E-way Bill – Storing of Goods with Transporter
E-way Bill – Storing of Goods with Transporter
Due to the weak financial condition, the weavers and the artisans in the textile sector generally store their goods in the warehouse of the transporter. The transporters who are providing such warehousing facility will have to mandatorily get themselves registered under Goods and Service Tax (GST) and further the transporters needs to maintain detailed records of goods received for storage and further transportation of goods till the consignee / recipient’s premises. Due to the difficulty faced by the transporter, the textile industry had made representation and requested to treat the godowns of the transporter as ‘transit godowns’. In this article, we look at the provisions relating e-way bill while storing goods with Transporter.
Clarification on The Above Issue
Vide circular no. 61/35/2018 – GST dated 4th September 2018 and by exercising, powers conferred under section 168 (1) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017, the board has provided below mentioned clarification:
E-way Bill Requirement
As per provisions contained in rule 138 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017, e-way bill generation is mandatory for any movement of goods. In view of the said rule, any the movement of goods, including when goods are stored in the godown of the transporter before delivery, should always be accompanied by the valid e-way bill.
Place of Business
The definition of ‘place of business’ is contained under section 2 (85) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 and, as clarified under the above referred circular, ‘place of business’ would include ‘a place from where the business is ordinarily carried out, and includes a warehouse, a godown or any other place where a taxable person stores his goods, supplies or receives goods or services or both”.
It is further clarified that an additional place of business is the place of business from where the taxpayer carries out business related activities within the State, in addition to the principal place of business.
Situation Where Consignee / Recipient Uses Godown Of The Transporter For Warehouse
When the consignee / recipient of goods uses godown of the transporter for storage purpose, in such case, the consignee / recipient taxpayer is required to declare the transporter’s godown as an additional place of business. The mere declaration by the consignee / recipient taxpayer to this effect with the concurrence of the transporter in the said declaration will serve the purpose.
Once the transporter’s godown has been declared as the additional place of business by the consignee / recipient taxpayer, the transportation under the e-way bill shall be deemed to have been concluded once the goods have reached the transporter’s godown. Resulting thereby that no e-way bill validity needs to be extended.
However, e-way bill provisions shall be applicable in case of movement of goods from the transporter’s godown to any other place of the consignee / recipient taxpayer.
Maintenance of Accounts And Records
It has been clarified in the above referred circular that as per provisions of section 35 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017, the transporter is required to maintain required accounts and records as a ‘warehouse keeper’.
Further, the consignee / recipient taxpayer is also required to maintain required accounts and records as per rule 56 and 57 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017. It must be noted that books of accounts for goods stored at the transporter’s godown can be maintained by the consignee / recipient at his principal place of business [as per rule 56 (7)].
Know more about GST accounts maintenance.
