90% of tax paying dealers in Telangana to file 1st GST returns in August

Hyderabad: The Telangana government is hoping that at least 90 per cent of the existing 87,000 tax paying dealers in the state may file their first GST returns for the current month in August although the Centre gave cushion for filing the same up to September 5, a senior bureaucrat said.

Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Revenue) also said that 90 per cent of the total 2.05 lakh dealers, registered under the erstwhile VAT has now migrated to the GST regime.

“They (dealers) can delay filing of returns up to September 5. But we are getting ready for next month itself. We are confident that at least 90 per cent of them will file their returns next month (for the July). There should not be any problem. Because we are actively working with them. We have identified about 87,000 dealer who pay taxes,” Kumar told PTI.

He said the tax amount being paid by the dealer will go the the Centre’s account and within one day 50 per cent of that amount will be credited to the state government account.

According to him, 90 per cent the dealers with below Rs 1.5 crore turnover will come under the supervision of the state government, while 50 per cent of the firms with above Rs 1.5 crore turnover will go to Centre.

“The exact impact on the state’s revenue will come to know only after the dust is settled,” he said.

He, however, felt that there should not be any negative impact on the state’s exchequer in the long run.

On the reorganization of the Commercial Taxes department, ruling out retrenchments, he said there will be a complete reshuffle in the next three months once clarity emerges on the GST system.

“Based on the picture that emerges after some time, we may be creating new geographical units and will also strengthen enforcement and similar wings,” he said.

A senior official of the state government said the revenue collection for the April-June quarter has gone up to Rs 9,180 crore up by 22 per cent over the same period last fiscal.

–PTI