India
Around 5.50 lakh have fully migrated to GST including digital signature or e-sign after trade associations were roped in to speed up registration and sort out issues on the spot
Updated : Jul 31, 2017, 07:44 PM IST
It’s been a month since the Goods and Service Tax (GST) was rolled out by the Centre. Since then, 7,46,555 of the total 7,92,893 VAT registered dealers in Maharashtra have activated their GST accounts, which is almost 94.16% against 82.04% at the all-India level.
Of the VAT registered dealers, nearly 5,50,703 (70%) have fully migrated to GST including digital signature or e-sign. However, the state GST department is reaching out through emails and social media to 22,633 VAT registered dealers who have yet to download their GST provisional ids.
This apart, the state GST department so far has received 2,00,201 applications for new GST registration of which 1,55,291 have been issued GST identification number (GSTIN). This is almost 15% of the 13.41 lakh applications received for new GST registration across the country. All new applications for new registration are being allocated to the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and state GST department.
State GST commissioner Rajiv Jalota told DNA,'' The department is making efforts through personalized letters, SMSs, emails and call centres to reach out to the taxpayers and their consultants. Taluka wise nodal officers have been appointed to organize awareness camps and thereby address issues faced by dealers by providing necessary assistance.'' He informed that the department is giving priority to attend to those who do not have computer facilities.
Moreover, the department teams are going in rural and mofussil areas to give a helping hand to the taxpayers. “The department has opened dedicated registration desks to create and upload registration applications and to migrate fully to the GST. Trade associations have been roped in to organize awareness camps at the taluka level and solve various issues on the spot,” Jalota said.
The department has created an online Google form for GST-related queries and for technical queries special help desks have been set up to provide end to end help to the taxpayers. Additionally, the department has made operational the new registration of casual taxpayers from today and the period for filing of intimation to opt composition scheme has been extended up to August 16.