Lok Sabha Question No. 350 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-24
Subject: Implementation of GST
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Faizal P.P. Mohammed, Hibi Eden

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 350

TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2019/ASHADHA 3, 1941 (SAKA)

## IMPLEMENTATION OF GST

## 350. MOHAMMED FAIZAL P.P:

## SHRI HIBI EDEN:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been successful and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has noticed any issues or technical problems for filing online GST;
- (c) if so, the details there of; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to tackle this issue?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF FINANCE (Ms.

## NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a) Yes Sir. The implementation of GST has led to the removal of cascading effect of taxes in the economy as well as promoting free movement of goods across States, thereby creating 'one nation,  one  market'.  A  simplified  tax  regime  has  resulted  in  reduced  compliance  burden  for taxpayers and promoting ease of doing business in the country.
- (b)  and  (c)  Yes  Sir.  Return  filing  is  a  continuous  process  and  technical  glitches  and  system related issues are addressed by the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) to ensure smooth filing. Also, taxpayers committed errors while filing returns due to lack of familiarity with the new system. The data regarding the number of returns filed until 17.06.2019 is as follows:

| Return Form   | Number of returns filed till 17.06.2019   |
|---------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 9,66,74,296   | FORMGSTR-1                                |
| 17,58,18,725  | FORMGSTR-3B                               |
| 99,93,521     | FORMGSTR-4                                |

(d) In order to address these issues, the Government took the following steps:

- i. The last  date  for  filing  of  details  of  outward  supplies  in FORM GSTR-1 and  that  of FORM GSTR-3B has been extended from time to time for the benefit of taxpayers.
- ii. Late  fees  paid  for  not  filing  return  on  due  date  for  the  months  of  July,  2017  to September, 2017 was exempted. For subsequent months, the amount of late fees payable by taxpayers has been reduced.
- iii. The  Government  has  waived  late  fees  for  non-filers  of FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B for  the  period from July, 2017 till September, 2018, if such forms are filed from 22.12.2018 to 31.03.2019.
- iv. Based  on  the  feedback  received  from  taxpayers,  Goods  and  Service  Tax  Network (GSTN) regularly updates the User Interface for filing of returns so as to improve user experience.  For  example,  a  Questionnaire  for  filing FORM  GSTR-3B has  been introduced  to  avoid  errors  by  taxpayers.  Also,  NIL  returns  can  be  filed  with  just  one click.
- v. An IT-Grievance Redressal Committee has been put in place to address the difficulties faced by taxpayers owing to technical glitches on the GST portal. It has the mandate to approve and recommend to the GSTN the steps to be taken to redress the grievance and provide relief to taxpayers.
- vi. Awareness campaigns such as seminars, workshops, open houses, use of social media, advertisements in print and electronic media etc. were carried out across the country to educate  the  taxpayers  about  return  filing  and  other  legal  provisions  under  GST.  Help Centres have also been established to provide assistance to taxpayers in return filing and related issues.

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