NETWORK BLIPS: ONE TOO MANY

Filing returns through the GST portal has been a tedious exercise for many. The first of a two-part series looks at the challenges and the steps the govt has taken so far to iron out the issues

In its 21st meeting on September 9 in Hyderabad, the Goods and Service Tax Council (GSTC) decided to constitute a group of ministers (GoM) to sort out the problems taxpayers faced in filing returns on the GST portal.

The GoM, under the chairmanship of Sushil Kumar Modi, deputy chief minister of Bihar, held its first meeting on Saturday in Bengaluru. It identified 25-odd glitches to be sorted out by the GST Network (GSTN) and decided to meet every fortnight.

It would take a lot more than words to calm the nerves of taxpayers, who are facing a tough time in the past few weeks. On the other hand, there have been some dismissive statements that in a reform of such great magnitude as the GST, some glitches are bound to be there. Such comments have only exacerbated the angst of those who have tried to file returns through the GST portal.

The GST laws required the GSTR-1 return for July be filed by August 10. The GSTN had said that the filing of the return of outward supplies in form GSTR-1 could be made from July 25. The trade was told that a special filing tool was available and it would help in uploading the requisite information. It was not mentioned that this tool had to be Google Chrome or Internet Explorer above a certain version. So, to utilise the tool the browser had to be updated first.

The offline tool requires filling the MS Excel formats, giving break-ups for supplies to registered persons and unregistered persons, inter-state and intrastate sales, as well as the HSNwise summary of outward supplies and so on, and then save as an XTML file for uploading. The offline tool converts this XTML file into a .json file (java script file). Uploading was tedious and took a very long time. Once it was uploaded, the error file was required to be downloaded after 20 minutes. This, in turn, was in a .json format. The tool had to be used to open this file but it was found that the offline tool was unable to open it. Till the errors were rectified, the submission of the return under GSTR1 could not be completed.

On August 8, the government issued a notification asking the trade to file summary returns for July in form GSTR- 3B and also pay the tax for July by August 20. It shifted the dates for filing GSTR-1 returns for July to September 1-5. However, the facility to file GST-TRAN-01 returns for carrying over the credit from the earlier regime was not made available. This meant that tax had to be paid in cash even if enough credit was available. It was not easy to file GSTR-3B, which called for even the values of exempt, nil-rated and non-GST inward supplies.

On August 17, the government extended the last date to August 28 for paying tax and filing GSTR-3B for those opting to file FORM GST-TRAN-01. By then, many had paid the tax without considering the carry-over of credit. The facility to file GSTTRAN-01 was made available on August 21. On the same date the last date for filing GSTR-3B was extended to August 25 because the GSTN could not take the load and most taxpayers could not file returns during the few days before August 20.

There were unexpected problems. When taxpayers were trying to pay the tax, the portal showed a message that the site was going through maintenance to enhance the quality of services. It used to give a time when the system would start but that only kept the taxpayers waiting indefinitely without the system responding at the stated time and there was no idea when it would start. Its downtime was more than the uptime. Taxpayers who had paid the tax through challan in the bank complained that they found no deposit in their electronic cash register. It was impossible to meet the statutory obligation to file ‘nil’ returns, as the system would not accept the ‘nil’ returns.

Filing GST-TRAN-01 was a nightmare because it could be filed only online. There was no facility to file revised GSTTRAN-01. The Income-Tax system gives a facility to make some entries, save, make more entries, save, and move on. No such facility was available in the GSTN. So, the tension was palpable, for any wrong entry would mean either loss of credit or penal interest of 24 per cent per annum. No summation was available and so a cross-check could not be made. Some found double the credit in the system than what they had entered.

Confidence in the system had taken a beating.

Next: The perils of inadequate preparations