E-Way Bill Applicability

GST e-way bill is mandatory for transport of any goods with a gross value of more than Rs.50,000. E-way bill has been implemented from 1st 2018 in phases and in this article, we discuss the e-way bill applicability in detail.

No Late Fee for GSTR-1 & GSTR-3B Return

The biggest relief extended to small business by the 31st GST Council is the waiver of late fee for filing GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B return. The GST Council has announced: “Late fee shall be completely waived for all taxpayers in case FORM GSTR-1, FORM GSTR-3B &FORM GSTR-4 for the months/quarters July 2017 to September 2018, are furnished after 22.12.2018 but on or before 31.03.2019.” Thus, filing of Form GSTR-1, GSTR-3B and GSTR-4 will not attract any late fee penalty until 31st March 2019.

GST Annual Return Due Date Extended

All entities having GST registration are required to file GST annual return in form GSTR-9. The due date for filing GST annual return is usually 31st December of each year for the financial year ended on 31st March of the same calendar year. As GST is newly introduced in India, the Government has decided to extend the due date for GST annual return filing to 30th June 2019. The due date for filing GST annual return was originally extended upto 31st March 2019, which has been further extended to 30th June 2019 by the GST Council.

Applicability of E-way Bills

E-way bill generation for inter-state movement of goods (out-of-state) is already made compulsory, however, individual state government, are making eway bill generation for intra-state movement of goods (within state), compulsory, in phases. Dates from which e-way bill for intra-state transfer is made compulsory is detailed hereunder:

Inter-State Movement

E-way bill operations are compulsory for inter-state movement of goods throughout the nation from 1st April 2018.

Intra-State Movement

E-way bill operations are compulsory for intra-state movement of goods for Karnataka from 1st April 2018. E-way bill operations are compulsory for intra-state movement of goods for Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh from 15th April 2018. E-way bill operations are compulsory for intra-state movement of goods for Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura and Uttarakhand from 20th April 2018.

Generating E-Way Bill

To generate e-way bill, first of all, one has to apply register on the e-way bill portal. To obtain e-way bill portal access, the person must be having a GST registration or be a small transporter. Once registered, e-way bill can be generated easily by filling form ‘GST EWB-01’ on the e-way bill portal or through SMS e-way bill generation. GST EWB-01) has two parts namely part – A and part – B. Part A contains GSTIN of recipient, place of delivery, invoice / challan number and date, value of goods, HSN code, reason for transportation and transport document number etc. Part B will contain transportation details like vehicle number etc. Upon successful generation of e-way bill, a unique e-way bill number (EBN) will be available to the supplier, recipient and transporter.

Important Aspects of GST E-way Bill

Every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding Rs. 50,000/-, before commencement of movement of goods, should prepare an e-way bill. Generation of e-way bill will be required in case of supply of goods (sales), movement of goods for job-work, branch transfer, etc. Registered person means persons who is liable to obtain registration under GST. The value limit of Rs. 50,000/- for e-way bill will be the gross value of material i.e. inclusive of taxes. In case of movement of goods from an unregistered dealer (i.e. person who is not registered under GST), it will be responsibility of the registered dealer to generate e-way bill. Validity of the e-way bill for less than 100 kms of movement of goods will be 1 day and thereafter, additional 1 more day for every additional 100 kms or part thereof. E-way bill can be cancelled within 24 hours of its generation but before commencement of movement of goods. The generation of e-way bill will be communicated to the recipient of the goods and he can reject the supply within 72 hours of generation of e-way bill.