The Central Government is planning on making some improvements in the current GST return filing system, instead of rolling out a whole new model, which was supposed to be launched on 1st October, this year. The Principal Commissioner of GST Policy, CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs), Mr. Yogendra Garg, spoke about the same at a webinar hosted by Assocham. In the webinar, he said that this move is objected at making compliance much easier than it has been till now.

The IT support of the GST regime, called the GST Network, is currently working on some improvements in the current returns. It will soon be announcing an advanced version of the existing returns system.

A new form, called the GSTR 2B is going to be introduced. Like the GSTR 2A, it will also have details of purchases of the company or business, along with added information on input tax credits. Also, the existing GSTR 1 form will be more details. It captures sales-related information. Another form, the GSTR 3B, which gives tax computation, will be auto-populated.

There are more features that are likely to be added to the new version. These include, matching tool for comparison of GSTR 2A with purchase register, a communication channel between the buyer and seller, and an improved table for comparison of tax liability and input tax credit (ITC) after incorporating ITC on IGST paid on imports.

Moreover, the GST Network is also reported to be looking to reduce errors on part of the taxpayers. This they will do by improving the process of linking GSTR 1 with data of GSTR 3B and GSTR 2A with GSTR 3B for flow of ITC.

Further, a system of e-invoicing, which is a form of electronically-authenticated invoices, will also be implemented from 1st October, 2020, according to Garg. But this system will only be for businesses with turnover of more than Rs. 500 crore. Earlier, this system was being planned to be implemented for businesses with a turnover of over Rs. 100 crore.