Provisions of Composition scheme under GST

Introduction

Composition scheme provide ease in goods and tax related compliance to relatively small businessmen who do not have enough knowledge about goods and service tax and money to kept track on the business records and don’t wants to take the headache of having to separately accounting for  each and every transaction and maintain the inventory of all the goods separately.

By opting for composition scheme, he can simply tell the government that he does not wish to keep all the records and agrees to pay a fixed rate of GST on all of the sales made without even distinguishing between the different invoices.

Objective

• Composition scheme came into existence to bring simplicity and reduce the compliance cost for the small tax payers.
• This scheme is an optional for the tax payer to pay tax at lower rate and this scheme would be available only to certain eligible taxable person.

Provisions of composition scheme (section 10)

As per the section 10(1) a registered person, whose aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year does not exceeds Rs 1.5 crore, will be eligible to opt for payment of tax under composition scheme.

The turnover limit for determining the eligibility for composition scheme in case of special category states and other states:

1. The eligibility turnover limit for composition

• For 8 special category states – Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura is 75 lakh
• For other states have 1.5 crore turnover limit.

2. Composition scheme taxpayers permitted to render services other than restaurant services up to a specified limit:

• Under the erstwhile provisions, only a supplier of restaurant service was eligible for composition scheme. A person engaged in the supply of any other service other than restaurant service was not eligible for composition scheme.
• However, there are certain cases where a manufacturer/ trader is engaged in the supply of services other than restaurant service though the percentage of such supply of services is very small as compared to the supplies of goods.
• The percentage of such supply of services should not exceed:

• • 10% of the turnover in a State or Union territory in the preceding financial year  Or

• • 5 lakh,
    Whichever is higher

Who is eligible for opting composition scheme?

As per the section 10(2) the registered person shall be eligible to opt under such scheme only if:

• He is not at all engaged in supply of services other than restaurant services.
  Or
  In case he supplies services other than restaurant services, value of such services does not exceed 10% of the turnover in a state/ union territory in the preceding financial year or 5 lakh, whichever is higher.
• He is not engaged in supply of goods which are not taxable under CGST/SGST/UTGST Act.
• He is not engaged in any Inter-state outward supplies of goods. (Inward Supply is allowed)
• He is not engaged in any supply of goods through ECO (like Mintra, Snap deal) who is required to collect tax at source under section 52.
• He is not a manufacture of notified goods by central government (like tobacco, ice cream, and pan masala).

Rates applicable under composition scheme

Under composition scheme, the composition taxpayers are required to pay tax at different rate according to their:

• Manufacturer-1% (CGST+ SGST/UGST)
• Restaurant service provider-5% (CGST+ SGST/UGST)
• Any other supplier eligible for composition levy-1% (CGST+ SGST/UGST)

Whether interest income is included or excluded?

The value of supply of exempt services by way of extending loans, deposits or advances in so far as the consideration is represented by way of interest or discount, shall not be taken in account:

• For determining the eligibility of composition scheme under the second proviso to section 10(1). Under this proviso, a registered person supplies services other than restaurant services, value of such services does not exceed 10% of the turnover in a state/ union territory in the preceding financial year or 5 lakh, whichever is higher.
• In order to compute the aggregate turnover in order to determine eligibility for composition scheme.