Function enabling communication between taxpayers under GST

Recently, a new function ‘Communication between taxpayers’ is enabled on the

GST portal. The new function enables direct communication between the supplier and the recipient via GST portal. The same is briefly explained in the current article.

Steps to access the communication between taxpayers

The additional feature available on the GST portal can easily be accessed by following the below steps- STEP 1 – Visit the website

/. STEP 2 – Click ‘Login’ and enter appropriate login credentials i.e., ‘Username’, ‘Password’ and ‘characters shown’. STEP 3 – Select/ click LOGIN. STEP 4 – Navigate the following path – Services > User Services > Communication Between Taxpayers.

Evaluating the new functionality

The registered taxable person can access the new functionality by following the above simple steps. The new functionality, namely, Communication Between Taxpayers are broadly divided into the following four parts-

Inbox (which covers all the notifications received and reply received),
Compose,
Outbox (which covers all the notifications send and reply send), and
Download CSV template

A brief understanding of the same is provided hereunder-

Parts of the new functionality	Explanation thereon
Inbox	It contains records of all the notification and reply received from the recipient as well as supplier. The record is available in the following format- · The record relating to the notification received covers the following details- 1. Recipient GSTIN, 2. Trade/ Legal Name, 3. Subject, 4. Notification Number, 5. Notification Date, and 6. View Notification. · The record relating to reply received covers the following details- 1. Recipient GSTIN, 2. Trade/ legal name, 3. Subject, 4. Notification Number, 5. Notification Date, 6. The date on which reply Received, 7. View Reply Received.
Compose	The registered taxable person can send a new notification to the supplier or recipient via compose. Following details needs to be provided, in order to send new notification- · Notification To – select ‘Supplier’ or ‘Recipient’ from the drop-down list to whom the notification is to be sent. · Supplier / Recipient GSTIN – based on the above selection, enter the GSTIN of the supplier or recipient. · Trade/ legal name – on the basis of the GSTIN entered, trade/ legal name will be auto-generated. · Subject – enter appropriate subject up to a maximum of 50 characters. · Document Details – 1. Action required – select the appropriate action from the drop-down list. 2. Document Type – select relevant document type i.e. invoice or credit /debit note from the drop-down list. 3. Document number – enter the document number. 4. Document date – enter document date in DD/MM/YYYY format. 5. Document value – enter the document value. 6. Place of supply – select place of supply from the drop-down list. 7. Invoice Type/ note supply type – select from the drop-down list. 8. Reverse charge – tick the box, in case the transaction involves a reverse charge. 9. Add item – by clicking add item, a new table will be displayed, wherein, details like rate (in %); taxable value; integrated tax amount and cess amount needs to be mentioned. · Recipient remarks – here remark can be added maximum up to 200 characters. It is important to note here that once the compose notification is send, the same will be intimated to the receiver via email and SMS on the registered email and mobile number.
Outbox	It contains records of all the notification and reply sent to the recipient and the supplier. The record is available in the following format- · The record relating to the notification sent covers following details- 1. Recipient GSTIN, 2. Trade/ Legal Name, 3. Subject, 4. Notification Number, 5. Notification Date, and 6. View Notification Sent. · The record relating to reply sent covers following details- 1. Recipient GSTIN, 2. Trade/ legal name, 3. Subject, 4. Notification Number, 5. Date of sending a reply, 6. View Reply.
Download CSV template	The registered taxable person can download the notification in an excel sheet.

Advantage of a new function

The new functionality made available on the GST portal in form of ‘communication between taxpayer’ will ease up the communication process within the registered taxpayers. It will enable the taxpayer to resolve queries relating to tax invoice; debit or credit note; amendment of the filed document; missing document or any other issue. The function will surely bring more transparency in the GST system. Additionally, it will facilitate in the matching of the invoices and, likewise avoid complications of GST. Notably, the function enables the registered taxpayer to raise query/ question as both a buyer as well as a supplier of goods/ services.