GST (Goods and Service Tax) is one of the major tax reforms in Indian history. This tax reform will transform the way businesses both small and big operate in India. In spite of this huge change, the government has ensured a smooth transition system. Hence, the government launched a goods and service tax portal on www.gst.gov.in.
The GST Portal
The goods and service tax portalensures the proper collection of data of existing taxpayers. Therefore, this portal provides a robust foundation and helps in a seamless transition. At present, an existing taxpayer could enroll for GST on goods and service tax portal through a Provisional ID provided to him by the respective VAT/ service tax department. Furthermore, the taxpayer could then feed and update all his business-related details on the said portal.
The goods and service tax portal is a platform that provides the GSTN (Goods and Service Tax Network) which is essentially the backbone of this Portal for making the interaction between all the taxpayers and the government. The fundamental role of Goods and Service Tax Network as the back-office infrastructural support system is to offer a robust IT related infrastructure to central as well as the state governments, taxpayers, stakeholders, etc. for smooth execution of all GST related transactions. It is also important to note here that there’s no fee charged for enrolling under this portal.
This common GST portal serves the purpose of registrations, tax payment, settlement of dues, MIS reports, etc. The entire GST process is online from registration to the return filling. This means a taxpayer doesn’t require visiting tax departments each time by himself for assessments and submitting returns or applications, although the GST facilitation centers are present across the country. The goods and service tax portal allows all communications including approving or rejecting the applications, responding to applications, intimating notices by the department, etc.
Enrollment in Goods and Service Tax Portal
Enrolment under the GST means validating the existing taxpayer’s data and filling up remaining key fields by taxpayers in Enrolment Application on the goods and service tax portal. The process for enrolment is common for all categories of taxpayers registered under Center, State or any Union Territory Tax Acts. The Central Excise and State VAT registered taxpayers enrollment commenced from 2016 on the goods and service tax portal. Before enrolling with the goods and service tax portal, one must ensure to keep the following information ready:
- Provisional ID which is received from the Central or the State Authorities
- Password which is received from the Central or the State Authorities
- Bank Account Number
- Bank IFSC
- Valid Mobile Number
- Valid E-mail Address
List of Key Services Available at GST Portal
A registered user after logging in to the GST portal (www.gst.gov.in) can avail several GST related services. Some of the key services available at the GST portal include:
- Application for Registration:
- Normal Taxpayer,
- Input Service Distributor
- Casual Dealer
- Application for GST Practitioner
- Filing GST Returns
- Payment of GST
- Create Challan
- Track payment status
- Claim refund of excess GST paid (RFD-01)
- Viewing E- Ledgers
- E- Cash Ledger
- E- Liability Ledger
- E – Credit Ledger
- Opting for Composition Scheme
- Opting out of Composition Scheme
- Stock intimation for Composition Dealers
- Claim Refund of excess GST paid
- Furnish Letter of Undertaking
- Transition Forms
- TRAN-1
- TRAN-2
- TRAN-3