Even GSK staff unable to file GSTR-2 return

Surat: Officials at the Goods and Service Tax Suvidha Kendra (GSK) at Bahumali building in Nanpura were caught in a catch 22 situation when a large number of tax consultants, traders and power loom weavers thronged the facility carrying details of their business transactions in their pen drives on Friday morning. The officials were asked to file the GSTR-2 on the GST portal, which even they could not after trying for more than two hours.

"This is a very clear message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who believes GST will benefit consumers and poor. When the GSK, having highly qualified staff and equipped with latest updated software infrastructure, were unable to file the GSTR-2, how can the government expect compliance from a small trader or consultant?" asked president of South Gujarat Commercial Tax Bar Association (SGCTBA) Prashant Shah.

Around 150 people, including tax consultants, accountants, traders and power loom weavers, stormed the GSK, carrying details of business transactions in their pen drives on Friday.

"The trained staff at GSK were unable to file the GSRT-2 return on the portal. Each staff members wasted two hours for filing the return, but the system would revert with error messages. Before implementing GST, the central government should have performed repeated trials of the portal," president of Pandesara Weavers Cooperative Society Limited Ashish Gujarati said.

"Many tax professionals did not even know how to file the return and that indicates the lack of preparedness to address the GST-related issues," a tax professional based in Ahmedabad Harnish Modh said.

President of Gujarat chapter of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Pramod Bhagat said, "Traders across the country are agitated due to the technical glitches and non-performance of the GST portal. We have asked the traders to boycott filing the GSTR return till the government does not rectify the errors and technical glitches in its own portal."

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association (GSTBA) has decided to burn GST effigy in the city on November 8 to protest against the government. Other programmes such as massive rally in Ahmedabad on November 2, dharna programme on November 6 and submitting memorandum to the PM and finance minister.

Despite repeated attempts, commercial tax commissioner could not be reached for comments.