Tax practitioners to discuss GST glitches at two-day nat'l conclave in Ahmedabad

Close to 200 tax practitioners from about 26 states will deliberate on the burning issues of Goods and Services Tax (GST) during a two-day conclave to begin in Ahmedabad on Saturday, July 14. Issues related to simplification of GST will be discussed and findings will be submitted to GST Council which is meeting on July 21 to simplify things.

This is the first ever, and the most widely represented meet of stakeholders at the grass-root to be held to review GST, which recently marked its first anniversary. "Returns, refunds and recommendations are the main things on our agenda. Participants from almost all the states in the country will share the issues they are facing. This will be a win-win proposition for the government, country's economy, businessmen and tax practitioners," said Axat Vyas, an organiser.

Nigam Shah, former president of Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association said even after one year of the roll-out of what is considered as the biggest ever indirect tax reforms in the country since independence, said there are issues like lack of registration, dual registration, not getting refunds and difficulties in filing returns among others.

"We want to highlight these bottlenecks. For example GSTR-1 needs to be filed within 10 days, which is mostly impracticable. In Punjab there are issues of traders getting multiple registrations... Refunds are being issued without verification – a dangerous thing as there could be a mismatch in actual refunds and refunds sought," he said.