GST compliance still a work in progress
In July 2017, the government merged all 17 different central and state levies into the GST system.
New Delhi: The goods and services tax’s (GST) two-year run was marked by some hits and misses. Filing of returns under the indirect tax regime still remains shaky, with filings showing spikes every three months but largely remains at less than the desired level, a government data analysis shows.
Though two years have elapsed, compliance in filing summary sales return GSTR-3B has not improved much, as businesses continue to file this after the monthly due date, with compliance averaging at around 60 per cent.
In July 2017, the government merged all 17 different central and state levies into the GST system. However, the analysis of data released by the GSTN showed that while on an average, 50 per cent of the registered taxpayers filed GSTR-3B within due date in July 2017, the number increased to around 85 per cent as on June 23, 2019.
Similarly, while 65 per cent of taxpayers filed within the due date in July 2018, a total of 85 per cent of taxpayers have filed it as on June 23, 2019.
While businesses have to file GSTR-3B by the 20th day of the succeeding month, GSTR-1 has to be filed by the 10th day. According to GST laws, the penalty for late filing is Rs 25 per day for Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST) each.
However, businesses which have to file returns but have ‘nil’ tax liability would have to pay a fine of Rs 10 each under the CGST and SGST law. “Final sales return filed by businesses spiked every quarter, reflecting that composition scheme dealers and small businesses file their returns. However, there is still a huge divergence in the number of businesses which are eligible to file GSTR-1 and those who actually file it,” the analysis of GSTR-1 filing trend showed.
The data also showed that while a little over one crore businesses were eligible to file GSTR-1 as of March 2019, only a little over 65 lakh have actually filed it. Similarly for December 2018, while about one crore businesses were required to file GSTR-1, about 75 lakh have filed it till June 23, 2019.