MCGM has designated officers in each Ward to help and assist with any queries on implementation of Waste Segregation.
The Ward wise list of officers and their contact numbers are shown in the image.
Let us know if you have any trouble in contacting them or if you have any further questions.
www.facebook.com/groups/togethervcan
It is quite common in India for employers to deny salary to employees, especially at the time of firing them. They think that employee’s have no options or the resources to pursue a case against an employer. In reality, there are several things an employee can do that can land an employer in real trouble. However, the knowledge regarding the same is not available in public domain and lawyer’s advice come costly. At ClikLawyer.com, we have been getting many such cases recently. We decided to share our best strategies for benefit of all Indians.
There are several legal process that can be followed by an employee to recover salary or wages. The first step that we recommend is sending a good notice from a credible lawyer who has a track record of doing such matters. However, before we tell you more about that, let us get you introduced to some basic concepts in Indian labour laws that deal with the issues of non-payment of wages or salary.
India has an entire law on payment of salary called Payment of Wages Act, though it does not apply to all levels of employees. It usually applies to low-wage blue caller workers.
Effective September 11, 2012, the wage ceiling under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 was increased to an average wage ceiling of INR 18,000 per month pursuant to a notification by the Indian Government. If you are not covered under this act, other remedies are still available.
Let’s see what the Payment of Wages Act has to say in this matter.
Section 4 of the payment of wages Act states –
Fixation of wage period every person responsible for the payment of wages under Section 3 shall fix periods in respect of which such wages shall be payable. No wage period shall exceed one month.
Reference 2 – Section 4 payment of wages Act
Monthly Salary Distribution Requirements:
A person is working in an establishment with a wage not more than one thousand, the wage to the particular person shall be paid before the expiry of the seventh day.A person with the wage of more than one thousand shall be paid before the expiry of the tenth day.If the employee is terminated by the employer the wages earned by him shall be paid before the expiry of the second working day from the day his employment is terminated.
What steps can be taken by employee:
If your employer is not paying your salary, you can get these remedies.
A) Approach Labour Commissioner:
If an employer doesn’t pay up your salary, you can approach the labour commissioner. They will help you to reconcile this matter and if no solution is reached labour commissioner will hand over this matter to the court whereby a case against your employer may be pursued.
B) Industrial Dispute Act:
An employee can file a suit under Section 33(c) of Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 recovery of money due from an employer.When the salary is due from the employer, the employee himself or any other person authorized by him in writing on his behalf can claim recover money.In case of the employee death, the authorized person or heirs make an application to the labour court for recovery of money due.The court will further issue a certificate on being satisfied that the salary is due and the collector shall proceed to recover the same.If any question arises as to the amount of money due or as to the amount at which such benefit should be computed, it would be computed according to rules under this Act.
Labour Court Time Line:
Cases have to be decided by such labour court within period not exceeding Three Monthsprovided that where the presiding officer of a labour court considers it necessary or expedient so to do, he may for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend such period by such further period as may he think fit.
Reference 3 – Section 33(c)(2) Industrial Dispute Act, 1947
What about executives, managers and those who earn above INR 18,000 a month?
If you are manager or executive level employee, you can file a case against the company in the civil court under order 37 of Court of civil procedure. This is faster than the usual slow procedure in civil courts, called a summary suit. It is quite effective, but should not be pursued as a first resort. There are easier things at your disposal as well. Out of 100 cases, maybe 5-7 requires such effort. However, many lawyers are quick to jump to this. Before opting for this, ask your lawyer to exhaust other means.
What if company is not paying with a fraudulent or dishonest intent?
If an employee is affected by the company’s fraudulent activities, then he may seek some strong actions.
The following remedies would be available in such cases:
Employer Fraud Punishment:
Section 447 of Companies Act, 2013 lays down punishment for fraud.Person shall be liable for imprisonment not less than 6 months which may extend to 10 years.Fine not less than amount involved in fraud which may extend upto three times of the fraud amount.Subsequent measures can be taken under Section 447 of the Act.An employee can also file a criminal case against the company under Indian Penal Code.
First Step To recover unpaid salary
Step 1: We strongly recommend sending a legal notice enumerating all the actions that you may take from a credible lawyer. Before going to a lawyer, ensure that they have some track record in doing such work. From ClikLawyer, you can file a notice like this for INR 2500 only. You should not pay above INR 3000 in any case.
Step 2: If this does not work, approaching police for a cheating case, where there is enough evidence for such fraud, is critical. At this stage, it is important to prepare a detailed case file to give to police, and your lawyer should assist you in this. A majority of such complaints are not accepted due to weak drafting and lack of prima facie evidence. This is where a good lawyer can make a lot of difference. ClikLawyer charges INR 2500 to handle a police complaint matter at present.
Step 3: Where criminal case is not an option, or does not produce results, we recommend going for a summary suit or labour court, as the case may be. In our experience of handling such matters in large numbers, we can say that not more than 10% of such disputes need to go to this stage if the matter was handled well in earlier stages. Challenge is that lawyers are more comfortable and earns more money at this stage, so if they don’t have your interest in mind they might hurry to this stage.
Important things to keep in mind when you are trying to recover your unpaid salary
The notice is a very important psychological tool, and getting the salary in less time is a psychological game. If the employer understands the consequences quickly, he will settle before you need to go to court, which keeps costs low as well. However, only a few lawyers do this kind of work because it may not be very profitable for them.
There are many cases in India where employer does not pay salary for a month or couple of months and easily get away with the same. A good example is of Kingfisher Airlines. When it shut down its operations, many workers were not paid their dues.
Shared by Adv VINOD SAMPAT 9987622225
A writ is just a written command given out by a legal authority like a court. It can be to enforce an action, or stopping an action from happening. Now, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is a form of writ, with just one specification that the matter is related to the general well being of the public instead of a particular litigant.
A petition is another type of writ, where the people raise a request to a legal authority demanding an action in a particular cause in the interest of general public. Usually, it’s signed by a number of people.
So, in short, PIL and petition are writs but the reverse is not always true.
I’ll quote a legal expert, Mr. M.V. Gupta, from one of the many law forums out there :
Writs are filed by individuals/corporates and other persons for reliefs in their own causes whereas the PILs are applications filed by any citizen for remedying the hardships faced by the public at large. PIL is not defined in any statute. It is the outcome of judicial activism to take cognisance of a cause at the instance of any person (whether he is personaslly affected or not) affecting the public at large. It is an exception to the doctrine of Locus Standi applicbale to actions in courts of law.
PIL
Public interest law loosely, refers to legal practices undertaken to help poor or marginalized people, or to effect change in social policies in the public interest, on ‘not for profit’ terms
WRITS
a form of written command in the name of a court or other legal authority to act, or abstain from acting, in a particular way
PETITION
a formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority in respect of a particular cause
PIL is writ only but PIL means litigation in the interest of public and not in the interest of the litigant.
It is also important to understand basic difference between a regular Writ Petition and PIL Writ Petition.
Whenever a person affected by any illegal act or omission of Public Officials or of any Public office, he may approach the High Court for issue of appropriate Writ (authoritative direction).
However a person may approach the High Court for issue of appropriate Writ in the larger public interest even when he is directly not affected by illegal acts or omissions of Public Officials. I hope the difference is quite visible.
Can a Writ Petition be Treated as a Public Interest Litigation?
Yes, a writ petition filed by the aggrieved person, whether on behalf of group or together with group can be treated as a PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION however,
The writ petition should involve a question, which affects public at large or group of people, and not a single individual.
Only the effected /Aggrieved person can file a writ petition.
There should be a specific prayer, asking the court to direct the state Authorities to take note of the complaint /allegation.
Writs refers to constitutional remedy for all citizens under art 226. These can be in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibitions, quo warranto and certiorari, or any of them, for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by Part III and for any other purpose, where the complainant can directly approach the high court.
PIL stands for public interest litigation. Earlier it was only a person whose interest was directly affected along with others, whereby his fundamental right is affected who used to file such litigation. Now, the trend has changed, and, any Public-spirited person can file a case (PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION) on behalf of a group of person, whose rights are affected. It is not necessary, that person filing a case should have a direct interest in this PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION
Petition is a complaint filed by any aggrieved person for, award of remedy by court. Known also as ‘case’.
Writ: A formal, written order issued by the Court, which is to be obeyed by the individual/authority to whom it is addressed.
The Indian Constitution provides for writs for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights. High Courts can issue writs for purposes other than the Fundamental Rights, while the Supreme Court can only issue writs for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
Writs are of various types, such as Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, etc.
PIL (Public Interest Litigation): A writ filed by an individual in the interest of the public at large (rather than in the interest of the litigant, who might or might not have been affected). The main objective of a PIL is to protect public interest.
So, a PIL is a writ, but not all writs are PILs.
seeing relief on legal grounds. For example, a petition seeking issuance of a writ is known as a writ petition.
As we know that 18% GST is made applicable on the maintenance payment made by very own members of the cooperative housing society to the same co-operative housing society managed by the same members themselves. I feel that this decision of the Government is not in line with the basic concept and principles of co-operative housing societies in India.
Hence, through this PIL, I appeal to Honorable Supreme Court of India to withdraw the GST (Goods and Service Tax ) applied by the Government of India on the Maintenance Payment made by very own members of the cooperative housing society to the same co-operative housing society managed by the same members of the housing society themselves. There are following valid questions to be considered before making GST applicable to the maintenance payment of the flats / house in Co-operative Housing societies:
1. The Co-Operative Housing / Residential societies in India are maintained by the very own members of these co-operative societies. These members of the societies come forward voluntarily to serve themselves through their own services to their own flats / houses in the society. These members are neither paid any salary nor monitory benefits for their services provided by them to themselves in the co-operative societies. Meaning, members are providing their own services to themselves. So, if I am providing the service to me and that service is also consumed by me only, then why should I pay the GST tax on it to the Government for the same?
2. The concept of co-operative for the housing societies is to manage the society by its members themselves, meaning there are no two distinct bodies i.e. Separate giver of services and separate receiver of the services do not exist in co-operative housing societies. It’s a one body like left leg supporting right leg and vice-versa to lift the entire load of the one body. Where is the concept of delivery of services within one body fit into this mechanism?
3. Why the maintenance of the houses / flats in the co-operative societies is considered as a Business? Any logic behind it?
4. We, as a resident members of the co-operative Housing society are already paying the Property Taxes on our house / flat to the Municipal Corporations, which is almost in the range of 20% to 100% of our annual maintenance. Then why are these property taxes levied on the flats if GST is also levied? Then withdraw property tax on flats.
5. Co-operative societies being the end point of consumption of the material or services from the outside vendors, the materials and the services used by the co-operative societies from the outside agencies / vendors are already charged with GST and are paid by the co-operative societies and these vendors in tern pay these taxes to the Government. The final amount with GST is charged to the maintenance of the members flat within the society for such services obtained from outside. Where is the question of charging of GST to members’ come into this picture? Do the government expect us again to charge GST of 18% on the same services to the members??
6. When the members purchase the house / flat in the co-operative society, then they already pay or paid the following taxes/ duties to the State Government on the Agreement Purchase value of the flat/house in Pre-GST era.
1. Stamp duty (6% in Maharashtra)
2. Registration charges (Rs.30,000/-)
3. Service tax (4 % in Maharashtra)
4. VAT (1%).
The above taxes are almost amounting 12% of the Agreement Value. Means, State and Central Government has already earned their taxes through the purchase of the house.
The same is applicable for the purchase of the house after GST and the total taxes would be increased to huge amount of 18% GST on the Agreement / Purchase Value. We, as an individual members are paying 18% GST for the purchase of the house and we cannot claim any refund of the same.
Meaning, the State and Central Government has already earned their taxes, then why do Government want to put the GST (18%) on the maintenance of these property? What is the Government Role in maintaining these properties which are fully maintained and by the members themselves? Is government giving any insurance to these co-operative societies in return?
7. GST is being charged on the Sinking Fund and Repair fund as well, it means more and more we save in the sinking fund for our own security of the house to re-build it in future in case of any calamities or in case of fire or in case of earthquake, we need to pay more and more taxes to government. Is government taking the responsibilities of the re-building of our houses / flats in the co-operative societies in case they are damaged, gutted in fire, or in earthquake or need to re-develop in future due to lack of original construction quality through the GST paid on these amounts??
8. Moreover, most of the members of these co-operative societies are the tax payers i.e. they file their own returns on their taxable income every year. The net amount leftover after paying the direct tax on the income is used to take care of household expenses one of which is the payment of the maintenance of the house/flat in the society. Is government giving refund claims to the members for the GST paid on the house maintenance into their direct taxes??
9. Why is the limit of GST applicability fixed to the maintenance amount of Rs.5000/- and above. What is the logic behind it?
10. Why the limit of collection below 20 lacs per annum is fixed for this? Is maintaining the Co-operative societies considered as a Business?? We are not running the business of maintaining the houses / flats, we are maintaining the houses / flats on our own to live in the better condition same as we maintain our body to live in the good health condition with the co-operations of our own body parts. Why is the business approach forced on the working or maintaining of the co-operative societies by putting the collection limits of 20 lacs?
11. By applying GST on co-operative societies, is government just trying to make more money through the hard earned money of the citizens maintaining their own houses by their own in cooperative housing societies?
To my notice, the government has not considered most of the points listed above before applying the GST on maintenance payment made by members to co-operative housing societies managed by themselves. There is no valid logic to apply GST on maintenance payment by the members to the cooperative housing society.
Hence, I request and appeal to Honorable Supreme Court of India through this PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) to consider to WITHDRAW the GST applied on the maintenance payment made by the very own members of the cooperative society to the same co-operative society managed by the members of the same cooperative housing society themselves.
I request to provide the stay on the applicability of GST on the Maintenance Payment of the Cooperative Housing societies till the final verdict from Supreme Court of India is given on this PIL.
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Legal notice is a formal communication to a person or entity informing him that you intend to undertake legal proceedings against him / her. It is a step taken before filing a suit, and is meant to warn the other party that legal action may be taken against him/her, if he/she fails to comply with some specified condition.
In what cases can we send a Legal Notice
Most common cases where I have engaged with my clients in sending legal notices is in case of Property disputes, Dishonor of Cheque, Family disputes pertaining to asset distributions, Husband / Wife conflicts as a warning before taking legal action against the spouse, Consumer complaints and cases where salary / wage commitments are not met.
How to send a Legal notice / what is the process for sending a Legal Notice
Many times we do not know the legal importance and meaning of the usual words which we use in a casual manner, engaging a qualified lawyer helps in drafting the legal-notice. Extreme care is taken about the choice of words and language used and measures of caution about not admitting any fact which you may later be denied in a court of law. Once the legal notice is dispatched than you cannot make any changes in that and later on also you cannot make any contradictory statement from what you have already stated in a legal notice. The Notice is sent on a plain paper or on the letterhead of the lawyer.
Step 1: Connect with a lawyer who carries good in drafting skills, the notice can be sent in any Indian Language, usually English is been the preferred choice of my clients. The notice should be addressed to the person against whom you have the grievances.
Step 2: In your consulting session with the lawyer, please explain the information in detail with names of parties involved; address, dates when commitments were made and not honoured, challenges and issues faced, any previous attempts of dialogue etc…
Especially in case of husband-wife dispute, in my personal experience I have observed a legal notice often brings the spouse for negotiation and in many instances disputes are resolved via counselling or mutual consent
Step 3: The lawyer carefully studies your information shared, makes relevant and required notes in the conversation with you and seeks any additional information if required.
Step 4: The lawyer then drafts the notice in a legal language clearly mentioning the reason for sending the notice, all previous communications regarding the cause of notice and offer the addressee a reasonable time say 15 days or 30 days or 60 days to settle the matter by negotiating and by performing the desired action.
Depending on the grievance usually the lawyers on behalf of the client sending the notice stress for an action to be performed in the stipulated period of time to either fulfils the demand or seek a reply.
Step 5: The notice is duly signed by both the client and the lawyer and is either sent via Registered Post or Courier and ensure the acknowledgement is retained. Usually a copy of the notice is retained by the lawyer.
Step 6: The expectation is after the notice is received by the other party; he/she will reply back, but as a standard best practice the lawyer in some time calls up the other party. I ethically believe it’s a good practice to follow and especially in cases of husband-wife conflicts usually I call up the person to whom notice is sent requesting to come up for counselling or discussion and try resolve matters out of court.
What should you do after receiving the Legal Notice
In case you are not the sender but have received a legal notice the steps to be followed are as follows:
Step 1: Unlike a traditional advice, not always after receiving the legal notice you need to consult a lawyer. You can opt to call up the party in concern who has sent you the notice to amicably settle down the matter and resolve the same in the best interest of time and money.
Step 2: If you believe the notice sent or the information in the notice is not accurate or need to contest and need legal help, approach a qualified lawyer who can take necessary actions. The first step after reaching the lawyer is to share your side of the story and the facts with date and time when the events occurred so that the lawyer will review the notice you have received and will draft a reply based on the facts collected from you.
Step 3: In this case too, the lawyer will send the reply to the notice via courier or registered post. A copy of the notice sent and received both are retained in the lawyer office along with the acknowledgement receipts or all communications. Your lawyer will also in sometimes communicate with the lawyer of the other party to enable a smooth flow and try resolving matters at your end.
The exchange of legal notices usually results in the commencement of litigation between the parties as the party sending the notice may take recourse to civil/criminal law remedies.
Points to remember
· The party being served with the lawsuit / notice is called “the respondent” or “defendant”. A legal notice may be responded to only if it has merit and needs to be replied to.
· One of the simplest reasons to understand why legal notices are used deals with fairness. It is possible that the notice sent by the plaintiff may not reach the respondent, this can be due to change in address location or information about the respondent is not available to the plaintiff, so far I have not come across such a situation, there are definitely certain legal steps we can take in these situations.
· If the notice has substance and the facts stated therein, if litigated against in the court would go against you, then do consult a qualified and reputed lawyer who practices in the issues related to the notice being sent and discuss with him / her. For ex. If the notice is with respect to property disputes visit a civil lawyer, or if family disputes visit a lawyer who practices family law and so on…
· Leave it to your lawyer whether or not to reply the notice. Your initial consultation with the lawyer will help you understand if its required to reply or not or what are the right steps to resolve the issue at hand.
· In case the notice is converted into a suit it’s mandatory for you to respond. Ensure all your facts are in place so that the next steps by your lawyer are advised in due course of action.
Legal notices are a vital principal of the courts providing fairness and due process by giving all parties affected by the lawsuit or legal proceeding notice of the legal procedure. No party can operate in secret and all court actions must be apparent to all parties to the case.
In my experiences especially in matters of cheque defaults and family disputes, husband wife conflicts I have resolved matters before reaching the courts through counselling and arbitration / mediation and mutual understanding, legal notice plays a very vital role here and it all depends on how you draft one, the focus of your lawyer should be to resolve the issue at hand and not to create or escalate tensions.
Shared by Adv. Vinod Sampat
“All the big pharmas” have lawsuits, the analyst concluded, sipping an espresso. “It’s just not a big deal.”
Over the course of 20 years, Johnson & Johnson created a powerful drug, promoted it illegally to children and the elderly, covered up the side effects and made billions of dollars. This is the inside story.
Big Pharma is a big deal. The financial pages are filled almost daily with news of multi-billion dollar mergers and acquisitions among drug companies. Of the M&A deals announced so far this year in the United States, eight of the 30 largest involve drug-makers. Other headlines herald breakthroughs of the kind Johnson & Johnson executives were touting in the ballroom in New Brunswick. At the same time, healthcare policy wonks, government budgeters, insurers and patients are becoming increasingly panicked over who is going to pay for the miracle profits demanded by the manufacturers of these miracle products.
In order to hit J&J’s projections, Risperdal would have to be used by tens of millions—not simply a portion of the one percent of Americans having the most severe psychotic disorders.
True, eight of the other nine largest pharmaceutical companies in the world have settled federal claims over the last decade related to allegations similar to what Johnson & Johnson was accused of in selling Risperdal, although their conduct was arguably less egregious. They, too, seem to have settled the charges without torpedoing their profit and loss accounts.
However, the fact that this illegal conduct is not a “big deal” on Wall Street and only the occasional subject of news coverage should make it a big deal to the rest of the world: The drug companies seem to be able to break the rules with relative impunity, or at least without suffering the kind of punishment that would actually hurt—their stock prices taking a hit or senior executives being held personally responsible.
Click Here to read this horrific story on Huffington Post
Here is a quick look at the salient features, chapter-wise, of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016, known as RERA.
Government of India is pushing for Implementation of GST on the 1″ of July 2017. In the latest GST Council .meeting held on the 3rd of June 2017, all the States have also agreed to the implementation date as it of July 2017.
Since GST deals with all sorts of goods and . services, manufacture, import, export, trade, etc. while addressing the requirements of the specific sector of Housing Societies , many practical issues arise and are not addressed properly.
This article is an attempt to understand these constraints.
1. Registration : Every Society with an aggregate turnover of over Rs 20 lakhs is required to be registered under GST. The aggregate turnover includes all maintenance charges (Other- than Municipal Tax), any miscellaneous income, and includes Bank interests.
Further, every society engaging an advocate or an advocate firm, needs, to register. under GST , even if the aggregate turnover, is less than Rs 20 lakhs, since Advocate Services is categorized under Reverse Charge.
While a simple window of “Composite Levy” is available for Manufacturing/ Trading Sectors, the same is not available to Housing Society Sector.
2. Exemption: Payment of Municipal Tax may be considered as Payment on behalf of Member as an Agent, and maybe treated as outside the purview of GST and hence not taxable.
Water charges, may be treated as Supply of Goods, and hence attracts GST at “zero %” as per the GST Rate table.
Members in a GST Registered Society are exempted and will not be charged GST, if the maintenance charges on “Charges”/ Contributions” are less than Rs 5000 per month. Here, only ‘Charges for “Sourcing’ of goods or services from third party, for the common use” are to be considered. Thus, while ‘water charges, electricity charges, service charges, repair fund / maintenance charges, insurance premium, etc, are included while calculating the amount of Rs 5000/-, vehicle parking charges, non _occupancy charges, share transfer premium, hall booking charges and similar other charges are not included.
The challenge for a housing society is to identify the members for application of GST and also identification of billing heads for considering the limit of Rs 5000/-.
Also it is not clear whether for a member who is not in the exemption category, GST is to be charged on the amount exceeding this limit or for the entire amount. Going by Service Tax provisions, from which the exemption criteria is picked, GST is to be applied on the entire amount and not on the amount exceeding Rs 5000/-.
3. Invoicing : GST provisions require that Taxable and Exempt amounts must not be included in the same invoice. For Taxable amounts, tax invoice has to be issued, and for exempt amounts, bill of supply has to be issued.
4. Arrears : Even if a member has not made the payment, the GST charged to the member must be paid. Interest on arrears also attracts GST. Even this has to be paid once interest bill is raised on the member. Arrears problem itself is a challenge to Housing Societies.
5. Advances : GST has to be paid on the Advance Maintenance Charges Received; and adjusted against the invoice. when raised later. To distinguish the Advance against Taxable and Non taxable amount, and to calculate the GST on the same, keep a track of the same month after month is again a challenge.
6. Reverse Charge: On certain services, in particular for Services by an Advocate, GST will not be charged by the Supplier, But the GST has to be calculated and paid to the Govt. by the Society. Similarly, if the Society is procuring Services from any Unregistered Vendor, [ which is very common for Housing Societies], GST has to be calculated and paid by the Society. The GST rate may change from Vendor to Vendor depending on the kind of Supply [ service or Goods] , and its category. Again , since the invoice does not reveal the GST rate, it is again a challenge to know the GST rate for each category and pay.
7. Input Tax Credit : The Societies are allowed to avail Input Credits on GST paid by them to the various Vendors or through Reverse Charge. [ In case of Reverse Charge, the credit is available only in the month next in which GST is-paid: ] . Again, if the Vendor has not made the payment of the GST before the due date, the ITC availed by the Society will be reversed by the GSTN
Input Tax on Capital Goods [Fixed Assets] is adjustable over a period of five years. To keep a track of this is a challenge.
If the Society has all its members under the exempt category, then the entire ITC, that are
attributable to exempt services will not be available. If the Society does not have any member under the exempt category, all the input Tax is available is ITC. However, where there is a mix of these two kinds,-the situation becomes challenging. Only proportionate Input Tax is available. for ITC. This proportion is required to be calculated every month and applied accordingly
8.Accounting: Most of the Accountants book expenditure directly without creating any vendor. Under GST, every Invoice has to be booked first, and then payment made against this invoice is required to be accounted: The Voucher posting work of the Accountant increases almost three fold.
9 Rectification of the Accounting Entries: Since all the rectifications in accounting entries.made are ‘required to be reported in subsequent Reports, of GST, one has to keep a track of the rectifications done.
10. GSTN : All GST related issues [Reports and Payments] are handled through an online application GSTN. For making payments, one has to download a challan and make the payment online or through any authroised Bank. Many Societies do not even have Computers and transactions online itself becomes a Challenge.
11 Reports : This becomes the most challenging part. Most of the Societies do not have any full time Accountant. But the requirement of Reports is very much time bound. GSTR -1 is required to he filed on or before 10th of each month. GSTR-2 is required to be filed on or before 15th of each month, Between 15th and 17th of each month, one has to tally the GSTR- 1 of the input Supplier with our GSTR-2 , and ensure that the two match each other By 20th one has to pay the Tax, and Submit the Tax return in GSTR- 3.
In addition, there will be GSTR- 9 , an Annual Return and GSTR – 9B [ GSTR Audit Report, if the aggregate turnover, exceeds Rs 1 Cr ] to be filed on .or before 31st of December. This will reconcile the GST-payments vis-a-vis the audited statement of accounts, of the Society.
The compliance requirement of GST is very high. For very big societies, the cost increase is shared by a larger number of members. But for smaller societies, the cost increase becomes a very high burden on,the members. But this should not be a reason for not complying with the GST requirements. Since the invoices raised by Registered Suppliers on Unregistered persons are all uploaded in the GSTN, the chances of getting detected, if not Registered, is very high. While interest and penalty will be charged on the detected evaded tax, input Tax credit, including the One on Reverse Tax basis, which May be a very huge, will not be available.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Mohanraj Yenagudde is a the Director of a Leading Company providing Billing / Accounts / Management / Consultancy and _Compliance Services under the name Society123 Support Services Pvt Ltd (Formerly Pangal Computer Services Pvt Ltd) to Housing Societies. for the last thirty years. Ph:- 9820090808 email : Mohanraj@society123.com
Courtesy : MSWA’s Housing Societies Review – August 2017
Meaning of RCM under GST: As per 2 (98) “Reverse charge” means the liability to pay tax by the recipient of supply of goods or services or both instead of the supplier of such goods or services or both under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) of section 9, or under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) of section 5 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
Applicability and Registration for Taxpayers who Pay Reverse Charge : All persons who are required to pay tax under reverse charge have to register for GST irrespective of the threshold Threshold:- turnover in a financial year exceeds Rs 20lakhs (Rs 10 lakhs for North eastern states).
Situations under where reverse charge applied:
1. Unregistered dealer selling to a registered dealer (In such cases, the registered dealer is required to pay GST on RCM basis for such supply.)
2. Services through an e-commerce operator
3. CBEC has notified a list of 12 services on which GST paid by the recipient on 100% reverse charge basis: the Services are
(a) Non-resident service provide.
(b) Goods Transport Agencies
(c) Legal service by an Advocate/ Firm of Advocates
(d) Arbitral Tribunal
(e) Sponsorship Services
(f) Specified Services provided by Govt. or Local Authority to Business entity
(g) Services of a director to a company
(h) Insurance agent
(i) Recovery Agent of Bank/ FI / NBFC
(j) Transportation Services on Import
(k) Permitting use of Copyright
(l) Radio Taxi services to E-commerce aggregator (eg: Ola, Uber, etc.)
Time of Supply for Goods Under Reverse Charge: In case of reverse charge, the time of supply shall be the earliest of the following dates-:
(a) The date of receipt of goods or
(b) The date of payment or
(c) The date immediately after 30 days from the date of issue of invoice by the supplier (60 days for services)
If it is not possible to determine the time of supply under (a), (b) or (c), the time of supply will be the date of entry in the books of account of the recipient Eg:
• Date of receipt of goods 2nd July 2017
• Date of payment 7th July 2017
• Date of invoice 1stAugust 2017
• Date of entry in books of receiver 18th July 2017
• Time of supply of goods 2nd July 2017
Invoicing rules: Every service recipient, who is paying tax on the basis of reverse charge, has to mention fact in his GST invoice that is being issued. A registered person who is liable to pay tax under reverse charge ,respect of goods or services received by him from the supplier who is not registered.
Input Tax Credit under RCM:
(a) The service recipient can avail Input Tax credit on the Tax amount that fs paid under reverse charge on goods and services.
(b) The condition is that the goods and services are used or will be used for business.
(c) ITC in RCM cannot be used to pay output tax, it means payment mode only in cash.
Composition Scheme under GST : Taxpayers with the aggregate turnover of Rs. 75 lakhs ( for special category states turnover upto Rs.50 Lakhs) in a financial year are eligible to pay tax under composition scheme. But, taxpayers paying tax on the basis of reverse charge under GST are not eligible for composition scheme.
GST Compensation Cess : GST Compensation Cess will also be applicable on reverse charge. GST Compensation Cess will be levied and collected at a rate which will be notified later. This will apply , in on all supplies of goods and services, including imports and reverse charge supplies.
CA VISHAL GALA Mob – 981951 3758
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