What is Electronic Cash Ledger?
Before the introduction of GST, taxes or duties were paid manually through bank challans. Once the payment was made, the bank would allocate the funds to the respective tax heads. However, with the implementation of GST, the entire process has been automated. The traditional system of manual tax payment has been replaced by the GST portal, which handles all transactions digitally. Under this system, each registered taxpayer has an Electronic Cash Ledger on the GST portal. Taxpayers are required to deposit funds into this ledger in advance, prior to the tax payment due date. On the due date, the required amount can then be debited from the ledger to settle the tax liability.
Electronic Cash Ledger is maintained in the GST portal in Form GST PMT – 05. It contains a summary of all the deposits/payments made by a taxpayer. There are two heads – major heads and minor heads. The major heads are IGST, CGST, SGST/UTGST, and CESS. Each major head is divided into five minor heads -Tax, Interest, Penalty, Fee, and Others.
How to Deposit Cash in the Electronic Ledger?
A registered person is required to generate Form GST PMT – 06 before making deposit in the electronic cash ledger. The details of the amount to be deposited by him towards tax, interest, penalty, fees or any other amount are to be entered in the said form. The generated form is valid for 15 days. The deposit of cash in the ledger can be made in any one of the following ways-
- Internet Banking through authorised banks;
- Unified Payment Interface (UPI) from any bank;
- Immediate Payment Services (IMPS) from any bank;
- Credit card or Debit card through the authorised bank;
- National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) or Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) from any bank; or
- Over the Counter payment through authorised banks for deposits up to Rs.10,000 per challan per tax period, by cash, cheque or demand draft.
Where the payment is made by way of NEFT or RTGS or IMPS mode from any bank, the mandate form shall be generated along with the challan on the common portal and the same shall be submitted to the bank from where the payment is to be made.
Challan Identification Number (CIN)
When the payment is made through any one of the above said modes into the respective government accounts, a Challan Identification Number (CIN) will be generated by the collecting bank. The CIN will be reflected in the challan. The bank will share the CIN to the GST portal. The said amount shall be credited to the Electronic Cash Ledger of the person on whose behalf the deposit has been made and the common portal shall make available a receipt to this effect.
If the payments made are not reflected in the ledger or if CIN is not generated or if generated but not communicated to the GST portal, then then tax payer should raise a grievance on the GST Portal 24 hours after the successful payment communication is made by the Bank to the Taxpayer using the GST PMT-07 form. If the displayed figure is erroneous then he may raise a grievance on the GST portal.
Inter-head Transfer
A registered taxpayer can transfer amounts such as tax, interest, penalty, fee, or any other sum available in their Electronic Cash Ledger from one head to another within the same GSTIN through the common portal by filing Form GST PMT-09. Additionally, transfers to a different GSTIN under the same PAN can also be facilitated using the same form.
However, such transfers are not permitted if the registered taxpayer has any outstanding liabilities recorded in their Electronic Liability Register.
Payment of Tax
The money in the Electronic Cash Ledger can only be used to pay specific types of taxes under their respective categories. For example:
- SGST/UTGST payments can only be made using the balance available under the SGST/UTGST category.
- One cannot use the money from one category (like SGST/UTGST) to pay taxes in another category (like CGST, IGST, or CESS).
If the Taxpayer wish to utilise the money from different head, first he has to file Form GST PMT-09 to transfer the amount of tax from one head to another and then he can ustilise the same for payment.
Inadvertent deposit
Any amount deposited inadvertently will remain in the Electronic Cash Ledger and can be used to discharge liabilities in subsequent tax periods. Alternatively, the excess amount deposited in the Electronic Cash Ledger can be claimed as refund by selecting the relevant option of refund application.
Checking the balance
A taxpayer can log on to the GST Portal and navigate to the Electronic Cash Ledger home page in the following way: Services > Ledgers > Electronic cash Ledger. The balance is shown on the right-hand corner under the head “Cash balance as on Date:” A summary of the major head wise balance is displayed when the cursor is placed and clicked on the same. To know the details of the transaction the taxpayer needs to submit a request for the report by giving the date range. Date range selected for which the ledger/register to be viewed cannot be greater than 12 months.
Refund
If a taxpayer has claimed refund of any amount from the Electronic Cash Ledger, the said amount shall be debited to the Electronic Cash Ledger. If the refund so claimed is rejected, either fully or partly, the amount debited, to the extent of rejection, shall be credited to the ledger by the proper officer by an order made in FORM GST PMT-03.
Other important points
- The balance in the GST Electronic Cash Ledger cannot be allocated to any liability unless the taxpayer makes a debit entry specifically for that liability, by off-set while filing GSTR-3B or DRC-03
- When GST TDS or TCS is deducted from the taxpayer and subsequently accepted by them on the GST portal, the corresponding amount is credited to their Electronic Cash Ledger.
- In exceptional cases, particularly when an additional demand is not stayed by the Appellate Authority, Tribunal, or Court, the required amount may be debited from the Electronic Cash Ledger to settle the demand.