From just 500 recognised startups in 2016 to over 1.59 lakh certificates issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as of 16 January, 2025, India’s startup ecosystem has experienced tremendous growth. While government initiatives like Ease of Doing Business and Make in India have created a favorable environment, this rapid expansion would not have been possible without the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Startups have long struggled with navigating a complex, multi-layered indirect tax system—GST has played a key role in simplifying this landscape.Available GST Exemptions for StartupsGST Registration for StartupsBefore GST, any business with a turnover of more than Rs 5 lakh was required to register for Value Added Tax (VAT) and pay VAT (different in different states). Under GST, the registration threshold is ₹20 lakhs for service providers and ₹40 lakhs for businesses dealing in goods, thus exempting many small businesses including startups.GST offers an optional composition scheme for small businesses with turnover between ₹20 lakhs and ₹1.5 crore, allowing them to pay tax at a lower rate.However, startups in the manufacturing sector do face certain challenges. Under the previous excise laws, only manufacturing businesses with a turnover more than Rs 1.50 crore have to pay excise. But, with GST in place, the turnover limit has been reduced to Rs 40 lakh thus increasing the tax burden for many manufacturing startups.GST Refunds and Input Tax Credit (ITC)A lot of startups are into the service industry i.e., they pay service tax.

CMP-08 must be filed by all taxpayers registered under the GST composition scheme, including service providers. It is used to declare and pay self-assessed tax every quarter and must be submitted by the 18th of the month following each quarter.The GSTN enabled the CMP-08 filing facility on 29 July 2019. This form replaced the earlier quarterly GSTR-4 from FY 2019-20 onwards. Instead, composition taxpayers are now required to file GSTR-4 annually, starting from April 2020 for the financial year 2019-20. (as per Central Tax (Rate) Notification No.

The government has introduced hard-locking in GSTR-3B to prevent tax evasion and make the entire GST return filing process more transparent. The change was initiated for the first time via an advisory dated 17th October, 2024. The GST Network made the auto-populated liability fields non-editable from January 2025, which was later postponed. In this article, we will discuss what is hard locking of GSTR-3B, the timeline so far and the best practices a business should follow to stay ahead of the curve.What is Hard-Locking in GSTR-3B?GSTR-3B is the summary return that taxpayers must file regularly to show details of outward supplies, Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims, tax liability, refunds, etc, recorded on their GSTIN. The details of outward supplies are auto-filled from the already filed GSTR-1/IFF and that of ITC claims are auto-filled from GSTR-2B. The government, in order to remove the discrepancies between the data filed by the supplier through GSTR-1/IFF and the recipient via GSTR-2B, introduced hard locking of GSTR-3B by making the auto-populated liability field non-editable, as the first step. Earlier, the taxpayers could manually edit such auto-filled fields in GSTR-3B.

The government has made some groundbreaking reforms to revolutionise how businesses manage the GST on consignments and parcels delivered through the railways. Integrating the e-way bill for Railway transport with the Parcel Management System (PMS) and the Freight Operation Information System (FOIS) will make life easy. This blog will teach you how to complete the RR no. / et-RRs validation to ensure compliance and avoid penalties.Goods Transported by RailwaysWhen transporting goods by railway, details of the railway receipt (RR number), documenting the approximate distance covered (in kms) with the date should be provided. The transporter can track the status of the transit using the FNR which is the 11 digits printed on top-left of RR.E-Way Bill for Railway ParcelUntil recently, disclosing the e-way bill for goods and parcels transported through railways wasn't mandatory.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax which was introduced in 2017. The aim was to bring a unified tax reform by replacing the multiple taxes such as excise duty, VAT, services tax, etc. GST is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition.To every person who supplies goods and/or services of value exceeding Rs 20 lakh in a financial year. (Limit is Rs 10 lakh for some special category states). Compulsory registration for these.

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) is a 100% Government owned enterprise. It manages the entire IT system of the GST portal, which is the mother database for everything GST. The government uses this portal to track every financial transaction and provide taxpayers with all services – from registration to filing taxes and maintaining all tax details.Structure of GSTNThe Union Government owns a 50% share in the GSTN jointly with State Governments & UTs.The authorised capital of the GSTN is Rs 10 crore (US$1.18 million), of which 50% of the shares are divided equally between the Central and State governments.The GSTN has also been approved for a non-recurring grant of Rs 315 crores. The contract for developing this vast technological backend was awarded to Infosys in September 2015. The GSTN was first chaired by Mr Navin Kumar, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer (1975 batch), who has served in many senior positions with the Government of Bihar and the Central Govt.ShareholderShareholdingGovernment of India50%State Governments50%Total100%Salient Features of the GSTNThe GSTN is a complex IT initiative.

Even after 7 years of successful implementation, GST is constantly evolving, and the future of GST remains dynamic. Tax compliance has become much easier under the GST regime as businesses can perform every compliance task through a single window of the online GST portal. Zero manual intervention has reduced the chances of corruption and harassment by unscrupulous tax officials. But it has its own set of complexities. GST compliance requires businesses to achieve a high level of technology adoption and a tech learning curve.

In today's competitive world, your business might face scalability challenges if you don't know how to manage vendors. Let's not forget how vital the stability of vendor management is during supply chain disruptions. But, when it comes to vendor management online, you first generate vendor codes. This is like a unique identification code for each vendor to note the transactions between your company and the vendor. Vendor codes are your easy hacks to maintain accurate records, maintain swift communication and do smooth transactions. But, for new users, generating and using vendor codes might feel overwhelming.Read this article to learn the meaning of a vendor code, how to create and register vendor codes, and much more.

Vendor Managed Inventory places inventory control, replenishment planning, and stock execution directly with the supplier. The buyer shares sales and consumption data. The vendor acts on that data. The result—fewer purchase orders, tighter shelf availability, and lower holding costs. This setup reduces delays, prevents overstocking, and strengthens flow alignment across departments.

Registration under GST is a legal requirement for businesses. The CGST Act 2017 specifies minimum turnover criteria for registration (Rs 40 lakhs for goods and Rs 20 lakhs for services). Still, certain specific businesses are required to register under the GST, irrespective of their annual turnover.Section 24 – Compulsory Registration under GST  Section 24 of the CGST Act 2017 requires the following persons to register under GST, irrespective of their annual turnover:Entities involved in inter-state supply of goods or services (e.g., goods or services sold from an entity located in Maharashtra to its customer located in Delhi)Casual Taxable Person (e.g., a person who has a fixed establishment in Rajasthan and wants to participate in a trade fair in Bengaluru; it has to obtain registration as a casual taxable person in the state of Bengaluru)Non-resident Person making taxable supply (e.g., a foreign exhibitor selling goods at any Indian exhibition)Entities which are liable to pay tax under the reverse charge mechanism (RCM) (e.g. when availing legal services from advocates, a business has to take compulsory registration)E-commerce operators (e.g. Amazon, Meesho or Ola, websites which are involved in selling goods and services online)Input Service Distributors (e.g.