All About GST Bill of Entry

The operation of GST starting from the 1st of July, 2017 will impact the overall process of goods importation into India. The IGST is collected on imports alongside the GST Compensation Cess. Tax credit input is also applied to the IGST collected during import. Therefore, the GST bill of entry is essential for importers to tax all imports and ensure input tax credit is provided.

Bill of Entry

As stated earlier, the Bill of Entry is a very important document to all importers as well as customs clearance agents. The bill of entry document is needed to be filled on the arrival of goods to initiate the process of customs clearance,

When an importer files the bill of entry documents, the goods will be assessed and examined by a responsible custom officer. This will be preceded by paying the GST Compensation Cess, Basic customs duty, and IGST for clearing such goods.

You have a window period of 30 days after the arrival of goods at which the bill of entry should be filed. At the expiration of this time frame, such goods will be auctioned by the customs authorities. However, there are certain cases at which an appeal for extension can be filed within the 30 days of the goods arrival in India.

HSN Code for GST

GST makes use of the HSN to classify goods tax levies, and this code has been adopted by the Customs Department as an internationally accepted way of tracking imported goods.

Changes to Bill of Entry under GST

Once the government implements GST, the format of the bill of entry would change as the importers GSTIN must be stated on the document. In the absence of GSTIN, a temporary GSTIN can be sought. Input tax credit would be made available for the importer for IGST and GST Compensation Cess Based on the GSTIN. However, the importer will not get input tax credit for the basic customs duty paid on the import.

Bill of Entry Format – Warehousing

The new GST Bill of Entry format for warehousing is as under:

Bill of Entry – For Warehousing