About 43.67 lakh taxpayers have filed their October GSTR-3B returns, which is the highest number so far, according to the Goods and Services Tax Network, which said the number of returns being filed was increasing every month.

The GSTR-3B filings for August and September stood at 28.46 lakh and 39.33 lakh, respectively.

“The number of taxpayers filing their GSTR 3B returns is showing marked improvement month after month with about 43.67 lakh of them filing their GSTR-3B returns for October till November 20, 2017, the highest so far,” the GSTN said in a release. “Around 56% of registered taxpayers had filed their GSTR-3B returns for October by November 20.” “The trend of taxpayers filing their returns on the last day continues, though. Taxpayers are urged to file their returns early to avoid last-minute hassles,” said Prakash Kumar, CEO, GSTN.

This was happening due to “two major reasons,” Pratik Jain, leader, indirect tax, PwC India, said. “One is greater awareness and the fact that GSTR-3B is a simpler form; the second is that the GSTN portal has been performing much better, especially [for] GSTR-3B and GSTR-1.”

The Centre also set up a 10-member panel under GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey to look into the requirements of filing returns this fiscal.