Over 1.9 million file GST returns

GSTN hopes number will double by deadline

As many as 19,42,354 taxpayers have till Wednesday filed returns for July under the new goods and services tax (GST) regime. Officers of the GST Network (GSTN), responsible for the information technology (IT) backbone of the GST, said they hoped 2.8 million more would do so by the deadline in the next two days.

Those who have filed returns constitute over 22 per cent of total assessees (8.7 million) under the GST regime. However, of the 8.7 million assessees, 2.2 million are yet to complete the migration process to the new indirect tax regime. 

The GSTN, also managing the tax filing apparatus, has geared up the IT network to handle the rush, its Chairman Navin Kumar said. A last-minute rush caused the GSTN portal to crash last week, forcing the government to extend the deadline by five days to August 25.

Those who wish to claim transitional input tax credit can file returns by August 28. 

Sudhir Singh, MD of Marg ERP, a solution provider for GST returns, said over 1.9 million filers was not really a big number, but the numbers would swell by the deadline. He added that his clients were finding it difficult to file returns.

Till August 21, Rs 42,000 crore had come in as taxes from 1 million assessees. The collection figure is expected go up substantially, with the number of filers touching nearly 2 million as of Wednesday. 

These returns are not detailed ones. Those would be filed next month.