The GST Council on Saturday demanded Infosys to upgrade the Information Technology (IT) backbone by July 30. In the meantime, the council decided to defer the introduction of e-invoicing till September 30.
Non-executive Chairman of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani, who made a presentation before the Council on Saturday has suggested that in order to smoothen the rollout of the new return system and to ensure a better uptake, the transition may be made in an incremental manner. He suggested that the process may be initiated by addressing the compliance-related issues first so that the problem of tax evasion and gaming of the system due to non-linking of FORM GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-3B is addressed immediately.
Nilekani informed the Council that to augment the capacity of the IT system to concurrently handle 3 lakh taxpayers from the present level of 1.5 lakh taxpayers, the hardware procurement process has been initiated, which is slightly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. He sought time till January 31, 2021, to complete the task. However, the Council decided to cut short the time to July 30, 2020.
To support the timely implementation of various initiatives, the Council gave a go ahead for deployment of additional manpower (60 in number) on T&M (Time and Material) basis and assured that both on procurement of additional hardware and hiring of manpower, expeditious approvals would be given. However, the GST Council insisted on immediate removal of technical glitches in filing returns.
Considering proposed change in the IT system, it has been decided to implement e invoicing system from October 1, while new return will also be introduced from the same date. Earlier, April 1 was the date for these two aspects.
Annual Return
Meanwhile, the Council decided to give relaxation to MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) from the furnishing of Reconciliation Statement in FORM GSTR-9C, for the financial year 2018-19, for taxpayers having aggregate turnover below ₹5 crores. Due date for filing the Annual return and the Reconciliation Statement for financial year 2018-19 has been extended to June 30 and late fees not to be levied for delayed filing of the annual return and the Reconciliation Statement for financial year 2017-18 and 2018-19 for taxpayers with aggregate turnover less than ₹2 crore.
A Press Release has been issued in this regard to give effect on the implementation of 39th GST Council Meeting held on March 14, 2020, at New Delhi: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1606430