The GST Council will most likely come up with simplified Goods and Services (GST) return system before March 31 as it has decided the return filing under the old system of GSTR- 1, 2, 3 and 3B only until March 31.

The GST Council will most likely come up with simplified Goods and Services (GST) return system before March 31 as it has decided the return filing under the old system of GSTR- 1, 2, 3 and 3B only until March 31. According to a report by PTI, the chairman of GST Network (GSTN) will seek suggestions from industry and traders’ bodies on simplification of the returns filing.

According to him, the GST Council is planning to come up with a new system as soon as possible. The entire process of deliberating upon the new and simplified systems by the Group of Ministers (GoM) of the GST Council is likely to get expedited in next two weeks.

Post the implementation of the GST on July 1, traders have been complaining about complex GST return filing system and regular glitches on the GST Network. In November, with an aim to simplify the system to increase compliance, the Council not only extended the deadlines for filing returns but also temporarily removed the filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3. The deadline for filing GSTR-3B was extended to March 31 and GSTR-1 to 20th of every succeeding month.

However, the council is planning to simplify the process even further. According to Finance Minister and head of GST Council Arun Jaitley, the process of simplification is culminating a particular direction. Earlier, it was reported that the GST Council was going to conduct a meeting via video conferencing to decide on the issue before the Budget 2018, however, it did not take place.

After the 25th meeting, Arun Jaitley gave a sneak-peek into the new process under consideration. He said that under the new system GSTR 3B would be continued along with invoices of supply. He said that supply invoice will automatically reflect the supplies, and hence, the process of filing GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 can be subsumed. However, there are other methods under consideration too by the council.