The Revenue departments of both Centre and States are pursuing the presently registered taxpayers to complete the necessary formalities on the IT system operated by Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) for successful migration. About 60 percent of existing registrants have already migrated to the GST systems. GSTN has already appointed M/s Infosys as Managed Service Provider (MSP) at a total project cost of around Rs 1380 crores for a period of five years.
GSTN (Goods and Service Network)
GSTN has selected 34 IT, ITeS and financial technology companies, to be called GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs). GSPs would develop applications to be used by taxpayers for interacting with the GSTN. Suitable legislation for the levy of GST (Central GST Bill, UTGST Bill & IGST Bill and State GST Bills) drawing powers from the Constitution would be introduced in Parliament or the State Legislatures on the recommendations by the GSTC. Unlike the Constitutional Amendment, the GST Bills would need to be passed by a simple majority. The levy of the tax can commence only after the GST Law has been enacted by the respective legislatures. Also, unlike the State VAT, the date of commencement of this levy would have to be synchronized across the Centre and the States. This is because the IGST model cannot function unless the Centre and all the States participate simultaneously.
Functions of GSTN and its portal
Creation of common and shared IT infrastructure for functions relating to taxpayers has been assigned to GSTN and these are:
- Functions relating to Tax Payers
Filing of registration applicationFiling of returnreation of challan for tax payment
- Functions relating to Government
Settlement of IGST payment (like a clearing house)Generation of business intelligence and analytics
- Functions relating to Tax Officials All statutory functions to be performed by tax officials under GST like-
(a) approval of registration,(b) assessment,(c) audit,(d) appeal,(e) enforcement etc.
Who Owns the GSTN?
The GSTN is owned by the Government and Sector. The authorised capital of GSTN is Rs. 10 crore, in which the Government of India holds 24.5% equity in GSTN and all States of the Indian Union, including NCT of Delhi and Puducherry, and the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers (EC), together hold another 24.5%. Balance 51% equity is with nonGovernment financial institutions. The Company has been set up primarily to provide IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Rests of the shares
Key Features GST Network (GSTN)
Incorporated on 28.03.2013 as Section 25 private limited company with authorized equity of Rs. 10 croreStrategic control to remain with GovernmentEquity Holders Central Government – 24.5% EC and all States together – 24.5% Financial Institutions – 51% A section 25 private limited company with Strategic Control with the GovernmentTo function as a Common Pass-through portal for taxpayers- submit registration application file returns make tax payments To develop back end modules for 25 States (MODEL –II)Infosys appointed as Managed Service Provider (MSP)Appointed 34 GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) to develop simple applications to be used by taxpayers for interacting with GSTNGSTN and GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) to provide technology based assistance
Role of GSTN in Payment of GST by Taxpayers
Under GST, all challans will have to be prepared by taxpayers on the GST portal only. This has been done to ensure that bank tellers do not enter the wrong TIN number from handwritten challans as happens sometimes today. Once Challan is created with GSTIN, name of taxpayer, amount under various tax heads and sub-heads, the taxpayer has the following two options to pay the tax: He can choose an online option under which, he will have to choose one of the agency banks (i.e. banks authorized by RBI to collect GST on their behalf) from the dropdown menu and after that, he will be taken to the website of the chosen bank to make payment by providing a user ID and password of the bank. After completion of payment, he will be brought back to the GST portal from where he can download the paid challan, which is generated by GST System on confirmation from the Bank.The other option of tax payment is to print the challan and present the same in the relevant bank for ‘Over the Counter Payment’ (OTC). The bank after realizing the payment will transfer the money to RBI and send confirmation of payment to GST Portal for accounting. At the end of the day, the GST portal will prepare a summary of all payment confirmations received by it from Banks and share the same with RBI and accounting authorities for reconciliation. No tax money will ever come to GSTN in any manner. GSTN will only get confirmation of payment from the Banks.
Role of GSTN with respect to Filing of Returns
Under GST, there will be a common return for CGST, SGST, and IGST, eliminating the need to file separate tax returns with Central and state GST authorities. Checking of the claim of Input Tax Credit (ITC) is one of the fundamental pillars of GST, for which data of Business to Business (B2B) invoices have to be uploaded and matched. The Common GST Portal created and managed by GSTN will do this matching on the basis of invoice level data filed as part of the return by all taxpayers. A similar exercise will be done for inter-state supplies where goods or services will move from the state of origin to the state of consumption and so will the taxes. The claim of IGST and its utilization will be settled based on returns filed at the Common GST portal.
Role of GSTN with respect to Registration Application
Under GST, the registration of taxpayers will be common under Central and State GST and hence one place of filing application for the same i.e. the Common GST portal. The application so received will be checked for its completeness by the GST portal, which will also carry out validation of data like PAN from CBDT, CIN/DIN from MCA and Aadhaar of promoters, if provided, from UIDAI. After completion of validation, the registration application will be shared with respective central and state tax authorities. Query of tax authorities, if any and their final decision will be communicated to GST portal which in turn will communicate the same to the taxpayer.The Common GST Portal, as explained in brief above, will be the single interface for all taxpayers from any part of the country. Only in case where a taxpayer is picked up for scrutiny or audit, and such cases are expected to be small in number, he will interface with the respective tax authority issuing the notice under the Act. For all other cases, which is expected to be around 95%, the Common GST Portal will be the only taxpayer interface.
Access to Data
The design of GST systems is based on role based access. The taxpayer can access his own data through identified applications like registration, return, view ledger etc. The tax official having jurisdiction, as per GST law, can access the data. Data can be accessed by audit authorities as per law. No other entity can have any access to data.
GSTN Contact Details
Address: Goods And Services Tax Network, East Wing, 4th Floor, World Mark – 1, Aerocity, New Delhi – 110037Email – info@gstn.org.inContact Number – 011-49111200
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