The most prominent complaint of the J&K residents after repealing section 370 is internet malfunctions. Failure of internet connections in most of the regions of J&K has not only affected the common people but also the businessman, traders and other professionals for whom tax filing has now become a cumbersome task.
Even the Chartered Accountants who are responsible to carry forward the proceedings of GST compliance are now finding it way difficult to conduct tax audits of the taxpayers due to unaccessible internet.
Recently in a meeting with FM Nirmala Sitharaman, the traders association urged to extend the time limit for filing the GST return which is badly hindered due to the unavailability of the internet.
Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general in CAIT revealed that GST filed in the province of J&K had fallen to 25 Crore in September against 164 Crores in July this year. The situation in Srinagar is even more threatening.
Neeraj Anand, president at Chamber of Traders Federation Jammu commented on the situation that though large businesses have proficiency in filing their GST returns, majority of small scale businesses are unable to do so.
BSNL internet services in the province are only accessible by government offices and limited established businesses. As revealed by some government officials, if return filing dates are extended Jammu alone can bag 80,000 more Income Tax filers.
Various businessmen are asking extension for filing GSTR-3B (meant for depositing the tax), GSTR 1 (contains details of sale) and GSTR 7 (related to TDS deduction), these are monthly based compliances. They also want extension for filing audit tax reports (last date for which is Sept 30) till the internet services are restored in the state.
The current scenario shows 2G internet connections provided via BSNL service providers in Jammu and few other places like Sambha, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi districts whereas the leftover regions are still facing acute internet scarcity.
Neeraj Anand president at Chamber of Traders Federation and also one of the attendees of the meeting with FM Nirmala Sitharaman said that the industry is willing to file returns accurately complying with all the government norms but the internet is the only hindrance stopping them.
He further added that the minister has considered the request and has assured them to investigate the issue and take necessary actions.
All the Tax-related professionals (CAs, pax practitioners, accountants, analysts and legal officers) are struggling with the same internet issue leading to non-compliance of GST returns, said Shalay Razdan, chairman of northern India regional council of the ICAI J&K branch.
He further declared that internet services via other telecom companies like Airtel, Jio, Vodafone is currently not accessible. Only a few have internet access that too via BSNL broadband which is slow. The prevailing situation made industry ask for an extension in return filing, conducting AGMs and the main audit under Companies Act 2013.
Anand said that tax officers being aware of the prevailing situations in the state are not imposing Non-filer notice of Rs. 5000 to the companies who failed to file the income tax returns.
Traders even stressed the issue of direct purchase of apples from NAFED besides the obligation to safeguard the needs of the stakeholders which include cold storage owners, transporters and traders who have large investments via advance payments for crop purchase.
