India to roll out simplified GST return forms from Apr 1

India’s new simplified return forms for goods and services tax (GST) will be rolled out from April 1 next year, revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey recently said. Confident about achieving the budgeted target for GST collection, he said the refund process is being further streamlined to make it completely online and friendly for taxpayers.

Pandey was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) foundation day.

In the first eight months (April-November) of the current fiscal, the government has collected over Rs 7.76 lakh crore as GST. The 2018-19 budget had estimated annual GST collection at Rs 13.48 lakh crore, which means a monthly target of Rs 1.12 lakh crore.

The revenue department, whose monthly target from GST is around Rs 1 lakh crore, was short by Rs 4,000 crore in GST collection in November. GST collection in November was Rs 97,637 crore.

The department wants to raise that monthly target to Rs 1.10 lakh crore, a news agency report quoted Pandey as saying.