CA Online

GSTN tweaked features, handled robust August return filing: CEO GST Network (GSTN) has tweaked some of the features on its portal over the past month to make the system more robust and allow glitch-free tax payment facility to nearly 35 lakh assessees, its CEO Prakash Kumar said on Sunday. Of the total 87.33 lakh registered businesses on the GSTN, which manages the IT infrastructure of the new tax regime, 68 lakh were eligible to pay taxes in August. Of the total registered taxpayers, 24.56 lakh are new registrations, while 62.77 lakh have migrated from the earlier excise, service tax and VAT regime. Mr. Kumar said the GSTN portal has handled a humongous load of filing of 1.3 lakh tax returns filing and payment per hour on September 20 — the last day of filing of August tax returns. The Hindu, New Delhi, 25th September 2017

Ministers have to ensure new laws do not lead to litigation In future, if a central ministry plans to bring in a new law, it may have to declare whether its enactment will lead to a spurt in court cases. The ministries will also have to ensure that the new law or an amendment to an existing Act does not lead to a increase in litigations, a senior government functionary has said quoting a document. The note has been written by Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary to his senior minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and the Cabinet Secretariat. The functionary said proposed bills should also focus on alternative dispute resolution to ensure that disputes arising out of laws are settled out-of-court. If the government accepts the suggestion, then all future bills placed in Parliament would carry a “litigation assessment” clause and the ministry concern will have to explain whether it expects litigations once the legislation becomes a law. “The focus is to ensure that laws do not attract cour

CII seeks extension of time for filing GST returns The Confederation of Indian Industry on Sunday sought extension of time by two months for filing of goods and services tax (GST) returns in view of difficulties being faced by businesses. The GST Council has already extended the last date for filing final returns to October 10. The CII has now requested for further extension to resolve certain system issues. In view of difficulties of online filing, the industry body suggested that “the due dates for filing GSTR1, GSTR2 and GSTR3 should be deferred for another month or two”. The chamber also suggested no penal action against trade and industry by the revenue department in the initial six months of GST launch. GST was introduced on July 1. It said the GST Network system response should be enhanced to allow download, preview details, and take prints for reconciliation, before submission. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 25th September 2017

DIPP readies framework to rank states on start up ecosystem To give a boost to startups, the Centre has initiated an exercise to rank states and Union territories on the basis of measures being taken by them to promote budding entrepreneurs,a government official has said. “We have discussed the initial framework. Soon, we will be formalising that. By next month, we will be able to prepare that,” the official added. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will facilitate the process of ranking and it would be done by a third party.“We are holding detailed consultations on parameters over which ranking can be done,” the official, who did not want to be named, said. The framework for ranking states and UTs on the basis of initiatives taken by them to promote startups was discussed in the state startup conference earlier this month. Parameters, which are under discussion, for the rankings include a well defined start-up policy, start-up cell, portal, network of mento

Clear exporters’ pending claims, GST panel tells government Hasmukh Adhia-led panel, set up by GST Council, urges Centre and state tax administrations to clear pending tax refund claims of exporters from the pre-GST period A panel set up by the GST (goods and services tax) Council, the federal indirect tax body, has urged Union and state tax administrations to clear pending tax refund claims of exporters from the pre-GST period, even as ways of processing newer claims are being figured out, according to an official statement. “The authorities of state governments as well as the central government have been requested to clear the pending refund claims of central excise and value added tax for the pre-GST period, so that exporters will get immediate relief,” said the statement. The suggestion from the panel led by revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia is in response to exporters’ concerns about their capital getting stuck on account of technical glitches in the IT system backing GST. Keen

Govt notifies new duty drawback rates from Oct 1 The revenue department on Friday came out with modified duty drawback rates for exporters with industry body FIEO demanding that the government should also offset other embedded taxes on products. The department has notified ´All Industry Rates´ of duty drawback, the refund of duties on imported inputs for export items, on a host of items, including toys, furniture, musical instruments, aircraft and vehicles, effective October 1. Reacting to the drawback rates, FIEO president Ganesh Kumar Gupta said the new rates basically factor in the basic customs duty on the inputs used in export production. “However,alot of embedded taxes like taxes on power and electricity, taxes on petroleum and diesel products, embedded taxes on products which are exempt also add to the burden of the exporters,” he said The Business Standard, New Delhi, 23th September 2017

Taxpayers have to update info on e-filing portal The income tax Department has asked taxpayers, who file ITRs and conduct other IT businesses online, to update their profiles and vital details on the official e-filing portal to ensure an “effective communication” between the two. The department on Friday issued an advisory asking taxpayers to furnish their latest information such as personal and secondary email and mobile phone numbers, address and bank account details. These details will be verified and processed after the taxpayer is sent a one time password (OTP) over the email and through SMS. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 23th September 2017