the essay of 7 February 2018 · the untouched capture
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<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font color="#663399">FEBRUARY 07, 2018 </font></strong></font></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#FF6633" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>e-Way
Bill - A Tale of Journey being curtailed!</strong></font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><u>By Vijay Kumar</u></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><em>Eh Way-Bill?</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>"Today
E-waybill will open up highways across the nation, removing bottlenecks,
facilitating free flow of goods and enhancing supply chain efficiency.
It will benefit industry and transport in a big way. Let's support it and
reap the benefits", </em>exclaimed a twitter from the CBEC on 31st
January 2017. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">CBEC also tweeted, </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Get ready for e-way bill which will come into effect from 1st February 2018 for smoother, swifter and easier inter-state movement of goods. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On February 1st, they mildly tweeted, </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>In view of difficulties faced by the trade in generating e-way bill due to initial technological glitches, it has been decided to extend the trial phase for generation of e-way bill, both for inter and intra state movement of goods. It'll be applicable from a date to be notified</em>. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What is <em>applicable from a date to be notified? </em>Is it the trial or the real thing? </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The OBJECTIVES of the e-way bill were stated to be: </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Single e-way bill for hassle-free movement of goods throughout the country. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Eliminates the need for separate transit pass in each State to move goods. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Shift from departmental policing Model to self-declaration Model for movement of goods. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And the benefits were campaigned to be </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Taxpayers/transporters need not visit any tax officers/checkposts for generation of e-way Bill/movement of goods across States. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- No waiting time at checkposts and faster movement of goods thereby optimum use of vehicles/resources, since there are no checkposts in GST regime. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- User-friendly e-way Bill system. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Easy and quick generation of e-way Bill. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Checks and balances for smooth tax administration and process simplification for easier Verification of e-way Bill by Tax Officers. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And the system crashed even before it could take off. Well! These things happen. How many rockets fell into the Arabian Sea before we could be a Space Power? </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>What is an e-way bill? </strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Government clarified, </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>e-way bill is a document required to be carried by a person in charge of the conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding fifty thousand rupees as mandated by the Government in terms of section 68 of the Goods and Services Tax Act read with rule 138 of the rules framed thereunder. It is generated from the GST Common Portal by the registered persons or transporters who cause movement of goods of consignment before commencement of such movement</em>. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>And Why is it required? </strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Government has an answer.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Section 68 of the Goods and Services Tax Act mandates that the Government may require the person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding such amount as may be specified to carry with him such documents and such devices as may be prescribed. Rule 138 prescribes e-way bill as the document to be carried for the consignment of goods of value more than rupees fifty thousand. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>For
what purpose? </strong>Government solemnly states, <em>E-way bill is a
mechanism to ensure that <strong>goods </strong>being transported <strong>comply </strong> with
the GST Law and is an effective tool to track movement of goods and check
tax evasion</em>. I thought taxpayers were required to comply with the
Laws, but now I understand that even lifeless goods are required to comply
with the laws. It was sheer ignorance on my part. After all, the concept
of 'offending goods' is as old as <em>offence </em> and <em>goods</em>.
You know offending goods can be arrested too. In a document published in
1929 by the US FDA, it is stated, <em>speed of action is essential if the
public is to be protected by <strong>arresting the offending goods </strong> before
distribution</em>. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">How did the Government introduce the e-way bill and how did they keep it on hold for the present? Like all laws in India, it is a long and complicated story. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On 02.02.2018, they issued <strong><a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/pdfnoti/gst/cgst_rule/2018/cgst_rule_11.pdf" target="_blank">Notification No.11/2018-Central Tax</a></strong>, which stated, </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>In exercise of the powers conferred by section 164 of the <strong><a href="http://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/subCatDesc.php3?subCatDisp_Id=29&filename=notification/gst/cgst_act/2017/cgst_act_index_2017.htm" target="_blank">Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017</a></strong> (12 of 2017), the Central Government hereby rescinds, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such rescission, the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue)<strong> <a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/notDesc.php?MpoQSrPnM=MjM4NjQ=" target="_blank">No. 74/2017 –Central Tax</a></strong> dated the 29th December, 2017, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary,Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R 1601 (E), dated the 29th December,2017 </em>. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">So, by this Notification, the <strong><a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/notDesc.php?MpoQSrPnM=MjM4NjQ=" target="_blank">Notification No. 74/2017-Central Tax</a></strong>, dated 29.12.2017, has been rescinded. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Pray, what is that notification? </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/notDesc.php?MpoQSrPnM=MjM4NjQ=" target="_blank">Notification No. 74/2017-Central Tax</a></strong>, dated 29.12.2017, reads as, </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>In exercise of the powers conferred by section 164 of the <strong><a href="http://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/subCatDesc.php3?subCatDisp_Id=29&filename=notification/gst/cgst_act/2017/cgst_act_index_2017.htm" target="_blank">Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017</a></strong> (12 of 2017), the Central Government hereby appoints the 1st day of February, 2018, as the date from which the provisions of serial numbers 2(i) and 2(ii) of<strong> <a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/notDesc.php?MpoQSrPnM=MjMzNzI=" target="_blank">notification No. 27/2017-Central Tax</a> </strong>dated the 30th August, 2017, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R 1121 (E), dated the 30th August, 2017, shall come into force </em>. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By this Notification, certain provisions of <strong><a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/notDesc.php?MpoQSrPnM=MjMzNzI=" target="_blank">Notification No. 27/2017-Central Tax</a></strong> dated the 30th August, 2017, were to come into force from 01.02.2018. And what exactly did this notification do? It actually substituted Rule 138 in the CGST Rules and added a few more rules 138A to 138D. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rule 138 of the GST Rules originally had a provision like this: </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Till such time as an E-way bill system is developed and approved by the Council, the Government may, by notification, specify the documents that the person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods shall carry while the goods are in movement or in transit storage</em>. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This was a warning that the e-way bill is on its way. By <strong><a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/notDesc.php?MpoQSrPnM=MjMzNzI=" target="_blank">Notification No. 27/2017-Central Tax</a></strong>, the e-way bill was brought into law and it required <em>every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees to furnish information relating to the said goods in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01, electronically, on the common portal, before commencement of such movement</em>. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And the E-WAY BILL was born! </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In
spite of assured drudgery, I would summarise the story. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, the Government promised us the E-Way Bill. This rule was substituted to make elaborate rules for the speedy runway for the GST Road. This was to come into force from 01.02.2018 and now it is postponed indefinitely. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You think this is confusing and complicated? Every truck driver passing through that invisible check-post is expected to know all of these. Just imagine a truck driver trying to generate an e-way bill on 1 st February before he started his long trip and he gets a message that the <em>server is busy </em>. What could he do? He could search Twitter for any information from the GST authorities. If he was successful, he would have seen the tweet that e-waybill system is postponed. The next day he would have seen a notification stating that some other notification is rescinded and he could have gone all the way back to the original Rule 138, which gave him enough warning about the impending calamity. And how could he explain all this to an ignorant officer who would demand the e-way bill? There are cases where trucks have been detained and penalties imposed for not carrying the e-way bill even before the e-way bill was to come into force on 1 st February. In one such case a trader went to a High Court and the high Court ordered release of the goods, not the truck as the truck owner was not a petitioner. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It is sad that the e-way crashed even before it could speed through an otherwise perfect GST. I sincerely hope it comes back with all the possible bureaucratic vigour. A small accident should not deter us or cause any false hopes. Incidentally, many States had a fairly good e-way bill system running for several years and at least one State has gone back to its own e-way bill. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Are you required to have an e-way bill even if you are transporting your own goods? The other day, a writ petitioner whose goods were seized, was asked in a High Court, "what documents were you carrying?". He said, "I was transporting my own goods and I had no documents." The Court wondered if he can carry his own goods without any documents. The Government recently answered one such doubt. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Q: Whether e-way bill is required, if the goods are being purchased and moved by the consumer to his destination himself. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>A: Yes. As per the rules, e-way bill is required to be carried along with the goods at the time of transportation, if the value is more than Rs. 50,000.00. Under this circumstance, the consumer can get the e-way bill generated from the taxpayer or supplier, based on the bill or invoice issued by him. Or the consumer can enrol and log in as the citizen and generate the e-way bill. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Fortunately, the Law stated that you need not have an e-waybill, if you are transporting these goods (among many others) </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1. Live asses </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2. Curd, Lassi </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3. Semen </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4. Potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, cauliflower </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">5. Human Blood </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">6. Contraceptives </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">7. Municipal waste (what if you live in a village?) </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">8. Gandhi Topi </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">9. Sacred Thread commonly known as yagnopavit. (Yagnopaveetham paramam pavithram) </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">But then that was again amended. <strong><a href="https://taxindiaonline.com/RC2/notDesc.php?MpoQSrPnM=MjM5NTk=" target="_blank">Notification No. 3/2018-Central Tax</a></strong>, dated 23.01.2018 again substituted the Rule 138 with effect from 01.02.2018. But this doesn't seem to be the one put off by the Government.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Ten times more business:</strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Recently a Departmental Representative in the CESTAT asked a very famous advocate as to what would be the career prospects of the consultants in the GST era. The famous advocate told him that there would be ten times more cases than now. The DR is waiting for the Law to settle down and litigation to bloom, before he puts in his papers.</font></p>
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