IT platform for GST will be ready on time

The Empow­ered Com­mit­tee of Finance Min­is­ters on Goods and Ser­vices Tax (GST) feels con­fi­dent that the required IT plat­form would be ready by the time GST is introduced.

“We have con­sid­ered the progress and action plan of GST Net­work Com­pa­ny (GSTN) as pre­sent­ed by the chair­man and CEO of GSTN,” a state­ment issued at the end of the two-day meet­ing here said. This is the most cru­cial work with respect to the roll­out of GST from April next, the com­mit­tee not­ed. This is time-bound, and work ‘needs to be start­ed some­where,’ the com­mit­tee felt.

So the com­mit­tee autho­rised GSTN to go ahead with the work based on reports pre­sent­ed on the sec­ond day and those dis­cussed the pre­vi­ous day. Small changes, if need­ed, may be sug­gest­ed after receipt of the revised reports. GSTN can always tweak the IT plat­form to incor­po­rate the changes.

In this con­text, the com­mit­tee reviewed the progress and action plan of GSTN as pre­sent­ed by its chair­man and CEO. It has also agreed to share the cost of GSTN by States and the Cen­tre on a 50–50 basis. Modal­i­ties of pay­ment by States are to be decid­ed by a sub-com­mit­tee to be con­sti­tut­ed for the purpose.

Mean­while, the com­mit­tee con­sid­ered the report of the joint com­mit­tee on busi­ness process­es cov­er­ing reg­is­tra­tion, returns and refund. It approved the report on reg­is­tra­tion. Those on returns and refund were discussed.

Source: Busi­ness Line