FM's 6-month revamp drive sees near-50 internal meetings

NEW DELHI: Hours after presenting the budget on Feb 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman got down to another task - a comprehensive revamp of GST, which went beyond rates to address registration- and refund-related complaints.Although the changes are being linked to Trump's tariff actions, the finance ministry has been working on the plan for close to six months. Sitharaman and her team of officials, which has included at least three revenue secretaries since the budget, have held close to 50 internal meetings as they undertook an item-by-item review of rates. With the Centre not represented on almost all ministerial panels, the finance ministry has sought to put forth its view and is hoping that the states agree to it.The idea was to bring about predictability, address classification concerns, issues around inverted duty structure and improve compliance by simplifying processes. Apart from rates, the registration mechanism is sought to be simplified and based on risk profiling, 95% of the applications are sought to be processed within three days. Besides, pre-filled returns are expected to be pushed with the idea that mismatches, which hold up refunds, are addressed.

Human intervention involved in refunds for exports is sought to be reduced to do away with whatever delays are seen.