BIG STEP! FM Nirmala Sitharaman introduces filing of Nil GST returns via SMS facility from registered mobile number

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday introduced filing of ‘Nil’ GST returns via SMS facility from registered mobile number.

“In these 4 years, GST has achieved better tax compliance through mitigation of tax cascading, double (multiple) taxation, lower tax burden and has improved the competitiveness of domestic industries in the international market by removing hidden and embedded taxes,” Sitharaman tweeted.

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Addressing the issues faced by small taxpayers, the GST Council simplified the annual returns and its filing was made optional for small taxpayers having turnover up to Rs 2 crore for FY 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, she further added.

Filing of "Nil" GST returns through the SMS facility from the registered mobile number has been introduced which is expected to help almost 22 lakh Nil filers. A big step forward towards enhancing taxpayers’ convenience. #4yearsofGST
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— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) June 30, 2021

“Filing of ‘Nil’ GST returns through the SMS facility from the registered mobile number has been introduced which is expected to help almost 22 lakh ‘Nil’ filers. A big step forward towards enhancing taxpayers’ convenience,” she tweeted.

Addressing the issues faced by small taxpayers, the GST Council simplified the annual returns and its filing was made optional for small taxpayers having turnover upto Rs. 2 crore for F.Y. 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21. #4yearsofGST
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— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) June 30, 2021

GST 'One Nation–One Tax' was rolled out in India from July 1, 2017.  

Overall, GST rates have been reduced on 400 goods and 80 services. Given that, in the pre-GST regime, the combined Centre and States rates were more than 31 per cent on most of the items; this reduction marks a significant relief for the taxpayer, she tweeted. 

Sitharaman also mentioned in her tweets, “Substantial concessions have been extended to the agriculture sector in GST. On fertilisers, the net tax incidence was halved in GST. On agricultural machineries, the tax incidence has come down significantly from 15 per cent / 18 per cent to 12 per cent and on certain items from about 8 per cent to 5 per cent.” 

“Cattle feed, aquatic feed and poultry feed have all been kept at a ‘Nil’ rate in GST, as have all kinds of seeds. In other words, these vital inputs in the agricultural process do not attract any tax under the GST system,” She said.