E-commerce Portals Will Be Asked To Refund GST Benefits; Tax Collection Expected To Rise!
The National Anti-Profiteering Authority was established with the intent of ensuring that GST changes and tax reductions are being passed on to the end users.
If e-commerce portals and online sellers thought that GST reductions will be profits for them, then they will be required to think hard now.
National Anti-Profiteering Authority, the Govt. body formed to ensure that GST benefits are passed on to the end-users have indicated that e-commerce companies would be soon asked about GST benefits.
And more importantly, whether those benefits have been passed on to the end users or not.
Meanwhile, in a related news, GST collections for March are expected to rise and beat the averages of the last few months.
GST Benefits For Online Shoppers?
National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) was established with the intent of ensuring that GST changes and tax reductions are being passed on to the end users.
Now, after targeting FMCG and Real Estate companies, NAA will now focus on the e-commerce portals, and a major drive will soon begin.
B.N Sharma, Chairman, National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) said,
“We will be asking the e-commerce retailers details on the number of instances where products were sold or delivered after the GST rates were reduced… whether they then passed on the benefit to the buyer because they did not have the authority to collect the extra tax,”
This means that ecommerce portals will be now required to scan through millions of transactions, and then figure out the rate difference pre-GST and post-GST.
In case there are any price difference, and the in case the consumer has been charged more, then the difference has to be paid back.
In case the buyers are not being identified, then the difference of price has to be deposited with Consumer Welfare Fund.
As per NAA, HUL has till now deposited Rs 120 crore with Consumer Welfare Fund, and Nestle has deposited Rs 13 crore, owing to the difference in prices due to GST reductions.
Businesses can be shut down, if the strict GST laws and anti-profiteering rules are not followed.
GST Collections To Rise In March!
Meanwhile, Tax officials are positive, that collections under GST would rise to Rs 90,000 crore, when tax returns are filed for the month of April, 2018 by the end of March.
This is indeed a positive news for the Finance Ministry, after GST collections fell to an average of Rs 87,000 crore in the last 5 months.
After GST collections touched a high of Rs 92283 crore in the first month of GST implementation, collections lowered, mainly cited due to technical issues.
December was the month when GST collections hit the lowest mark of Rs 80,000 crore.
We will keep you updated, as we receive more information on the GST collections.
