GST Day, 2020 or third anniversary of introduction of GST was marked by CBIC and all its field offices across India on July 01, 2020. GST has been instrumental in Breaking Barriers to build an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and taking forward the motto of One Nation One Tax One Market. Considering the COVID pandemic most of the interactions with stakeholders to mark this day were made in virtual mode on digital platforms.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on her message on GST Day, 2020 highlighted that GST has come a long way in simplifying the GST Tax Administration based on feedback from stakeholders. However, more efforts are required to ease tax compliances. Key points of FM’s message were:

Focus on Hon’ble Prime Minister’s clarion call for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.

Strive to make the tax administration simple for taxpayers ensuring Ease of Doing Business in essence

Foresee the issues faced by business community and proactively address them

The Finance Minister congratulated CBIC officers for the commendable job done by them during these testing times of COVID 19 and went beyond call of duty to help and handhold taxpayers. Also, appreciated the record amount of refund disbursed to ease cash flow of taxpayers during this period.

Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Sh. Anurag Thakur in his message added that return filing process needs to be made easier and processing of return and allowing Input Tax Credit needs to be made faster. Shri Thakur appreciated the hardwork of CBIC officers during lockdown period and efficient use of IT platforms to process GST refunds through remote access which in turn provided much liquidity to the taxpayers. Social activities by CBIC field officers of helping those in distress during COVID 19 was also applauded.

Chairman CBIC Sh. M Ajit Kumar in a virtual departmental GST Day programme emphasised on assisting taxpayers and reaching out to them to resolve their grievances and honor the FM’s message of Ease of Doing Business in its true essence.

Ease of Doing Business: simplify GST administration to speed return processing and allow quicker input tax credit access. The Finance Minister prioritized simplifying GST administration to achieve Ease of Doing Business, calling for proactive resolution of taxpayer issues, streamlined return filing, faster processing of returns and prompt allowance of Input Tax Credit, and commending CBIC for refund disbursements and use of IT platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.