The technology that GST will bank on

GST is making news for the past couple of weeks across the nation. The success of the biggest tax reform in the Country aims to ensure a trouble free transition for various entities. The transition can be trouble free only with the right technology that will help run it. The Goods and Services tax network, is the IT backbone for the GST, it will be loaded with much pressure to ensure that GST functions uninterrupted and helps make India a uniform tax country.  With the implementation of GST from July, the Goods and Services Tax network will have to process about 3.5 billion invoices every month starting from July, with about 8 million taxpayers who will be filing 37 tax returns in a year. The software is designed to be the common interface for the Centre as well as the State Government, banks, taxpayers and the tax authorities. 

The GST structure in India is more complex among all the Countries, which requires a strong technology that will back up for all the returns, invoices and increasing number of taxpayers year after year. The technology took two years to develop based on the draft laws. It has been developed without adequate input, but it is expected to roll out by July. Many skeptics fear a situation triggered by a poorly prepared IT system since not everyone will be ready with the transition. There are various challenges that include cyber threats as well. With the recent ransomware attack, there have been increased concerns about the security of the software. There have already been attempts by different Countries to bring down the system with a DDOS attack. The technology should expect hacking attempts, given the importance of the data it will handle. Cyber crime is growing across the World and it is also growing at an exponential rate, which is the main reason that this threat should not be ignored.

Every business needs to be prepared with GST from July, for the same, you need a subscription to a GSP to upload the invoices on Government portal, you need the ability to record invoices, this could be on a spreadsheet as well and a computer with an internet connection. The GSP will store all the information related to GST and create multiple gates to the infrastructure using GSP which will transfer the data of the taxpayer to the servers. Service providers are currently working with the GSP in order to provide an entire compliance platform and help in filing returns.

You can start by analyzing the impact of GST on your business, this can be done by ensuring that the suppliers are ready with the mechanism to create and upload invoices in the GST formats. Further, you need to enable the basic technology platform to prepare invoices in the GST format and identify the network you need to be registered on. Lastly, seek a test run so you are well aware about the process of invoicing and filing the returns.