Even though the Goods and Services Tax Act rolled-out eight months ago, the compliance-related issues with the regime still exist. After the relentless complaining by the taxpayers and drastically declining revenues, the government finally decided to take measures in order to make the regime simpler. The Goods and Services Tax has already subsumed all the earlier taxes and unified the taxation market in India. But even after the businesses adopted the regime, the revenues haven’t been promising. And the reasons behind such lack of success are many.
The government has decided to make some substantial changes in the taxation regime. These changes would be:
- Simplification of the summary form– GSTR3B is the most important form in the return filing mechanism under the Goods and Services Tax Act. It accounts for the mentioning of the summary of all the sales and invoices in a month. Now, if you own a business with a turnover of INR 20 lacs in an FY, then you will be allowed to file the returns once in a month. But the pending ITC claims might hinder the implementation of the same as the taxpayers, as of now, lack capital.
- The reshuffling of the GST payment dates- The tax payments date has been troubling the taxpayers since the implementation of GST in India. The businesses were baffled with the varying dates for all types of GSTR forms. The payment date is 20th of the next month. You are also required to file GSTR3B before the payment. Post the payment, the electronic cash ledger must be maintained.
- Anti-evasion measures- One of the important decisions that the government made to stop evasion is to implement anti-evasion measures. The processes like the e-way bill and anti-profiteering would help scrutinize the frauds in the market.
But do you think these changes could make a difference? Fortunately, the taxpayers have started complying well with India GST payment dates now. But prior to the simplification procedures, the revenue collections declined around INR 10,000 crore in a single month. The government completely overlooked the fact that most of the businesses lack abundant resources to comply well with GST as the regime is digital.
The shift to digital phase
The sudden implementation of the Goods and Services Tax Act in India made the taxation stagnant for a while. As per the records, the businesses registered under the regime but less than half of them filed the returns. The decreased revenue collections were also a result of the goods and services spread between five different tax percentages under the regime.
Summary
To ensure a stable tax collection, the government would first have to make the payment dates flexible and the compliance with the regime simpler. The earlier these changes will roll-out, the sooner GST will start shifting towards an effortlessness. The government, neglecting the backlashes of the regime, has promised that the collections will start rising post-March 2018. For now, one could only wish for the best outcomes.