Even as the date of filing the first returns under the goods and services tax (GST) looms, nearly 40% of the taxpayers that have migrated to the GST Network (GSTN) portal are yet to complete the entire enrollment process, a necessary condition for filing returns. Over 71 lakh taxpayers of VAT, service tax and central excise have activated their accounts at the GST portal but only 44 lakh have so far completed the process by filling up Part B of the form. This leaves as many as 27 lakh taxpayers with incomplete enrollments, GSTN said in a statement.

“The deadline for filing the first return GSTR-3B is August 20. Those who fail to submit enrollment form with completed Part-B before this date will not be allowed by the GST IT system to file this return”, said Navin Kumar, chairman, GSTN. Earlier, the GST Council had allowed businesses to file a summary return for the month of July while pushing the dates of filing the extensive return to September. After the initial process of activation of the provisional ID, a taxpayer has to fill up Part B of the enrollment form at the GST portal, providing relevant information regarding the business, including the name of authorised signatory, details of promoters and bank account details of the taxpayer.

In the absence of basic details of taxpayer, the GST system can’t create challans. So, without completing Part-B, the GST system can’t make available information relating to payments, returns and ledgers to such taxpayers, which will prevent them from filing the GSTR-3B, GSTN, the IT backbone of the new tax system said. “The peak filing had touched 2 lakh filings per day in first fortnight of June 2017. The GST system can handle much more Part B filings every day and thus all the remaining 27 lakh taxpayers can be accommodated for filing Part B well within the deadline for filing the GSTR-3B. We have sent emails and SMS to all the 27 lakh taxpayers with incomplete enrollments and hope they will comply with the remaining formalities in time,” GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said.

Additionally, GSTN said it has operationalised two call centres that provide support to tax payers and tax officials. As many as 400 trained professionals are providing guidance to taxpayers to address concerns.#casansaar (Source - Financial Express)