Reason, Procedure, Final Returns, Revocation & Processing of cancellation of GST: Complete information - TaxSuvidha

Friday 2 November 2018

Reason, Procedure, Final Returns, Revocation & Processing of cancellation of GST: Complete information


Cancellation of GST Registration- Full Information

Introduction

The registration granted under GST can be cancelled for specified reasons. The GST cancellation can either be initiated by the department on their own motion or the registered person can apply for GST cancellation of their registration. In case of death of registered person, the legal heirs can apply for GST cancellation. In case the registration has been cancelled by the department there is a provision for revocation of the GST cancellation. On cancellation of the registration the person has to file a return which is called the final return.

Reason for GST cancellation:

Reason, Procedure, Final Returns, Revocation & Processing of cancellation of GST: Complete information
Image: Reason, Procedure, Final Returns, Revocation & Processing of cancellation of GST: Complete information


The registration can be cancelled for the following reasons:

1)   A person registered under any of the existing laws, but who is not liable to be registered under the GST Act;
2)   The business has been discontinued, transferred fully for any reason including death of the proprietor, amalgamated with other legal entity, demerged or otherwise disposed of;
3)   There is any change in the constitution of the business;
4)   The taxable person (other than the person who has voluntarily taken registration under sub-section (3) of section 25 of the CGST Act, 2017) is no longer liable to be registered;
5)   A registered person has contravened such provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder;
6)   A person paying tax under Composition levy has not furnished returns for three consecutive tax periods;
7) Any registered person, other than a person paying tax under Composition levy has not furnished returns for a continuous period of six months;
8)   Any person who has taken voluntary registration under sub-section (3) of section 25 has not commenced business within six months from the date of registration;
9)   Registration has been obtained by means of fraud, willful misstatement or suppression of facts

Procedure for GST registration cancellation:

With the following procedure GST registration can be cancelled :

1)   A person already registered under any of the existing laws (Central excise, Service tax, VAT etc.), but who now is not liable to be registered under the GST Act has to submit an application electronically by 31ST December 2017, in FORM GST REG-29 at the common portal for the cancellation of registration granted to him. The Superintendent of Central Tax shall, after conducting such enquiry as deemed fit, cancel the said registration.
2)   The cancellation of registration under the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be a cancellation of registration under Central Goods and Services Tax Act.
3)   In the event, the Superintendent of Central Tax has reasons to believe that the registration of a person is liable to be cancelled, a notice to such person in FORM GST REG-17, requiring him to show cause, within a period of seven working days from the date of the service of such notice, as to why his registration shall not be cancelled; will be issued.
4)   The reply to the show cause notice issued has to be furnished by the registered person in FORM REG–18 within a period of seven working days.
5)   In case the reply to the show cause notice is found to be satisfactory, the Superintendent of Central Tax will drop the proceedings and pass an order in FORM GST REG –20.
6)   However, when the person who has submitted an application for cancellation of his GST registration is no longer liable to be registered or his registration is liable to be cancelled, the Superintendent of Central Tax will issue an order in FORM GST REG-19, within a period of thirty days from the date of application or, as the case may be, the date of the reply to the show cause issued, cancel the registration, with effect from a date to be determined by him and notify the taxable person, directing him to pay arrears of any tax, interest or penalty.
7)   The registered person whose registration is cancelled shall pay an amount, by way of debit in the electronic credit ledger or electronic cash ledger, equivalent to the credit of input tax in respect of inputs held in stock and inputs contained in semi-finished or finished goods held in stock or capital goods or plant and machinery on the day immediately preceding the date of such cancellation or the output tax payable on such goods, whichever is higher.
8)   In case of capital goods or plant and machinery, the taxable person shall pay an amount equal to the input tax credit taken on the said capital goods or plant and machinery, reduced by such percentage points as may be prescribed or the tax on the transaction value of such capital goods or plant and machinery under section 15, whichever is higher.
9)   The cancellation of registration shall not affect the liability of the person to pay tax and other dues for any period prior to the date of cancellation whether or not such tax and other dues are determined before or after the date of cancellation.


Final Returns under GST:

The person has to file a final return within three months

When the registration of a registered person other than an Input Service Distributor or a non-resident taxable person or a person paying tax under the composition scheme or TDS/TCS; has been cancelled, the person has to file a final return within three months of the date of cancellation or date of order of cancellation, whichever is later, electronically in FORM GSTR-10 through the common portal either directly or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner.

Revocation of GST Cancellation:

Cancelled GST registration can revocated by the Proper Officer

1)   When the registration has been cancelled by the Proper Officer (Superintendent of Central Tax) on his own motion and not on the basis of an application ,then the registered person, whose registration has been  cancelled, can submit an application for revocation of cancellation of registration, in FORM GST REG-21, to the Proper Officer (Assistant or Deputy Commissioners of Central Tax), within a period of thirty days from the date of the service of the order of cancellation of registration at the common portal, either directly or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner:
2)   However, if the registration has been cancelled for failure to furnish returns, application for revocation shall be filed, only after such returns are furnished and any amount due as tax, in terms of such returns, has been paid along with any amount payable towards interest, penalty and late fee in respect of the said returns.
3)   On examination of the application if the Proper Officer (Assistant or Deputy Commissioners of Central Tax) is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing, that there are sufficient grounds for revocation of cancellation of registration, then he shall revoke the cancellation of registration by an order in FORM GST REG-22 within a period of thirty days from the date of the receipt of the application and communicate the same to the applicant.
4)   However, if on examination of the application for revocation, if the Proper Officer (Assistant or Deputy Commissioners of Central Tax) is not satisfied then he will issue a notice in FORM GST REG– 23 requiring the applicant to show cause as to why the application submitted for revocation should not be rejected and the applicant has to furnish the reply within a period of seven working days from the date of the service of the notice in FORM GST REG-24.
5)   Upon receipt of the information or clarification in FORM GST REG-24, the Proper Officer (Assistant or Deputy Commissioners of Central Tax) shall dispose of the application within a period of thirty days from the date of the receipt of such information or clarification from the applicant. In case the information or clarification provided is satisfactory, the Proper Officer (Assistant or Deputy Commissioners of Central Tax) shall dispose the application as per para (iii) above. In case it is not satisfactory the applicant will be mandatorily given an opportunity of being heard, after which the Proper Officer (Assistant or Deputy Commissioners of Central Tax) after recording the reasons in writing may by an order in FORM GST REG- 05, reject the application for revocation of cancellation of registration and communicate the same to the applicant.
6)   The revocation of cancellation of registration under the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be a revocation of cancellation of registration under Central Goods and Services Tax Act .


Processing of Applications for Cancellation of GST Registration submitted in FORM GST REG-16:

Clarification on process of application for GST Cancellation

1)       The Board is in receipt of representations seeking clarifications on various issues in relation to processing of the applications for cancellation of registration under GST filed by taxpayers in FORM GST REG-16. In order to clarify these issues and to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the provisions of law across the field formations, the Board, in exercise of its powers conferred by section 168 (1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the “CGST Act”), hereby clarifies the issues as detailed hereunder:
2)       Section 29 of the CGST Act, read with rule 20 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the “CGST Rules”) provides that a taxpayer can apply for cancellation of registration in FORM GST REG-16 in the following circumstances:
a)   Discontinuance of business or closure of business;
b)   Change in constitution of business leading to change in PAN;
c)   Taxable person (including those who have taken voluntary registration) is no longer liable to be registered under GST; ie. Death of sole proprietor;
d)   Any other reason (to be specified in the application).
3)       Rule 20 of the CGST Rules provides that the taxpayer applying for cancellation of registration shall submit the application in FORM GST REG-16 on the common portal within a period of 30 days of the „occurrence of the event warranting the GST cancellation‟. It might be difficult in some cases to exactly identify or pinpoint the day on which such an event occurs. For instance, a business may be transferred/disposed over a period of time in a piece meal fashion. In such cases, the 30-day deadline may be liberally interpreted and the taxpayers‟ application for cancellation of registration may not be rejected because of the possible violation of the deadline.
4)       While initiating the application for cancellation of registration in FORM GST REG16, the Common portal captures the following information which has to be mandatorily filled in by the applicant:
a)   Address for future correspondence with mobile number and email address;
b)   Reason for cancellation;
c)   Date from which cancellation is sought;
d)   Details of the value and the input tax/tax payable on the stock of inputs, inputs contained in semi-finished goods, inputs contained in finished goods, stock of capital goods/plant and machinery;
e)   In case of transfer, merger of business, etc., particulars of registration of the entity in which the existing unit has been merged, amalgamated, or transferred (including the copy of the order of the High Court / transfer deed);
f)    Details of the last return filed by the taxpayer along with the ARN of such return filed.  
On successful submission of the cancellation application, the same appears on the dashboard of the jurisdictional officer.
5)       Since the cancellation of registration under GST has no effect on the liability of the taxpayer for any acts of commission/omission committed before or after the date of GST cancellation, the proper officer should accept all such applications within a period of 30 days from the date of filing the application, except in the following circumstances:
a)   The application in FORM GST REG-16 is incomplete, i.e. where all the relevant particulars, as detailed in para 4 above, have not been entered;
b)   In case of transfer, merger or amalgamation of business, the new entity in which the applicant proposes to amalgamate or merge has not got registered with the tax authority before submission of the application for cancellation.
In all cases other than those listed at (a) and (b) above, the application for cancellation of registration should be immediately accepted by the proper officer and the order for cancellation should be issued in FORM GST REG-19 with the effective date of cancellation being the same as the date from which the applicant has sought cancellation in FORM GST REG-16. In any case the effective date cannot be a date earlier to the date of application for the same.
6)       In situations referred to in (a) or (b) in para 5 above, the proper officer shall inform the applicant in writing about the nature of the discrepancy and give a time period of seven working days to the taxpayer, from the date of receipt of the said letter, to reply. If no reply is received within the specified period of seven working days, the proper officer may reject the application on the system, after giving the applicant an opportunity to be heard, recording reasons for rejection in the dialog box that opens once the „Reject‟ button is chosen. If reply to the query is received and the same on examination is found satisfactory, the Proper Officer may approve the application for GST cancellation and proceed to cancel the registration by issuing an order in FORM GST REG-19. If reply to the query is found to be not satisfactory, the Proper Officer may reject the application for cancellation on the system, after giving the applicant an opportunity to be heard. The Proper Officer must also record his reasons for rejection of the application in the dialog box that opens when the „Reject‟ button is chosen.
7)       Section 45 of the CGST Act requires every registered person (other than an Input Service Distributor or a non-resident taxable person or a person paying tax under the provisions of section 10 or section 51 or section 52) whose registration has been cancelled, to file a final return in FORM GSTR-10, within three months of the effective date of cancellation or the date of order of cancellation, whichever is later. The purpose of the final return is to ensure that the taxpayer discharges any liability that he/she may have incurred under sub-section (5) of the section 29 of the CGST Act. It may be noted that the last date for furnishing of FORM GSTR-10 by those taxpayers whose registration has been cancelled on or before 30.09.2018 has been extended till 31.12.2018 vide notification No. 58/2018 – Central Tax dated the 26th October, 2018.
8)       Further, sub-section (5) of section 29 of the CGST Act, read with rule 20 of the CGST Rules states that the taxpayer seeking cancellation of registration shall have to pay, by way of debiting either the electronic credit or cash ledger, the input tax contained in the stock of inputs, semi-finished goods, finished goods and capital goods or the output tax payable on such goods, whichever is higher. For the purpose of this calculation, the stock of inputs, semi-finished goods, finished goods and capital goods shall be taken as on the day immediately preceding the date with effect from which the cancellation has been ordered by the proper officer i.e. the date of cancellation of registration. However, it is clarified that this requirement to debit the electronic credit and/or cash ledger by suitable amounts should not be a prerequisite for applying for cancellation of registration. This can also be done at the time of submission of final return in FORM GSTR-10. In any case, once the taxpayer submits the application for cancellation of his/her registration from a specified date, he/she will not be able to utilize any remaining balances in his/her electronic credit/cash ledgers from the said date except for discharging liabilities under GST Act upto the date of filing of final return in FORM GSTR-10. Therefore, the requirement to reverse the balance in the electronic credit ledger is automatically met. In case it is later determined that the output tax liability of the taxpayer, as determined under sub-section (5) of section 29 of the CGST Act, was greater than the amount of input tax credit available, then the difference shall be paid by him/her in cash. It is reiterated that, as stated in sub-section (3) of section 29 of the CGST Act, the cancellation of registration does not, in any way, affect the liability of the taxpayer to pay any dues under the GST law, irrespective of whether such dues have been determined before or after the date of cancellation.  
9)       In case the final return in FORM GSTR-10 is not filed within the stipulated date, then notice in FORM GSTR-3A has to be issued to the taxpayer. If the taxpayer still fails to file the final return within 15 days of the receipt of notice in FORM GSTR-3A, then an assessment order in FORM GST ASMT-13 under section 62 of the CGST Act read with rule 100 of the CGST Rules shall have to be issued to determine the liability of the taxpayer under sub-section (5) of section 29 on the basis of information available with the proper officer. If the taxpayer files the final return within 30 days of the date of service of the order in FORM GST ASMT-13, then the said order shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.
However, the liability for payment of interest and late fee shall continue.
10)    Rule 68 of the CGST Rules requires issuance of notices to registered persons who fail to furnish returns under section 39 (FORM GSTR-1, FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-4), section 44 (Annual Return – FORM GSTR-9 / FORM GSTR-9A / FORM GSTR-9C), section 45 (Final Return – FORM GSTR-10) or section 52 (TCS Return – FORM GSTR-6). It is clarified that issuance of notice would not be required for registered persons who have not made any taxable supplies during the intervening period (i.e. from the date of registration to the date of application for cancellation of registration) and has furnished an undertaking to this effect.
11)    It is pertinent to mention here that section 29 of the CGST Act has been amended by the CGST (Amendment) Act, 2018 to provide for “Suspension” of registration. The intent of the said amendment is to ensure that a taxpayer is freed from the routine compliances, including filing returns, under GST Act during the pendency of the proceedings related to GST cancellation. Although the provisions of CGST (Amendment) Act, 2018 have not yet been brought into force, it will be prudent for the field formations not to issue notices for nonfiling of return for taxpayers who have already filed an application for cancellation of registration under section 29 of the CGST Act. However, the requirement of filing a final return, as under section 45 of the CGST Act, remains unchanged.  
12)    It may be noted that the information in table in FORM GST REG-19 shall be taken from the liability ledger and the difference between the amounts in Table 10 and Table 11 of FORM GST REG-16.
13)    It is requested that suitable trade notices may be issued to publicize the contents of this circular.
  
  -Referance: Circular No. 69/43/2018-GST

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