GRC WILL BE CONSTITUTED AT ZONAL/STATE LEVEL

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has set the ball rolling to create goods and services tax grievance redressal committees expeditiously at zonal and state levels.

The council at a meeting on December 18 decided that a structured mechanism will be put in place for the taxpayers under GST to tackle the grievances of taxpayers. The GST policy wing has prescribed the guidelines and written to all principal chief commissioners and chief commissioners to set up the cells.
The grievance redressal committees (GRCs) at zonal and state levels will consist of central and state-level tax officers and representative from GST Network (GSTN), besides representatives of trade and industry and other GST stakeholders. Examining and resolving all the grievances and issues being faced by the taxpayers, including procedural difficulties and IT-related issues pertaining to GST, both of specific and general nature, will be one of the mandates of the GRC, the Central Board of India

The committee will have access to a web portal, to be developed by GSTN where complaints that the GRC secretary puts up to the committee will be recorded and their resolution status updated on a regular basis. Stakeholders will be able to view these updates. Co-chairs of the GRC, nodal officers of GSTN, policy wings of the CBIC and GST Council Secretariat will also be able to update the status of action taken at their end.
Whenever a GST policy-related issue is referred to by a GRC, the concerned policy wing of the CBIC would examine it and if needed place it before the council for consideration or approval.

If the matter is related to an IT-related issue pertaining to the GST portal, it would be resolved by GSTN in a time-bound manner, preferably within one month.
The GRC secretary will submit a quarterly progress report to the GST Council Secretariat as well as the GST Policy Wing of the CBIC. The GST Council has been taking steps to make filing tax returns a much smoother process, in order to increase the base of taxpayers and hence tax collections