Govt Working to Make GST Filing Process Easier

Source: Money Control

On August 23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government is working to make Goods and Services Tax (GST) filing simpler. While announcing several measures to revive the economy, Sitharaman added GST filings would have a fewer number of forms to make the process much easier.

After being implemented on July 1, 2017, the government has introduced more than 10 different forms for filing of GST returns. This could make it a complicated process since separate forms need to be used depending on the type of taxpayers such as individual,non-resident, e-commerce companies among others.

Sitharaman said, “This (GST simplification) is really being worked upon. Soon, the GST (filing process) will have less number of forms. On the other hand, the refund has also become automated.”

Each GST form has their own purpose. In addition, every form has to be filed within a specific time period each month. Even for normal taxpayers, because of multiple forms that are currently in use makes the entire filing process troublesome. Under the
GST process, refunds have also been a major part of the concern. The finance minister said that they are working to remove the existing glitches and improve the refund system.

Sitharaman said they will discuss GST network on August 25 to find the shortcomings in the refund process and also look for glitches in terms of the flow of refunds. She said, “We are olding a meeting with GSTN on Sunday to identify problems with the flow of refunds.”

The minister said that if there are cases of the system being deceived or tweaking being done manually, there will be severe actions against those responsible while adding, the key was to ensure there is no delay in processing refunds. To revive micro,small, and medium enterprises, the government announced measures that might ease the flow of refunds. The minister said, “All pending GST refunds due to MSMEs due as of today will be paid within 30 days.” She also added that all future GST refunds to MSMEs will be paid within 60 days from the date of application.