Filing of GST returns rises 8.2% in Oct

A TOTAL OF 6.5 MN GSTR 3B RETURNS WERE FILED IN OCT AS AGAINST 6 MN RETURNS FILED IN SEP, AN INCREASE OF 8.2%

NEWDELHI: Higher compliance saw an 8. 2% growth i n f i l i ng of monthly goods and services tax (GST) returns in October compared to the previous month, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said in a statement.

It said the online system saw a 50% jump in the filing of returns on November 20, the last day of filing returns for October.

“The return filing data shows that there is a fair improvement in compliance by the taxpayers,” the statement said.

A total 6.483 million GSTR 3B returns were filed in October 2019 as against 5.990 million returns filed in September 2019, an increase of 8.2%, the statement said. The GSTR 3B is a monthly return, which is filed by taxpayers to provide details of inward and outward supplies.

Pratik Jain, partner and leader-indirect tax with PWC India said, “The significant increase in filing of GSTR 3B does indicate that compliance has been stabilizing gradually.”

“One will have to see if the increased filings result in jump in tax collection as well, which has been tepid in last few months. While this is an encouraging development, it’s important to note that new compliance framework is proposed to be rolled out next year and businesses will have to start proactively preparing for the change,” he added.

GST collection in October was ₹95,380 crore, 5.29% less compared to the same month a year ago. The GST collection in September, ₹91,916 crore, was the lowest since February 2018.

Jain said the returns would provide “better and more comprehensive data to the government for analysis and determining the possible areas of tax leakages”.

Abhishek Jain, tax partner at EY said, “Compliances under GST have in general been smooth except some rare instances of technical glitches. The recently implemented restriction on availment of unmatched credits may have played a role in compliance witnessing an increase this month.”

According to the CBIC statement, “A total of 1.827 million GSTR 3B were filed on 20th November alone in comparison to 1.220 million returns that were filed on 20th October, the last due date of filing returns for the tax period of September.”

CBIC said the number of returns filed in October 2019 was 9.4% higher than the returns filed for the same period last year (5.928 million). “Out of those, 1.647 million returns were filed on 20th November 2018, the last due date. If we compare it to the returns filed on 20th November alone this year, there is an increase of 11%,” it said.

CBIC said despite the last minute rush the online return filing system of the GST Network (GSTN) worked smoothly.