MH GST Dept Asks the Taxpayers to Give Estimates of the Taxes

The nationwide lockdown still prevalent in India has adversely affected the GST revenue of the center as well as states. To this, Maharashtra GST authorities want the taxpayers to disclose the amount they would be paying so that the state is able to create a roadmap for combating coronavirus.

The notifications sent to the taxpayers stated that the tax department is cordially demanding them to share the information about the GST Check out the latest official updates under GST (Goods and Services Tax) by the CBIC department. Also, we include notifications and circulars/orders regularly. Read more they would likely be paying for the month of March. However, the tax for the supplies in March is a liability for April. That is postponed for June due to the coronavirus outbreak. By knowing the amount of tax that would be paid by the taxpayers, the state government will be able to pre-calculate the GST revenue.

Sources said that Maharashtra tax authorities are unable to fetch the said data due to the lockdown situation. If it was easy to give the estimate of tax payable, then the return filing would not have to wait till June. The state government is totally indulged in preparing the budget and estimates for the funds they might need to combat COVID-19 emergencies. In the midst of the situation, the government is asking the taxpayers to give the probable data of the SGST they will be paying for the month of March.

The due dates for filing the GST returns have been shifted to 30 June 2020 that was supposed to fall somewhere between 20 April to 20 April if there were normal circumstances. Under GST, the returns and payments are done at the same time. GST Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar by the medium of TOI stated that the lockdown is expected to hinder the tax collection. “The exercise is expected to get a basic idea of the tax that can be generated. This is also part of the regular exercise conducted by the department’s officials,” he said

Experts in the tax field said that amid the prevailing crises it is not at all generous to expect a taxpayer to come up with the details of the taxes they will be paying in the future. Not only tax accumulation but the lockdown has severely affected the financial services too. Taxpayers will reach out to the professionals like CAs for achieving the details who are also static and un-progressive due to the lockdown.

They further stated that, if the professionals were in a position to give accurate data of the payable tax then they would have filed the returns as per the earlier deadlines. The extension in the tax filing has been granted due to the standstill in the businesses and people’s inability to fetch the data.