1st July 2017, the day when the Goods and Services Tax was introduced in India. With an aim to replace other forms of Indirect Taxes, GST was launched at midnight. The idea was to have a single Tax to replace the multiple cascading taxes levied by the central and the state governments. A quick walk through on GST – items under the GST are taxed at 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. However there’s an added tax on precious stones.
All the traders and services providers big or small have been in a fix about the GST. Well, when the government itself is in a fix you cannot expect the people to be clear about it. One community that has been thoroughly confused is the Blogging and Freelancing community. Me belonging to the same community, have got some questions answered on GST registration for Bloggers and Freelancers. Read on
Latest News on GST for Bloggers
The GST council has been meeting quite often to ease the confusion around GST. Now whether they are actually easing the confusion or not, is something I leave it to you. Earlier Blogging was charged at a flat rate of 18% GST. Previously every freelancer, blogger had to mandatorily register for GST irrespective of their turnover IFF they provided their services outside their state of residence aka Inter State Supply of Services. For example: If I’m a blogger in Telangana and I provide my services to say a person in Gujarat, I had to register for GST. Anyways, as per the latest press Release post the 22nd GST Council meeting, there has been a huge change in the GST registration for Bloggers and YouTubers.
Good News for Bloggers and Freelancers – No GST Registration Required
Well the good news is that, Bloggers, YouTubers and Freelancers who are earning less than 20Lakh per annum irrespective of the Inter State Supply, do not have to register for GST. Yes, it no more matters where you are providing your services. Now you only need to register for GST if you annual turn over is less than 20Lakhs. If your turnover is less than 20Lakhs per annum, you don’t have to register for GST. More information can be found here.
Yes, the GST Law has now changed and changed for the better… Bloggers, Youtubers, Affiliate Marketers are now not required to register for GST if turnover below Rs. 20 Lakhs even if engaged in inter-state or export transaction
— Karan Batra (@cakaranbatra) November 13, 2017
GST registration for bloggers – Do you need it ?
So what type of content creators or bloggers require GST registration ? As mentioned earlier, whoever is doing a sale of more than Rs 20 Lakh per year needs to undergo GST registration. And moreover if you reside in a city and you render your services to another city in a different state, you need to consider the IGST bit that would be levied by the states from which the service is rendered. Further, as a blogger, once you have done your GST registration you can even claim input tax credit for GST that you pay to get your services. This may include website hosting, administration and professional services that help you render you services.
This a great step by the government to help the small and medium enterprise sector to grow. Also it will allow small bloggers, vloggers and freelancers like you and me to continue providing our services without paying the GST. I’m sure with the change of GST for Bloggers, YouTubers and Freelancers, things are going to be smooth and easy. Go ahead and keep blogging. In case you have any issues, or suggestions, please leave a comment below or tweet to me at @atulmaharaj
That’s something great. Thanks for sharing Atul
I’m glad you found this helpful, thanks for stopping by Upasnaji
Indeed a good news for all of us… Very informative article Atul 🙂
Finally the confusion eases. Thanks for stopping by Maitreni. Congrats on the iPhone X again 😉
That’s a good news for us bloggers. Thank you for this invaluable piece of information!
I’m glad you found this useful 😇