The GST Council has rejected demands for postponing GST rollout but eased the filing deadlines for the first two months to help businesses prepare better.

The government said a new form (GSTR-3B) will be available for the first two months, which will enable businesses to file returns and pay taxes. They will then get an additional 25 days to complete the online filing requirement for July. For August, they will get an additional 10 days. If there are gaps between the new form and final filing (GSTR-3), additional tax will be collected.

“Registration is going on fairly satisfactorily. As of today, 65.6 lakh, which is 81.1 per cent of all registered businesses, have taken provisional registration for GST… when thousands and lakhs register, they don’t make a complaint. When five people register, they go through the Twitter,” as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Fresh registration is scheduled to commence from June 25 and revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia suggested that businesses should not rush as 30 days will be given to register. Similarly, for those with provisional IDs, there was no need to rush as they will have three months, he added.

Tax experts welcomed the relaxation in deadline. “This measure should significantly help in assuaging the concerns of inadequate readiness of GSTN being faced by the industry and confirms that preparedness of GSTN will not be a roadblock for the implementation of GST as was being anticipated by the industry,” Rajeev Dimri, leader for indirect tax practice at consultancy BMR & Associates said.

– Apparel and Textile News, Apparel Talk, Indian Apparel