GST registrations for e-commerce, new companies to begin on 25 June

Goods and services tax network (GSTN) has offered another opportunity to e-commerce operators to migrate to GSTN portal, five days before the rollout of the GST on July 1

E-commerce and TDS operators, and existing excise, service tax and VAT assessees can register with the GSTN portal starting 25 June

E-commerce operators and TDS (tax deducted at source) deductors will be able to register with the goods and services tax network (GSTN) beginning 25 June, when the portal re-opens for fresh registration. Also, existing excise, service tax and VAT assessees will get another chance to migrate to the GSTN portal as registration for them too opens on Sunday next and will remain open for three months.

The GSTN portal will now start accepting fresh registrations from 25 June. The registration will also start for GST practitioners, TDS and e-commerce operators, which are required to collect tax at source, GSTN said in a statement.

Out of the 81 lakh existing taxpayers, over 65.5 lakh have already migrated to the GSTN portal
GSTN, the company providing information technology (IT) backbone for the new tax regime, will offer another opportunity to existing taxpayers to migrate, five days before the rollout of the GST. Out of the 81 lakh existing assessees, over 65.5 lakh have already migrated to the portal.

Registration with the GSTN is necessary for doing business in the GST regime as businesses will have to upload monthly supply data as well as file return forms on this portal.

“People should not panic. If you are left out, you will get another opportunity because the law says anybody who is registered under taxes which are subsumed under GST, if they have a valid PAN (permanent account number), then they will be given a valid registration,” GSTN chairman Navin Kumar said.

The portal will also be opened for enrolment of GST practitioners on 25 June. The GSTN portal was open from 8 November till 30 April and then again for 15 days in June for enrolment of existing taxpayers.

It will now be open again from 25 June for a period of three months for existing taxpayers registered under central excise/service tax/VAT (value-added tax) etc, the statement said.

Credit Suisse approaches Snapdeal minority investors over Flipkart deal

Investment bank Credit Suisse, which is advising Snapdeal on its proposed sale to larger rival Flipkart, is reportedly reaching out to minority shareholders of the beleaguered e-commerce firm  to build a consensus on deal. According to a Press Trust of India report citing sources, Credit Suisse is reaching out to smaller shareholders to get them on board for the acquisition. The development comes close on the heels of one of the minority investors 

PremijiInvest writing to Snapdeal for the second time for clarity on the terms of the deal. Other minority investors in cash-strapped Snapdeal include Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Ratan Tata, Foxconn, Temasek and BlackRock. 

According to recent reports, PremjiInvest has objected to special payments to certain shareholders including its two co-founders- Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal- and two early backers, Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital. It has been reported that, under the terms of the proposed deal, Nexus and Kalaari, who also have board seats, could get $60 million in addition to their new equity in Flipkart, while the two founders would get a combined $30 million. 

PremjiInvest in its letter said that while it was okay with $30 million in special payments proposed by the Snapdeal board for its employees, it had reservations over the $60 million payout to the early investors. Snapdeal’s largest investor, Japan-based SoftBank, has been trying to gather consensus among the investors over the deal for the past few months. It has managed to get the board members to agree to the said sale and a term sheet for due diligence with Flipkart has been signed. 

The objections raised by the smaller investors have the potential to hurt the talks for the deal, as Flipkart has reportedly earlier told Snapdeal that it wants all the investors to agree to deal terms as a precondition of the transaction. 

The proposed deal is likely to reduce Snapdeal’s valuation to about $1 billion from $6.5 billion, with existing shareholders getting a proportionately reduced stake in the combined business, or cash. 

SoftBank has already written off over $1 billion on valuation of its investment in Snapdeal.