With the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST), the role of GST network (GSTN) has particularly assumed significance. GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar on Saturday said that the online platform for filing invoice will be “very user friendly with an interactive interface”. The platform will help in filing of the regular application on the portal, filing of return and the filing of challan.
The government has created backend operations for 27 states. Other states will develop their own backend systems. Kumar said that the government will shift to single online portal for all the states in the coming years.
Kumar was speaking at a seminar in the run-up to the GST rollout, organised by the Northern India Regional Council (NIRC) of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI). ICAI is the service provider for government on the GST Bill.
Elaborating on the user interface on the GSTN portal, Kumar said that payments can be done through credit cards, debit cards, NEFT/RTGS. Challans can be created only on the portal. The challan, once generated, will be valid for 15 days. He also added that all payments will become part of the cash ledger and can be utilized in payments of liabilities.
Kumar showcased the pictures of the beta version of the online payment website to the members of NIRC. The beta version of the online payment system was launched on 2 May and will continue till 15 May.
He added by giving the insights of the e-way bill that has been created to further simplify the online portal. It’s a self-service mode, which is simple and the interface will be provided on mobile systems.
The event was attended by Ram Tirath, former member budget and GST, VK Garg, former JS (TRU), Central Board of Excise and Customs, and Praveen Nigam.
If GST is a tax on consumption, it’s a good move for the common people, but if it’s a tax on production, it’s bad, Garg said.
Tirath talked about his basic concerns on the implementation of GST. Educating several industry people will help in the smooth transition of GST, he added. He stated that a lot of countries suffer from bad GST framework. He also said that the central government assurance of compensation to the state government might backfire after the end of 5 years.
The programme concluded with the speech of Nigam. Nigam talked about the elimination of compliance manpower after the implementation of GST. He said, it’s a driverless GST and nothing has to be done manually.
