electronic liability register, maintained in Form PMT-01, records every liability raised against your GSTIN: self-assessed tax from returns in Part I, and demands from assessments, adjudication orders and DRC-07 summaries in Part II. Payments and pre-deposits are set off against these entries. You can view it under Services, then Ledgers. Checking Part II periodically matters because demand entries you never noticed can trigger recovery, interest accumulation and refund adjustments. During any refund claim, the officer will offset outstanding register balances, so a clean register speeds up your money. We review all three ledgers in every Tiruvottiyur health check.

Question 2

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 Tiruvottiyur 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 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

What is the default place of supply rule for services within India?

Accepted Answer

Section 12(2) of the IGST Act sets the general rule for domestic services: if the recipient is registered, the place of supply is the recipient's location; if unregistered, it is the recipient's address on your records, and failing that, the supplier's own location. So a consultant in Tiruvottiyur advising a registered company in Hyderabad charges IGST, while the same advice to a local walk-in individual attracts CGST plus SGST. This default yields only to the specific rules for immovable property, events, transportation, and a few other categories, so always check whether a specific rule captures your service before falling back on the general one.

Question 5

My customer in Mumbai asked me to deliver goods directly to his buyer in Tiruvottiyur. 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 Tiruvottiyur. 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 6

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 7

Is a pure labour contract for building a house exempt from GST?

Accepted Answer

Two exemptions exist for pure labour contracts, meaning contracts where the contractor supplies only labour and the owner buys all materials. First, construction, erection or installation of original works pertaining to a single residential unit, otherwise than as part of a residential complex, is exempt. Second, pure labour services under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for beneficiary-led individual house construction are exempt. Outside these, labour contracts are taxable at 18 percent. A mason team building one independent house in Tiruvottiyur on labour-only terms therefore charges no GST, but the same team working on an apartment project must.

Question 8

Our small lodge in Tiruvottiyur 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 9

What GST rate applies to a goods transport agency: 5 percent or 18 percent?

Accepted Answer

Both exist, depending on the option exercised. The default position is 5 percent payable by the specified recipient under reverse charge, with no input tax credit to the GTA. Alternatively, a GTA may opt to pay tax itself under forward charge, either at 5 percent without input tax credit or at the higher rate with full credit, which was revised from 12 percent to 18 percent with effect from 22 September 2025. The with-credit option suits transporters with large spends on vehicles and tyres. Once the forward charge option is exercised for a year, it applies to all consignments of that year.

Question 10

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 11

How much time do I get to raise an invoice for services?

Accepted Answer

A tax invoice for services must be issued within thirty days from the date of supply of the service. For banks, insurers, financial institutions and NBFCs, the limit is forty-five days. Where services are supplied continuously, the invoice follows the contract: if the due date of payment is ascertainable, invoice on or before that date; if not, invoice when payment is received; and if payment is linked to completion of an event or milestone, invoice on or before its completion. Consultants and agencies that bill quarterly should check their contracts against these rules, since late invoicing defers nothing legally.

Question 12

Is the late fee charged on delayed returns the same thing as a penalty?

Accepted Answer

No, they are legally distinct. Late fee under Section 47 is an automatic, fixed daily charge for filing a return after its due date, computed by the portal and payable in cash before the return is accepted; no officer discretion or notice is involved. Penalty, under provisions such as Sections 122 to 125, is imposed through adjudication for specified offences, requires a show cause notice and hearing, and can be contested or reduced. Interest under Section 50 is a third, separate levy compensating for delayed payment. A delayed return with tax due can therefore attract all three simultaneously, each on its own footing.

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