Easing the filing process of Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns, the Central government has allowed traders to file their NIL GST monthly returns via mobile SMS facility. The decision taken by the Finance Ministry will benefit more than 22 lakh registered traders across the country. The taxpayers who owe no GST tax to the government till now had to log onto the GST tax portal and file their tax returns but now the same facility could be availed by sending a simple text message, according to a press release issued by the Finance Ministry.
The process of allowing traders to file their returns via SMS has been activated with immediate effect on GST portal. “…the functionality of filing Nil FORM GSTR-3B through SMS has been made available on the GSTN portal with immediate effect. The status of the returns so filed can be tracked on the GST Portal by logging in to GSTIN account and navigating to Services>Returns>Track Return Status,” the release said.
Taxpayers with zero tax liability will no longer need to log on to the GST portal and may file their GST returns via SMS facility, the government press release said.
The returns by taxpayers who owe zero taxes to the government are filed in GSTR-3B for on the portal. The government has devised a two-step easy procedure for filing of the tax returns.
Here is how you can file the GST NIL returns
1. Taxpayers will need to type: NIL<space> 3B<space>Unique GST Identity number<space> Tax month period
2. A unique one time 6 digit password issued by the government will be sent to your mobile phone number.
3. The taxpayer will then have to type: CNF<space>3B<space> 6-digit unique number.
After following these three basic steps, a message acknowledging the filing of the GST NIL returns will be sent to the mobile phone concluding the process.
