In a move to ease the compliance burden on the taxpayers and to facilitate input tax credit in a fast manner, the Central Government has finally moved ahead with the single monthly return system under the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) regime. 

In last May, the Government announced a three-phase plan to address complaints about the difficulties in filing multiple returns according to which, for six months, in a transition phase, businesses would continue to file two returns, GSTR1 (for sales) and GSTR 3B, a summarised return form. After six months, they would move to a single filing on a to-be-introduced form. 

For consumer-facing businesses, the simplified form would be about total sales while for business-facing businesses, the form would incorporate invoice details. However, the move was postponed due to lack of technical support in the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). After revamping the web portal, the Government is now ready to roll out the system in July this year, soon after the new government takes over. 

No further clearances are required because the GST Council already cleared the three-phase plan last May. The third phase will involve invoice matching. According to reports, a trial will be there in July. One of the major criticisms of GST was the compliance burden of filing returns. 

This was one of the reasons for the principal Opposition, the Congress party, to criticize the new tax regime. Traders, too, have been demanding a reduction in the number of returns to be filed.

Published On : 17-05-2019

Source : Tax Scan