GST Practitioner: All that you need to know
Small and medium-sized businesses have struggled to cope with the various provisions of GST. GST has subsumed many taxes prevalent in the erstwhile regime and strived to provide a uniform tax structure across the country. However, GST is complicated and compliance with the new tax regime has become a nightmare for many.
In this backdrop, the role of a GST practitioner becomes more important. A GST practitioner has authorized a taxpayer to work on his/her behalf and who is not responsible for the details of the that is being furnished in the returns. This is because the responsibility of the correctness of the details furnished in the return filed by the GSTP lies with the registered person on whose behalf the GSTP has filed.
Who is a GST Practitioner? (GSTP)
A GST Practitioner or GSTP is a person who has been approved by the Central and State Governments to perform all or some of the below-mentioned tasks on behalf of a taxable person:
• Provide details of outward and inward supplies
• Provide monthly, quarterly, annual or final GST returns
• File a claim for refund
• Make payments for credit into the electronic cash ledger, for example – payments for interest, interest, fees, tax or any other payment
• Appear as an authorized representative before any officer of a department, appellate authority or appellate tribunal
• File an application for amendment or cancellation of registration
• File an application for fresh registration
Who can become a GST Practitioner?
A person needs to fulfil the following conditions to become a GST practitioner:
• He/she should be a citizen of India
• He/she should be of sound mind
• He/she should not be adjudged as an insolvent
• He/she should not have been convicted of an offence with imprisonment of two years or more
Other criteria that need to be fulfilled to become a GST practitioner are:
• He/she has to be a retired officer of the Commercial Tax Department of any State Government or of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue or of the Government of India. The person should also have not worked in a post lower in rank than that of a Group-B Gazetted officer for a period of not less than 2 years.
• He/she should be enrolled as a sales tax practitioner or tax return preparer under the existing laws for a period of not less than 5 years
• Educational Qualifications –
1) He/she has a Graduate or Post Graduate degree or has passed an equivalent examination having a degree in Commerce, Law or Banking including Higher auditing or Business Administration from any Indian University established by any law for the time being in force
2) He/she should have passed a degree examination of any foreign university that is recognized by any Indian university as equivalent to the degree examination mentioned in sub-clause (i)
3) He/she should pass any other examination notified by the government for this purpose
4) He/she should pass any degree examination of an Indian University or of any Foreign University recognized by any Indian University as an equivalent of the degree examination and has also passed any of the following examinations:
• The final examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
• The final Examination of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India
• The final Examination of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India
What is the process for registration as a GST practitioner?
The procedure for registering as a GST practitioner is as follows:
An application has to be made in FORM GST PCT-01 electronically through the GST portal or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner.
An authorized officer, after going through the application in FORM GST PCT-01, can accept or reject it on the basis of the common judgement criteria.
If the Application is accepted, the applicant is issued a certificate in FORM GST PCT – 02.
