GSTN glitches: GoM selects 25 issues, to meet every fortnight

Over 25-odd glitches, which had led to the GST-Network portal crashing on at least two occasions in the very first month of filing, relate largely to payments and registration, he said after the five-member GoM held its first meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The grouping had extensive interaction with executives of Infosys, which is providing the IT support for the portal, and businesses will notice a "lot of difference" on the GSTN portal in the next 7-10 days, Modi said. The GSTN website had faced glitches last month as taxpayers flogged to the portal on the last day of the deadline of filing returns for July.

"Over 25 issues have been identified which needs to be resolved and timelines have been set for each of them. Overall we are satisfied with the performance of GSTN and Infosys is doing its best to make it error free," said Modi.

The GSTN, the information technology (IT) backbone and portal for real-time taxpayer registration, migration, and tax return filing under the GST, had developed a snag last month when the first deadline for filing of returns approached, forcing the government to extend the last date.

A five-member GoM was constituted on September 12 after the GST Council decided to sort out technical glitches. The first meeting of the GoM was held in Bengaluru on September 16.

Besides Modi, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, Chhattisgarh Minister of Commercial Taxes Amar Agrawal, Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and Telangana Finance Minister Etela Rajender are part of the GoM.

Modi said the GoM noted that the tendency of taxpayers is to file returns on the last day, which is evident from the fact that only 3.5 lakh taxpayers have so far filed GSTR-3B for the month of August. The last date for filing is September 20.

Over 47 lakh returns in GSTR-3B was filed in July and the GST to the tune of Rs 95,000 crore was collected in the maiden month of roll-out.

On September 15, GSTN officials and state commercial tax officers also held meetings with bankers, large taxpayers and tax experts to decipher the procedural issues being faced by them on the portal.

"The GoM will meet every 15 days to review the functioning of GSTN. The GSTN system is robust and load is not an issue. We are looking into the procedural issues," Modi said.

So far, over 22 crore invoices have been uploaded on the GSTN portal, which has a capacity of handling over 3 billion invoices.

GSTR-3B is only a simple return which will ease compliance burden of businesses. Businesses will have to upload invoices and file final returns in form GSTR-1, 2 and 3 on a stipulated date.

New Delhi: The GST Network (GSTN) on Sunday said it has reopened the facility for small taxpayers with turnover of up to Rs 75 lakh to opt for composition scheme.

Such small taxpayers will have time till September 30 to opt for the scheme, which offers easy compliance for business as returns are to be filed only quarterly.

Taxpayers were earlier given time till August 16 to opt for composition scheme.

But, only 10.86 lakh tax payers, out of total 85 lakh registered businesses opted for the scheme.

In a statement, GSTN said the window will be open for those assessees who have migrated from the earlier excise/ service tax/VAT regime as well as for new registered taxpayers.

"To make this facility available to all those who could not opt for Composition, the facility has been opened again," it said.

The GST Council had last week decided to reopen the window for allowing taxpayers to opt for the scheme.

Those who opt for composition scheme during this period will get this facility from October 1 for the current financial year.

"For the period prior to October 1, the taxpayers will be treated as normal taxpayer and will have to file monthly return for the period till September 30, 2017," GSTN said.

GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said that the composition scheme has been designed to simplify and reduce the burden of compliance for smaller taxpayers.

To opt for the scheme, the taxpayer needs to log into his account at the GST Portal www.gst.gov.in and select the "Application to opt for the composition scheme" under the "Services" menu.

After filling in the form, he has to submit the application using Digital Signature or E-signature or Electronic Verification Code, GSTN said.