Centre to come up with pre-filled GST return forms by year-end: Report

New Delhi, June 12, 2023

The Centre is working on coming up with a pre-filled Goods and Services Tax (GST) return form on similar lines as the Annual Information System (AIS) used by the Income Tax department, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Monday.

The consolidated form, being readied by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), will allow the GST-payers to view all of their transactions as well as e-invoices. It will also come up with an e-verification feature to settle any mismatch in the data and the tax liability.

According to an official quoted in the report, the facility is expected to be launched by the end of the year. Moreover, it is expected to reduce the time and cost of e-filling the GST return by 60 per cent.

"Automation in filing is already happening and by November we expect the launch of a consolidated AIS-like feature for the GST taxpayers also," the official said.

In the last few months, the Centre has been working on automation and capturing more data. They have lowered the threshold through e-invoices, automated scrutiny and sharing of data from the income tax department.

Currently, a business needs to file three returns, GSTR-1, GSTR-3B on a monthly and quarterly basis and an early GSTR-9 form. Some forms are pre-filled, but they are not synchronised, and the taxpayers have to match all the details to avail of tax benefits.

In India, GST collections have been rising at a rapid pace. In 2022-23, GST collections crossed Rs 18 trillion – a record since the inception of the new indirect tax regime – which would complete six years on July 1.

It was also a significant year in terms of the average monthly collections that crossed Rs 1.51 trillion for the fourth time in March.

The data showed that collections in the pandemic year (FY21) declined but bounced back in subsequent years, indicating resilience in the economy amid external headwinds.

[The Business Standard]