Specialties of GST Software Project: Developed by Infosys

Infosys, an Indian multinational IT organization successfully begged the significant project of Goods and Service Tax IT Infrastructure from the government. The project was entitled to the most deserving performer since the IT origin has become foremost in almost every sector. The tax scheme has been implemented totally upon the online platform to outreach the taxpayer base across the nation.

Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, which earlier won the government contract of a landmark INR 1,380-crores to build GST network software that will be used for the proposed Goods and Services Tax in our nation. As per the sources, the IT major firm has developed the GST software despite the delay in the implementation of the bill.

Latest Update

• 8th July 2021: RTI (Right To Information Act) revealed no penalty/fine from Infosys company for GST portal technical issues and incompetency

The project has been speculated for about hefty INR 1,380 crore which equals to around USD 60 Million and decided to be completed within the time range provided by the centre and government authorities. The decided amount is very much high in accordance with several projects undergone within the nation for any sourced organization. The fact also proved that even Indian companies are also capable of withstanding such a delicate and heavy duty nature contracts in front of the world.

The GST project of Infosys was started in October 2016 and the beta testing was started in February 2017, as stated by the official authorities indulged into the project. The CEO of Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) Prakash Kumar said that it was tested by authorised and chosen group of tax professionals only. Earlier the project was being discussed with SAP and Tally Solutions, as these organizations also hold potential to keep the work sustained but ultimately Infosys got the chance to try its hands over the authenticated GSTN structure and to be a privileged provider of the services.

Recommended: Download Gen GST Software for E-Filing and Billing Work

Director of government and public sector at PWC, Mr Anurag Dua told, “The three most important functionalities in the online system are registrations, returns and payments.

GST Issues Continues Infosys Nowhere to Support A senior professional from legal and tax field stated that government has failed to identify the issues related to the GST and now the entire community of taxpayers is suffering from incurable tax filing system. He also suggested in the meantime the government can waive penalties on late return filings due to the glitches in the GST portal. Also to be noted down that the GSTR 3B which was slated to be automated after the filing of GSTR 1 (for sales) and GSTR2 (for purchase) has not come with any solution and still after 7 months, showing numerous glitches. According to the experts, it is not the GST system or portal which is complex but it is the errors and glitches within the filing procedure which makes the overall concept of GST look complicated and tangled.

Further Meeting With Infosys

A Group of Ministers (GoM) committee formulated by the Modi Government to look into the matter of GSTN technical issues, and also met with the chairman of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani. Nilekani gives them a sign of relief that the GSTN system will work in a smooth way.

He also said that the company has recruited 100 more engineers in last month to work on GST portal. So far, 621 Infosys IT engineers are working on GSTN portal. Apart from this, the company has located 30 resident engineers across the country to organize between the GSTN and state commissionerates.

Recommended: Five Possible Suggestions that Make GST More Compliant

The Clash between GST Authorities & Infosys Over Technical Glitches

Even after making so many efforts, problems are arising in filing returns at the official website of the government. Traders are claiming that they were not able to file returns for the month of July. Additionally, the portal is not updating the details of old stock. Infosys, Information Technology (IT) giant who is handling the GSTN portal, businesses are demanding them to cross-check the portal again.

Tax Consultant MK Gandhi said that the GSTN Network is not taking the transactions before 1st July. He further added that if any of the traders had generated a bill on 28 June and were applying for an input tax credit for July month, the system would not receive this kind of transaction. It is a major issue for the taxpayers also as the bills generated on 28th June are not acceptable at the GSTN portal which makes issues as to how and when the taxpayer will get the input tax credit for that stock. The system is not receiving input credit for the bills up to 30 June.

Tax Expert MK Gandhi said that, if any of the traders had purchased stock on 28th June its delivery occurred after 1st July. In these circumstances, the system is not receiving such kind of stock. The system is assuming this stock in June month but this stock was reported in July month. Businesses are facing issues relating to stock accounting at the GSTN portal.

CA Govind Sharma said that Taxpayers are facing issues relating to accounting in filing returns of GSTR 1 at the GSTN portal. Those transitions occurred at end the of June month, the system is not considering it in July month whereas there is no option to show it.

Praveen Khandelwal, General Secretary of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that the traders are demanding to take some strict action against Infosys and other related companies that are working on the GSTN portal. Traders are saying that the GSTN Network is not working effectively even after spending a lot of time and money. It has been nearly more than 4 months since GST was implemented in the country, and so far traders are facing problems in filing returns at the GSTN portal.