Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

11-May-2017 16:17 IST

Revenue Secretary Dr. Hasmukh Adhia holds detailed review of IT-Preparedness for the roll-out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 01, 2017.

60.5 lakh taxpayers out of 84 lakh enrolled as of now; Registration to be reopened for 15 days from 01st June, 2017.

Out of 62,937 tax officials, 24,668 tax officials have been given hands-on training; remaining to be trained by 15th June, 2017

3200 taxpayers from Centre, States and UTs to get hands-on experience of GST System software in a pilot from 02nd to 16th May, 2017.

Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, Government of India, expressed his satisfaction with the preparation for the roll-out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1st July, 2017. He was holding a detailed review of IT Preparedness for GST System at the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) office in national capitalyesterday. The meeting was attended by Smt. Vanaja N. Sarna, Chairperson Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Shri Navin Kumar, Chairman GSTN, Shri B. N. Sharma, Additional Secretary Revenue, Shri S. Ramesh, Member CBEC, Shri Prakash Kumar, CEO GSTN, Shri Binod H. R., Executive Vice President, Infosys and Shri C. N. Raghupathi, Infosys India Business Unit Head.

Dr. Adhia reviewed GST System preparedness of GSTN and CBEC. He was briefed about the software system being developed for GST, training of tax officials and outreach program being undertaken by Tax Departments across the nation. Out of 62,937 tax officials, 24,668 tax officials have been given hands-on training on the application software on live system while the remaining officials will be trained by 15th June, 2017. The training is being conducted on Registration, Returns and Payment Modules developed by GSTN.

GSTN is also conducting a pilot on GST System Software from 2nd May to 16th May, 2017, where 3200 taxpayers drawn from each State/UT and Centre will be participating. The pilot covers all the three modules and is being run to give the taxpayers first hand opportunity to work on the live system as the creation of return has become an interactive process.

This pilot will also give an opportunity to test all the modules by a large set of users in real life environment so that all possible scenarios get tested. All stakeholders involved in the GST System from taxpayer to bank to RBI to accounting authorities are participating in this exercise which is like a rehearsal for the real rollout. The feedback from the pilot will be used to further improve the GST Software. The modules covered under the pilot are:

i. Upload of invoice data using Offline Tool, developed by GSTN

ii. Creation of Supply Return (GSTR-1)

iii. Viewing auto-generated inward supply (Purchase) Return (GSTR-2A)

iv. Editing of GSTR-2A by purchaser to create final inward supply return (GSTR-2)

v. Viewing and acceptance/rejection of added invoice data by purchaser (GSTR-1A)

vi. Viewing System generated GSTR-3, payment of taxes using net banking and submission of GSTR-3.

vii. Creation of bank scroll by Banks and RBI,

viii. Reconciliation of payment by Accounting Authorities with data received from Banks and RBI

The Revenue Secretary Dr Adhia also reviewed the progress on enrollment of existing taxpayers. As on 30th April 2017, when Phase-1 of enrollment was closed, 60.5 lakh taxpayers out of 84 lakh had enrolled. The enrollment window will be re-opened for 15 days from 1st June,2017 to give another opportunity to taxpayers to enroll.

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DSM/VKS/KA

GST IT preparedness advances pilot testing and user training to validate registration, return and payment systems before rollout. GST IT preparedness centers on validating the central software and user workflows through targeted training and a multi stakeholder pilot covering Registration, Returns and Payment modules. The pilot tests invoice upload, creation and reconciliation of supply and inward returns, acceptance/rejection flows, consolidated return generation and submission, bank/RBI scroll creation and reconciliation. Enrollment progress and an additional registration window accompany the pilot, while hands on training for tax officials is to be completed before rollout and pilot feedback will inform software refinements.