E-filing of GST: Leap or Fall – Case of Traders and Chartered Accountants in Delhi-NCR

E-governance is the use of Information technologies by the Government for better delivery of government services to the citizens, improved communication with business and industry, less corruption and increased transparency. The government‟s decision of implementing GST through a centrally managed website is one such step towards establishing a centralised digital platform for the citizens to reap the benefits of E-governance facilities. The task of maintaining the entire IT system of the GST portal has been handed over to the Goods and Service Tax Network (or GSTN), a non-profit organization, owned jointly by public and private players. A completely new indirect tax regime has caused a spur in the economy with everybody trying to figure out as to how the things will work. With the fully electronic process of filing of GST return, less tech-savvy traders have to rely on professionals for tax calculation and filing. The study aims to examine the awareness level and to identify the problems faced by the traders and the professionals particularly in regards to the filing of GSTR-1, GSTR-2, GSTR-3, GSTR-4 and invoice-matching. Further, the study also examines the awareness of GST Compliance Rating and usage of any professional software for return filing. The study analysed primary data collected through semi structured telephonic interviews of 24 respondents. The data was analysed using Content analysis. The study found that the present GST filing process has a number of problems that need to be addressed soon in order to end the chaos.