24 July 2025
This is a common and practical question when dealing with **GTA (Goods Transport Agency)** service tax under **reverse charge mechanism**.
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### 📌 **Issue:**
You’re receiving the GTA invoice **after 31st March 2013** (i.e., after the close of the financial year), but the service (transportation) **relates to March 2013**. You're wondering how to pay the service tax on time when the bill is not yet received.
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### ✅ **Service Tax on GTA (Under Reverse Charge):**
In most cases, under reverse charge, **the service recipient (your company)** is liable to pay service tax on GTA.
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### 📅 **Relevant Point: When is service tax payable?**
#### **As per Point of Taxation Rules, 2011 (POTR):**
For **reverse charge services** (like GTA), the **point of taxation** is:
> **Date of payment**, **if payment is made within 6 months** of invoice date; > Else, it becomes the **date of invoice**.
BUT — in **your case**, **no invoice has been received yet**. So, tax liability does **not arise** until **either:**
1. **Invoice is received**, or 2. **Payment is made**, whichever is earlier.
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### ✅ **Answer to Your Question:**
> Since you have **not received the invoice** from the transporter **before 31st March 2013**, and you also **haven’t made payment**, the **liability to pay service tax for March 2013** does **not arise before 31st March**.
You can **pay the service tax in April 2013**, once the **invoice is received**, and that will be **within the time limit** prescribed under the **POTR**.
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### 💡 Practical Tip:
When you receive the invoice in April 2013, treat the **point of taxation** as that date and pay accordingly. In your ST-3 return for April–September 2013, **include this transaction** in **April** even though the service was rendered in March.
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### 🚫 No Penalty or Interest:
Since the point of taxation hasn’t arisen by 31st March 2013, there is **no interest or penalty**, provided:
* The invoice is received and paid within the time allowed by rules. * You account for the tax properly in the next tax period.
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Would you like a **sample working** or **note to file** to justify this treatment during audit?
CAclubindia
