GST has streamlined the indirect tax system in India by replacing multiple state and central indirect taxes with a uniform tax structure across the country. By fostering greater coordination and reducing tax barriers, GST has streamlined the tax system, leading to increased economic growth in our country. Compliance under GST is important for registered businesses and is difficult because it requires domain knowledge, expertise, and technical assistance.
The GST council has prescribed the rules for maintaining records, generating invoices, reporting sales and purchases, paying taxes, and filing returns. Adherence to these rules and regulations constitutes compliance. Non-compliance can be a heavy cost for a business due to penalties and other complications. To file accurate returns on time, businesses need to maintain a consolidated GST sales report.
Purpose of consolidated GST sales report
The consolidated GST sales report is a comprehensive report that provides the complete details of the sales of a business during the tax period. An accurate consolidated GST sales report helps in filing the mandatory GST returns accurately and on time. It also helps in reconciliation with the auto-populated data in summarized returns like GSTR 2A, 2B, and GSTR-3B. Accurate and timely filing of returns is necessary to avoid penalties and blockage of the working capital of the business. The report contains the sales value, GST values, and all other invoice details for specific dates.
The importance of consolidated GST sales report
Streamline business processes
The consolidated GST sales report is a record and acts as proof of the sales transactions of the business. Seamless business operations can be ensured with proper invoicing and inventory management methods that can generate accurate reports to help in filing GST returns.
Compliance with law
Filing returns is mandatory under the GST Act. Non-compliance with the rules and regulations specified for taxpayers under GST can result in penalties and other legal consequences. The consolidated sales report is an important part of compliance under the law.
Avoid penalties and interest
To avoid penalties and interest, businesses must file accurate returns within the due dates. The consolidated sales reports help in avoiding losses due to late fees, interest, and other penalties.
Claim input tax credit
The consolidated sales report ensures that credit accrues to the right person. When the suppliers report their sales correctly, the recipients can claim the accurate input tax credit. Since all the records are matched, it can be ascertained that the credit goes to the right person and is not misused.
Tax assessments made easier
As the consolidated sales report provides an accurate record of the sale transactions of the business, it enables the tax authorities to assess the returns for their accuracy in tax and ITC computation.
Refund eligibility
The accurate sales reports help businesses eligible for refunds due to exports or accumulated input tax credits claim and receive the eligible refunds.
Decision making
The consolidated sales summary provides insights helpful in decision-making by analyzing sales trends, tax liabilities, and revenue earned.
Components of consolidated sales GST report
Sales data
Sales data includes detailed information about every sale transaction, like the date of sale, description of the goods or services sold, quantity, unit price, and total value.
Taxable value
Taxable value is the value on which GST is applicable. It excludes discounts, exemptions, and subsidies applicable to the transactions.
GST collections
This refers to the total amount of GST collected by the business on account of the sale transactions during the reporting period. It is calculated at the rates specified in GST for the product or service.
Input tax credit
Details of tax paid on inputs that are used in the production or provision of goods and services that can be offset against the GST liability of the taxpayer are included in this report.
GST returns
Businesses typically generate a consolidated sales report by consolidating data from multiple GST returns that they file under different sections of GST law. Businesses can also use accounting software or ERP systems to extract data from the GST returns to generate consolidated sales reports for internal analysis, decision-making, business development, and compliance purposes.
GST returns summarize the sales, tax received and remitted by a business, and ensure credit flow to the proper recipients. There are three important GST returns that a business is required to file, depending on the nature of the business. They are:
GSTR-1
- GSTR-1 is also called the sales report.
- All registered taxable suppliers need to file this return, except input service distributors, non-resident taxable persons, and persons liable to collect either TCS or TDS.
- It comprises details of outward supplies of taxable goods and services. The filing frequency is monthly or quarterly, depending on the aggregate turnover of the business.
- The due date for filing the monthly return is 11th of the subsequent month, and for quarterly filers, it is the 13th of the subsequent month after the end of the quarter.
- The penalty for late filing is Rs. 50/- per day (Rs. 25/- SGST, Rs. 25/- CGST), and Rs. 20/- for nil returns.
GSTR-3B
- GSTR-3B is a summary report that all casual, normal registered taxpayers must file every month, summarizing their outward supplies, inward supplies, input tax credit claims, and tax liability for the reporting period.
- If there are no transactions, the taxpayer needs to file a NIL return. Filing GSTR-3B by non-resident taxpayers, taxpayers registered under the composition scheme, input service distributors, database access or retrieval services (OIDAR), online information suppliers, tax deducted at source (TDS) deductors, and tax collected at source (TCS) collectors is not required.
- The due date for filing this return is the 20th day of the month following the month (tax period) to which the return pertains.
- The penalty for delayed filing of the return is Rs. 50/- per day for normal taxpayers and Rs. 20/- for nil returns.
GSTR-9
- GSTR-9 is an annual return that consolidates the details of outward supplies, inward supplies, taxes paid, ITC availed, and other relevant information for the particular financial year.
- It provides a comprehensive overview of the taxpayer’s financial activities during the year and is reconciled with the monthly or quarterly returns filed during the year.
- It is mandatory for businesses with turnovers above 2 crore rupees in a financial year. The return must be filed on or before December 31st of the year following the fiscal year.
- The penalty for delayed filing of the annual return is Rs. 50 per day (CGST-Rs. 25/-, SGST-Rs. 25/-).
- The annual return is crucial for the reconciliation of data in the monthly and quarterly returns, like GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, and GSTR-2A, and with the annual financial statements of the taxpayer.
These returns are equally important for businesses to use data from them to create their consolidated sales reports. This data provides insightful information on their sales performance, revenue, tax liability, and compliance status.
Accessing GST sales report online
Accessing the GST reports online in the GST portal involves the following steps:
Step 1: Login to the GST portal
- Visit the GST portal https://www.gst.gov.in
- Login with your valid user id and password
Step 2: Navigate to reports menu
- After logging in, go to services, returns, and select the returns dashboard.
Step 3: Select the appropriate return
- Choose the appropriate return form, like GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B.
Step 4: Select the relevant return period
Choose the return period like monthly, quarterly, etc.
Step 5: View and download the GSTR-1 summary
When you scroll down to the end of the GSTR-1-details of outward supplies of goods or services page and click the ‘generate GSTR-1 summary’ button, the summary is generated. The summary will include auto-drafted details pending action from recipients. The invoices added by the taxpayer will start reflecting in the relevant section of the form. The supplier can view or download the summary either in pdf or excel format.
Also read: How to Easily Download Your GST Summary: A Step-by-Step Guide
Offline mode of accessing the report
The offline method can also be used to generate the summary report. In this method, the taxpayer can use the offline utility tool that GSTN (Goods and Services Tax Network) provides on the common portal. The steps involved in generating the report in offline mode are as follows:
Step 1: Download and install offline utility
- Visit the GST portal https://www.gst.gov.in
- Go to the downloads section
- Download the latest version of the offline tool for GSTR-1
Step 2: Install the utility
- Install the downloaded offline tool utility in your computer
Step 3: Prepare data offline
- In the installed offline tool, enter details like invoice-wise outward supply details, HSN summary, and other required information.
Step 4: Generate JSON file
- After entering the necessary data, you can generate a JSON file using the offline tool.
Step 5: Upload the JSON file to the GST portal
- Go to the GST portal
- Select services>returns>returns dashboard
- Choose the appropriate return form like GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, etc. for the return period
- Click on the ‘Prepare Offline’ button and upload the generated JSON file
Step 6: Review and submit
- Review the details in the GST portal for accuracy
- Make the required corrections and submit.
The offline method is beneficial when there are multiple invoices to be uploaded. Moreover, this method is mandatory for businesses with more than 500 invoices. It saves a lot of time and reduces errors caused during the manual entry process.
Read more: How Do I Get A GSTR-1 Summary?
I-T prefilled consolidated GST return forms
The government proposes to enable a pre-filled consolidated GST return form, just like the annual information statement (AIS). The AIS allows taxpayers to view all their transaction details and e-invoices to arrive at their exact tax liabilities. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has come up with a consolidated pre-filled form with an e-verification feature. The taxpayers can address the discrepancies, if any, in the data before filing the returns and rectify them. They are planning to launch this feature by the end of this year. The authorities expect to ease filing returns for taxpayers and improve compliance.
At present, businesses are required to file three returns on a monthly and quarterly basis, depending on their turnover, along with an annual return in Form GSTR-9. Some returns already have the auto-filled data that the taxpayers must match with their sales, purchases, and refunds separately to avail of the input tax credit. This new feature, if introduced, will reduce the time and cost of filing the returns. A senior official of the council has mentioned that the automation process for the new feature has already started, and they expect to launch the consolidated report by November this year. The department is already working on capturing data directly from taxpayers’ financial transactions by reducing the threshold limit for e-invoicing, syncing financial data from banks and NBFCs, and sharing data with the income tax department. They have also enabled stricter scrutiny measures to detect fraud and eliminate tax evasion.
Conclusion
The consolidated sales GST report is a repository for sales data consisting of all the details regarding the sale transactions of the business. This report helps in filing the mandatory GST returns accurately and on time, thus avoiding losses to the business due to penalties and other consequences. It streamlines business processes and helps in the accurate calculation of tax liability. It ensures that credit flows to the right person. There are many tools and software programs today that help businesses generate and manage their GST sales reports efficiently. The accurate generation of this report is important as part of GST compliance.
Frequently asked questions
How can I generate the consolidated GST sales report?
Answer: Nowadays, various accounting and ERP software solutions are available, like CaptainBiz, that help in generating consolidated GST sales reports seamlessly.
What are the challenges to compliance faced by businesses?
Answer: The main challenge businesses face is the complexity of GST compliance. Maintaining accurate records and timely reconciliation is another challenge. Frequent changes in the rules and regulations make it difficult for businesses to keep track of them. Here is where professional GST providers like CaptainBiz can help ease the process and keep the business safe and compliant.
In which form can I get consolidated sales details in GST?
Answer: A consolidation of the data in the monthly and quarterly returns that the taxpayer files during the year, like GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, and GSTR-2A, forms the consolidated GST sales return.
What are the options for calculating and reporting GST?
Answer: The reporting and payment cycle in GST consists of these three options:
- Monthly—when the taxpayer’s annual turnover is above 2 crore rupees.
- Quarterly—when the taxpayer’s annual turnover is less than 2 crore rupees.
- Annually, when the taxpayer has voluntarily registered for GST.
