The GST Eway bill which was rolled out on February 1st 2018 after a lot of effort by the GST Council was meant to imbue transparency in the interstate movement of goods. It was a bold effort on the part of the government to replace the existing system which was peppered with maximum opportunities for corruption. However, the Eway bill which was rolled out for the first time on 1st of February 2018 was withdrawn soon after as there were many technical glitches, which the government said it will iron out in collaboration with its NYC partner before its roll out. The second avatar of the Eway bill is awaited.
So what is an Eway bill?
An Eway bill under the Goods and Services tax system is a mandatory document for all the logistics transactions within India with a value more than INR 50,000. The bill must be accompanied by details filed-in by the supplier in Part A of E way bill generation Form and supplemented by details filled-in by the mover of the goods either by the supplier himself or the transporter. Notwithstanding the teething troubles, the E way bill system is likely to help eradicate the tax evasion and smuggling that’s been a feature of interstate logistics hitherto. The Eway Bill is also expected to ensure faster movement of goods as post its introduction, the Check post inspector Raj is expected to end.
This article recreates some of the steps which are needed to be taken care of by business units and transporters to seamlessly use the Eway bill system that is about to be rolled out.
• No need to fear:
First of all Businesses have to let go the fear that the Eway bill system would increase their burden. This fear is totally irrational and doesn’t exist in reality. In reality the Eway bill will dove tail the various compliances into a simple electronic system. Part A of the Eway bill which is required to be filled is the data which is forms part of the GSTR1 Return (Return for Outward supplies made by you) and here is where it starts getting simple. The Eway bill system will import the data from the GSTR1 Return. Straight away it’s a reduction of the data entry burden.
• Welcome news for new entrants:
The Eway bill would be a boon for start-ups and new market entrants – the ease, the simplicity and the online facilitation making it a boon of tech savvy new start-ups who wish to carry out their business in a transparent and easy manner. Competition would be fair as tax evasion will reduce and the movement of goods will be safe as it can be tracked and recorded for computation of taxes and billing. Further once the entry is recorded in the Eway bill then the same gets into the queue of returns automatically. Thus a supplier or recipient will not have any chance to evade taxes. The GST Eway bill forces fair competition, rather that unhealthy competition driven by the evasion of taxes.
• Easy Compliance:
The government which bit the bullet of indirect tax reform with the introduction of GST in July last year, is now going to take that reform to the next level with the Eway Bill system and choke all avenues for corruption. The roll out was on a trial basis to check the system infirmities and provide a chance for all stakeholders to commit and correct mistakes. Therefore, once the infirmities were noticed it was withdrawn to ensure ease of operation and compliance and will be reintroduced once these infirmities are ironed out. However non-compliance and attempts to dodge the system will be harshly dealt with – this the government has made clear.
• The taxpayer should take responsibility too:
The taxpayers have definitive role to play in the implementation of GST and its ecosystem. Stake holders must contribute to streamlining the Eway bill subsystem with their thoughts and time – channelling their views through their respect commerce chambers to the GST council / Government. They must also look at their internal processes to see how best they can seamlessly shift to the new system.
• Businesses should come together and share knowledge:
Businesses have a responsibility towards a prosperous India too. They must come together to work out the best way that the system can be implemented for the mutual benefit of the tax system, and themselves. This can do by participating actively in seminars, social media and community forums for accounting software like community forums like Tally. ERP 9 open Forum which share information and views for Chartered accountants and users at large on topics related to GST and more.
• Filling up your GST E Way bill:
As of now, the third party software s such as Tally ERP have joined hands to make Eway generation easier for you. And besides, convergence of GST relies on technology for interlinking of business systems and government systems for a seamless experience. This can be easily achieved by interlocking the business needs with ERP Systems that are GST ready. One such promising software is Tally.ERP 9 Software which has recently been updated even with the Eway bill mechanism for generation of Eway bills from the software and uploading it on the Eway bill portal in the JSON supported file format.
It is clear that the E-way bill under GST ecosystem, will help government, trader, manufacturer, consumer and the taxman alike, paving the way for a transparent system of movement of goods and services from one state to another. They will be able to co-relate the transportation of goods with sale of goods. It will also create a paperless documentation trail that will help save the planet from climate change. The pros are many and it is upto all of us to make the system work for us.
By Vijay C.
