New Delhi: GST Network (GSTN) will release improved
version of GST return filing interface on 22 October with an aim to
further simplify the process.
"Many of the suggestions were
incorporated in version 2 which is in place right now. Version 3 is
going to come on October 22 of this month," GST Network CEO Prakash
Kumar said at a seminar
organised by IIT Delhi Alumni Association here.
GST
Network provides IT infrastructure and services to central and state
governments, taxpayers and other stakeholders for implementation of the
GST.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) has reduced complexity in
indirect taxation as its implementation has lowered the number of forms
to be filed by businesses to just 12, from 495 under as many as 17
central and state laws in the pre-GST era, Kumar said. The indirect tax
administration now shares data with the income tax department, a move
that has helped in unearthing instances of tax evasion, he added.
Kumar
said that income tax department confirms the range of turnover, not the
exact data of tax payer, which has helped in detecting mismatches. At
present, there are 12.3 million registered GST tax payers.
Speaking
at the occasion, GST Council Special Secretary Rajeev Ranjan said that
GST has also aided in cutting the logistics cost for businesses, while
successive rounds of rate cuts in the new tax indirect tax regime
reduced prices and helped keeping inflation under check.
GST has
reduced the average tax incidence as well as prices, and was an
important determinant in ensuring that inflation remained under control,
he said.
"Prior to GST, about 14% of the total cost of goods
accounted for logistics (in India), a large cost and friction in doing
business, while it was 10-11% for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa (BRICS nations) and 9-10% for developed countries," Ranjan said
quoting a 2014 study.
Now, logistics cost in India is about 10-12% of the value of goods, Ranjan said in his presentation.
"In
pre-GST era, trucks used to cover about 225 kilometers a day and now it
is 300-325 kilometers," said Ranjan, adding that GST has ensured that
there is no need to have a fragmented market.