Single-page GST filing system to be ready in 3-6 months: Hasmukh Adhia

Hasmukh Adhia

Union finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia today said the proposed new single page GST return filing system will be in place over the next three to six months that will ease the present problems.

At the April 17 ministerial panel meeting decided to roll out a new simplified model for GST return filing system in single-page, as per which credit could be given on a provisional basis once the supplier uploads the sales invoice.

Replying to a query on the leakages being reported in GST-1 and GST-3(b), the top finance ministry official said, "we are checking GST-1 and GST-3b. It is coming to the fore that there is leakage and we will plug it.

"There are leakages but there is no perfect matching until the new system gets in place. Within three to six months a new system will be in place, making the whole process smoother," he said.

Adhia was in town to address the convocation of the 70th batch of the Indian Revenue Services at the National Academy of Direct Taxes.

The GST Council, headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, last month discussed on two models of GST returns and suggested that the GoM would discuss further simplification.

One of the models presented before the council was provisional credit should not be granted unless the taxpayers file returns and pay taxes. The second model stated that provisional credit could be granted to a taxpayer, but returns have to be filed within 3-4 months and taxes have to be paid or else the credit amount would be reversed.

The meeting decided that businesses would have to file only one return every month, instead of GSTR-1, 2 and 3 as was conceived earlier. Also there was unanimity that there would be no system based matching and purchaser would have to verify the invoice uploaded by the seller.

The number of returns filed by both small and large taxpayers would be 12 in a year, in place of 36 at present.