GST input tax credit form to be available from today

GST tax portal is likely to offer from tomorrow forms to claim the credit on sales made before the rollout of GST which the taxpayers have to file by August 28, a government official said today.

As GST return forms did not have a column for claiming transitional input credit, the government yesterday gave some breather to such taxpayers by giving them an extra week until August 28 to file returns.

These taxpayers will, however, have to pay taxes by August 20 on the portal of the GST Network (GSTN)- the IT infrastructure provider for the new indirect tax regime.

While GSTR 3B is the form for filing GST return, TRANS I is the form in which the businesses will have to give the details of credit that they are claiming for payment of taxes before the rollout of GST.

"The transitional form is almost ready and we are working to upload it by tomorrow so that businesses can start filing TRANS I," a senior revenue department official said.

Yesterday, the finance ministry had said the TRANS I form will be available on the GSTN website from August 21.

Giving relaxation to the businesses that need to claim transitional input tax credit, the ministry yesterday allowed them to deposit taxes on the basis of self-assessment by August 20 but gave them one more week until August 28 to file return.

The taxpayers who do not claim any transitional input tax credit will have to necessarily pay tax and file return in Form 3B before the due date of August 20.

Over 71.30 lakh excise, service tax, and VAT payers have migrated to the GSTN portal. Also, 15 lakh fresh registrations have happened on the portal.

For an easy compliance, the GST Council has allowed businesses to initially file their returns on self-assessment basis in the first two months of the GST rollout.

So, GST returns for July and August will be filed on GSTN portal by filling GSTR 3B form. Return filing commenced on August 5.