The process of GST payments was introduced to maintain uniformity in the payment of GST for all taxpayers. Every self-employed professional or business owner associated with the purchase and sale of goods and services is required to submit GST returns at regular intervals. The very first step is to calculate GST amount liable for your business goods and services under different tax slabs.
The ultimate objective of the entire process of GST online payment is maintaining transparency and accessibility of transactions.
Know more about: GST registration process online in step by step guide
Different payment processes for different categories of taxpayers
Different categories of taxpayers need to follow different payment processes as described below:
Regular taxpayer
For a regular taxpayer, a PMT-06 challan is required for making payment to the cash ledger. This is required when they are filing the GSTR-3B, every detail of which will be provided in the form. They can also create the challan and make payment either before or post login or even while filing the return for GSTR-3B.
Quarterly taxpayer
Taxpayers who have chosen the QRMP Scheme fall under this category. The tax for the first 2 months of the quarter must be deposited using the PMT-06 challan, and the payment must be made during the last month of the quarter while filing the GSTR-3B. The tax must be paid within the 25th of the succeeding month for the first and the second months of the quarter. For example, April and May for the April to June quarter.
Nil GST return taxpayer
Whether for a month or a quarter, these taxpayers do not have any purchase or sale or tax payable for the respective period. Therefore, they are not required to make the payment or generate any challan.
A taxpayer under the composition scheme
Such taxpayers are required to summarize their turnover or sales during a quarter and generate the CMP-08 challan for paying tax. For example, the tax payable for April to June quarter needs to be paid by 18th June under the Composition Scheme.
Related read: GST State Code List
GST payment online
A business or a taxpayer under the GST regime may choose either the online or the offline mode of payment for the generation of the challan in the form PMT-06. For GST online payment, the taxpayer can make the payment through net banking or credit or debit cards. With the online mode, the taxpayer need not log in to the GST portal for making the payment.
The GST portal provides a list of banks through which the payment can be made. These banks are authorized by the RBI to collect GST payments on their behalf. The payment gets completed instantly after the amount transfer using net banking or cards.
The electronic cash ledger also gets automatically updated after the successful completion of the payment. If the challan is generated without logging in, the payment must be made immediately.
Generating GST challan at the GST portal
There are two ways for generating the challan on the GST portal, i.e., login to the GSTIN account or without logging in. For generating a challan before logging in to the GST portal, the following steps need to be followed:
- On the homepage of the GST portal, under the services tab, select the ‘payments’ option and then click on ‘Create challan.’
- Enter the ID of any temporary user or tax filer or GSTIN in the case of a regular taxpayer. Fill out the captcha code.
- Enter the relevant amounts against the blank columns, whether IGST, SGST, or CGST, as applicable.
- Select the desired payment mode and the bank from the available list of options.
- Re-enter the ID or GSTIN for generation of challan and click on ‘Proceed.’
- Select the ‘Download’ option to download the challan generated.
The time limit for completing the GST payment online
For the GST payment, the time limit should be considered from the date of challan generation. While there are 15 days after the challan generation for offline payment, payment should be made immediately if the online mode is opted for.
In the case of GST online payment, the following must be ensured during challan generation:
- If net banking is opted as the mode of payment, after selecting the name of the bank, click on the ‘Generate challan’ option. This will generate the Common Portal Identification Number (CPIN).
- If the challan is generated without logging in, the taxpayer must make the payment immediately. However, if the challan is generated post login, the taxpayer gets up to fifteen days for completing the payment.
Completing GST payment online at a later date
The taxpayer may complete the payment either with a credit or debit card or through net banking or at a later date against a challan generated earlier by following these steps:
Step-1: After logging in to the GST portal, under the ‘Services’ tab, select ‘Payment,’ and then go to ‘Challan history.’
Step-2: From the list of CPINs provided, click on the hyperlink against the relevant CPIN.
Step-3: Choose the bank from the list of bank names displayed in the dropdown list, and complete the payment using debit or credit card or net banking according to your preference.
Step-4: Upon successful completion of the payment, a receipt is generated along with the CIN. Alongside, the electronic cash ledger gets automatically updated.
Searching your challan history
Once you have generated the challan and made the payment, you can search for your challan history. For this, you need to follow these steps:
- Go to your GST home page while you are logged in to your account.
- Then, click on ‘Services’ and choose ‘Payment.’ There, you will find the ‘Challan history’ option from where you can see all the challans that have been generated by you.
Some important points to remember
- If the payment has been initiated with the bank and the status of the payment is showing as ‘Awaiting bank clearance’ or as ‘Awaiting bank confirmation,’ follow up the matter with the bank.
- If the GST online payment has been completed and the bank has provided confirmation to the taxpayer, but there has been no update to the electronic cash ledger, a grievance can be raised on the GST portal with the form PMT-07.
Final Thoughts
Both the online and the offline modes of GST payment are convenient in their time ways. The offline mode provides 15 days to complete the payment or make any corrections to the challan generated. On the other hand, the GST online payment enables immediate payment and confirmation of the same without the possibility of defaulting.
