India's GSTN restores July and August 2017 returns data

New Delhi: The GST Network (GSTN) on Sunday said that the monthly returns data of July and August 2017 — the initial months of the goods and services tax rollout — has been restored on the portal. The GSTN had last week said it is implementing its data policy, as per which data for taxpayers will be retained for seven years only. “Thus, GST returns data will not be available beyond 7 years for taxpayers, and they would be archived," it said.

Accordingly, on August 1, 2024, returns filed for July 2017 were archived, and on September 1, 2024, data for August 2017 was archived. However, trade and industry had sought some more time before implementing this policy so that they could download their relevant data from the GST portal for any future reference.

In an advisory to taxpayers, the GSTN said that the GST returns for 17-18 were made available again on the feedback received from the trade and industry. “In view of the requests received from the trade due to the difficulties faced, data has been restored back on the portal. We recommend you to download and save the data if needed, as the archival policy shall be implemented again after giving advance information,” the GSTN said.

The GST was implemented on July 1, 2017. As per GST law, taxpayers are not allowed to file their GST returns after the expiry of a period of three years from the due date of furnishing the said return. As per the GST portal data policy, data for taxpayers will be retained for seven years only.