GOODS AND SERVICE TAX NETWORK (GSTN) - Handbook of GST Law & Procedures (CBIC) [October 2024] - GST

4. GOODS AND SERVICE TAX NETWORK (GSTN) 4.1 GSTN is a Special Purpose Vehicle and has been set up to cater to the needs of GST. It is an interface between the Government and the taxpayers. The GSTN provides a shared Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and services to Central and State Governments, taxpayers and other stakeholders for implementation of GST. The functions of the GSTN include: (i) Facilitating registration; (ii) Return filing and processing and forwarding the returns to Central and State authorities; (iii) Computation and settlement of IGST; (iv) Matching of tax payment details with banking network; (v) Providing various MIS reports to the Central and the State Governments based on the taxpayer return information, need based information and business intelligence; (vi) Providing analysis of taxpayers profile; (vii) Payment management, including payment Gateways and integration with banking systems; (viii) Taxpayer management, including account management, notifications, information, and status tracking; (ix) Tax authority account and ledger Management; (x) Processing and reconciliation of GST on import and integration with EDI systems of Customs; (xi) Maintenance of interfaces between the Common GST Portal and tax administration systems; (xii) Provide training to stakeholders; (xiii) Carry out research and study best practices. 4.2 The following functions can be performed by taxpayers through GST Common Portal: (i) Application for registration as well as amendment in registration, cancellation of registration and profile management; (ii) Creation of Challan for payment of taxes, including penalties, fines, interest, etc.; (iii) Change of status of a taxpayer from normal to Compounding and vice-versa; (iv) Uploading of Invoice data filing of various statutory returns/Annual statements; (v) Track status of return/tax ledger/cash ledger etc. using unique Application Reference Number (ARN) generated on GST Portal; (vi) File application for refund, appeal, advance ruling etc.; (vii) Status review of return/tax ledger/cash ledger; (viii) Generation of E-way bill. (ix) Generation of E-invoice by taxpayers with Annual Turnover of more than 5 crores. 4.3 The officers use information/application submitted by taxpayer on GST Portal for following statutory functions: (i) Approval/rejection for enrollment/registration of taxpayers; (ii) Tax administration (Assessment/Audit/Refund/ Appeal/Investigation etc.); (iii) Business Analytics, MIS and other statutory functions. 4.4 GSTN-BO (Back Office) has been fully operational since 01.05.2024. The following are some of the features of the GSTN-BO (Back Office) in the GST Portal for the CGST Tax Officers: In addition to the Modules relating to Registration, Refund, Scrutiny of Returns, Enforcement, Show Cause Notice Adjudication and Recovery on GST Portal, various Modules would be available on BO for Pending actions, wherein the Officer gets the task-list against each Module. These Modules are available depending upon the roles assigned to the Officer. Hyperlinks would be available for each Pending action, wherein the Officer gets the list of ARNs for action. The task-list gives the total count as well as critical count of number of days available for completion of task. The Officer can also view the taxpayer Profile on BO, wherein he can see all data of taxpayer, in the same manner in which a taxpayer views his data. List of taxpayers, who have not added Bank details is displayed. This will help the Officer to initiate action for suo-moto cancellation of registration after following the due process. List of Defaulters would be available on the BO dashboard, which will help in timely issuance of Notice to Return Defaulters ( GSTR-3A ). The Hyperlinks provided in BO will assist to view the Electronic Cash Ledger, Electronic Credit ledger, Electronic Liability Register (Related to Return), Electronic Liability Register (not related to Return) and Negative Liability Statement. Records of Returns filed by the taxpayers would be available on the Dashboard, helping the Officer to view Tax Liability and ITC comparison ( GSTR-1 , GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A / 2B ). The Officers can view on Dashboard the List assigned to him, the List assigned from his Desk to other Officer and the List assigned to him from other Officer s Desk, through the links provided therein. In case of non-availability of an Officer to complete a task, the facility to re-assign such task to other Officer is also available. Work items can also be re-assigned to other Officer in the Role of re-assign cases.