The Goods and Services Tax (GST) law was introduced in India to correct the erstwhile law’s several wrongs. One of the main problems was a lack of transparency concerning both the taxpayers and the government. Under the GST regime, one of the methods of the government to ensure transparency is by digitising the process. e-way bill is one such measure.
Latest Updates
29th August 2021
From 1st May 2021 to 18th August 2021, the taxpayers will not face blocking of e-way bills for non-filing of GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B (two months or more for monthly filer and one quarter or more for QRMP taxpayers) for March 2021 to May 2021.
4th August 2021
Blocking of e-way bills due to non-filing of GSTR-3B resumes from 15th August 2021.
1st June 2021
1. The e-way bill portal, in its release notes, has clarified that a suspended GSTIN cannot generate an e-way bill. However, a suspended GSTIN as a recipient or as a transporter can get a generated e-way bill.
2. the mode of transport ‘Ship’ has now been updated to ‘Ship/Road cum Ship’ so that the user can enter a vehicle number where goods are initially moved by road and a bill of lading number and date for movement by ship. This will help in availing the ODC benefits for movement using ships and facilitate the updating of vehicle details as and when moved on road.
18th May 2021
The CBIC in Notification 15/2021-Central Tax has notified that the blocking of GSTINs for e-Way Bill generation is now considered only for the defaulting supplier’s GSTIN and not for the defaulting recipient or the transporter’s GSTIN.
An e-way bill will act as an effective tool to check tax evasion at various points and track the movement of goods. The transporter has to ensure that a copy of the tax invoice or a bill of supply should be carried when an e-way bill is not required to be generated.
An insight into how the e-way bill acts as a tax evasion tool can be seen from an instance. If some raw material is being transported from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, where it is processed into finished goods and sold, the state in which they should receive the revenue is Tamil Nadu because it is the state of consumption. Whereas, if half of the finished goods are transported to another state, say Kerala and then sold there, then the revenue share belongs to Kerala. This is where the e-way bill comes into use. It helps us clearly know the movement of goods in every state and thus helps prevent tax evasion. Hence, the e-way bill is an important document that facilitates the movement of goods from one place to another.
An e-way bill can be generated electronically by uploading relevant details, including the type of goods, the HSN code, quantity and taxable value, details of the recipient, details of the transporter, vehicle number etc. The taxpayer/ transporter must generate an e-way bill before the movement of goods commences. Therefore, it is needless to say that if a taxpayer is covered under mandatory provisions, the goods should, at all times, be covered by an e-way bill. But if not, then he is required to carry a copy of a tax invoice or the valid document stated under the Invoicing provisions of GST laws.
Specific goods that are exempt from eway bill rules are:
Other transactional cases where eway bill is not required are:
So, if a taxpayer falls under any of the above categories, he will not be required to generate an e-way bill. Though the taxpayers who fall under e-way bill exemptions are relieved of this compliance, they should ensure that the other documents like the invoice and bill of supply are in accordance with the rules and regulations. A taxpayer flouting the e-way bill rules is punishable with severe consequences.
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Compliance of e-way bills rules-For transporters
Know how to generate e-way bills using ClearTax
How to generate e-way bills online