GST Portal Gets New Updates in May; Here’s What Taxpayers Need to Know
The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) made some key updates on the GST portal in May to ease compliance and to strengthen tax monitoring systems. The recent amendments are primarily related to the improvements in the e-Way Bill (EWB) system and Input Tax Credit (ITC) reporting for a smoother experience for the taxpayers and businesses across the country.
One of the key enhancements has been made in the e-Way Bill portal. The upgraded system is expected to ease tracking and generation of e-Way Bills, enabling businesses to move their goods more efficiently and with fewer technical glitches. The changes are also meant to reduce errors, speed up the system and make the movement of goods more transparent.
The department shared an advisory for the same, which covers the following changes:
a) Mandatory capture of “Ship-To GSTIN” in Bill-To Ship To transactions for improved traceability and data accuracy; and
b) Introduction of EWB Closure functionality to enable taxpayers to voluntarily close E-Way Bills in specified scenarios.
Another major update of GSTN was the filing of Annexure B for refund applications where accumulated Input Tax Credit (ITC) was involved through GST portal.
Previously, taxpayers filing refund claims for certain accumulated ITC categories had to upload Annexure B in PDF format as per the existing guidelines. To simplify and automate the process of making refunds, GSTN has now introduced a standard format of Annexure-B Offline Utility on the portal.
The new utility is intended to simplify the filing and to allow system-based validation of invoices and supporting documents.
