CBEC notifies roll out of e-way bill from Aptil 1

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) on Saturday notified April 1 as the implementation date for the electronic way or e-way bill, which would be required for transporting goods valued over ~50,000 between states.

The CBEC also notified the requirement of filing summary return GSTR-3B till June. The GSTR-3B for a month is required to be filed by the 20th day of the succeeding month.

The goods and services tax (GST) Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, had in its meeting on March 10 decided on the e-way bill roll out and extension of 3B filing facility.

Wary of system collapsing like it happened when the e-way bill was first introduced on February 1, the Council decided to roll out the requirement of carrying the permit for intra-state movement in a staggered manner.

While the inter-state e-way bill would be implemented from April 1, there would be a phased roll out for intra-state movement of goods beginning April 15.

The e-way bill, which would be required to be presented to a GST inspector if asked for, is being touted as an anti-evasion measure and would help boost tax collections by clamping down on trade that currently happens on cash basis.

The Council had discussed on the ways of simplification and with states divided in their views, it was decided that the present filing system was extended for another three months.

Accordingly, businesses would continue to file summary sales returns GSTR-3B and final sales return GSTR-1 till June.