How Businesses Are Tackling The Hassle Around GST Filing?
Since the beginning of this month (September), businesses began with the busy filing season with the GST filing but has the transition been smooth?
Saket Aggarwal, Global CEO, Spice Digital told BW Businessworld, “It is true that the chaos with GST filing is mirroring the chaos that occurred on the 1st of July. The reasons are quite simple here. First and foremost, the GST system is still new for everyone involved. Another big challenge is the data prep which is taking a little longer for the tax payers to accomplish. Teething troubles happen with the launch of every new system and GST is no different. The chaos will subside with time and it will turn into a seamless system that it is designed to be.”
It must be noted that the sheer volume of invoices and paperwork makes it difficult to upload directly on to the government portal. “The GSPs will play an instrumental role here by, acting as a support system to facilitate the whole process. Teams of experienced professionals who have a deeper understanding of the system make the process smoother and quicker even as they address the queries and concerns of the filers,” explains Aggarwal.
The lack of understanding and awareness among the audience/CA/tax practitioners/ tax filers is yet another issue that is aggravating the menace of filing. “This new system of filing is a 360 degree shift from the old ways of filing. The initial stages are a little slow, as the audience/CA/Tax Practitioners/Tax Filers have numerous queries. However, with the help of an efficient and dedicated GSP, it gets a little easier for them,” adds Aggarwal. Thus, it cannot be denied that there have been many apprehensions about the process being cumbersome among the businesses.
“The idea and intent is to make life simpler and we have actually seen people gradually catching up to the pace. There definitely are still a number of doubts still, which can easily be taken care of by the GSP you choose,” adds Aggarwal
The consequences of incorrect/delayed filing should also be understood by the businesses as this is a new process. Fortunately, the government has been quite empathetic towards the deadlines and the dates have been extended to provide some relief to the filers. The policymakers understand that the new system of taxes may take a little longer to be understood and implemented; hence no stringent deadline is established yet.
Many enterprises are still to decide on a “tax technology” solution with a hope that their ERP or financial system can do the GST compliance or manually can be handled will be looking for proven GSP ASP solutions. Solutions which can keep up with changing rates, returns and rules will be favourable to those which the business has to keep updating. There is some kind of rule, rate or return change every week and sometimes changes are announced but dates are delayed.
GST tax determination, compliance, filing and reconciliation is going to be like a continuous drill for coming months and even years.
