Business In GST | Business Vertical in GST

Business in GST

The term business will decide as to what is taxable supply and what shall be admissible for ITC for a particular business in GST.

The revised draft GST Act,2016 defines “business” under Section 2(17) as below 

Section 2(17) “business” includes –

(a) any trade, commerce, manufacture, profession, vocation, adventure, wager or any other similar activity, whether or not it is for a pecuniary benefit;

(b) any activity or transaction in connection with or incidental or ancillary to (a) above;

(c) any activity or transaction in the nature of (a) above, whether or not there is volume, frequency, continuity or regularity of such transaction;

(d) supply or acquisition of goods including capital assets and services in connection with commencement or closure of business;

(e) provision by a club, association, society, or any such body (for a subscription or any other consideration) of the facilities or benefits to its members, as the case may be;

(f) admission, for a consideration, of persons to any premises; and

(g) services supplied by a person as the holder of an office which has been accepted by him in the course or furtherance of his trade, profession or vocation;

(h) services provided by a race club by way of totalisator or a licence to book maker in such club;

Explanation.- Any activity or transaction undertaken by the Central Government, a State Government or any local authority in which they are engaged as public authorities shall be deemed to be business.

Business Vertical in GST

Business vertical will be very prominent in GST for decising various factors of levy of GST.

The revised draft GST Act,2016 defines “business” under Section 2(18) as below 

Section 2 (18) “business vertical” means a distinguishable component of an enterprise that is engaged in supplying an individual product or service or a group of related products or services and that is subject to risks and returns that are different from those of other business verticals;

Explanation: Factors that should be considered in determining whether products or services are related include:

(a) the nature of the products or services;

(b) the nature of the production processes;

(c) the type or class of customers for the products or services;

(d) the methods used to distribute the products or provide the services; and

(e) if applicable, the nature of the regulatory environment, for example, banking, insurance, or public utilities.

Place of Business

The deciding factor on dishcarging GST will be place of business. This will be very relevant for identifying as to what is to be discharged i.e SGST, CGSTor IGST.

The revised draft GST Act,2016 defines “place of business” under Section 2(74) as below 

Section 2(74) “place of business” includes

(a) a place from where the business is ordinarily carried on, and includes a warehouse, a godown or any other place where a taxable person stores his goods, provides or receives goods and/or services; or

(b) a place where a taxable person maintains his books of account; or

(c) a place where a taxable person is engaged in business through an agent, by whatever name called;

Principal Place of Business

The revised draft GST Act,2016 defines “principal place of business” under Section 2(77) as below 

Section 2(77) “principal place of business” means the place of business specified as the principal place of business in the certificate of registration;

Fixed Establishment

The revised draft GST Act,2016 defines “fixed establishment“ under Section 2(77) as below 

Section 2(47) “fixed establishment” means a place, other than the place of business, which is characterised by a sufficient degree of permanence and suitable structure in terms of human and technical resources to supply services, or to receive and use services for its own needs.