In a breather to its registered dealers who have still been unable to migrate to the GST system due to any discrepancy or mismatch of any information like PAN card number or address etc, excise and taxation department has now permitted them to register themselves afresh on the GST portal as a new dealer, thereby solving their problem. The department has also clarified that in case any VAT refund of such dealers was pending, they would be entitled to claim it fully by filing GSTRAN1 form, after getting their GST number.

According to Pawan Garg, deputy excise and taxation commissioner, Ludhiana: “As of now, almost all our VAT dealers have migrated to the GST system, but there is a very minute number of those who have still not been issued GST due to a mismatch problem. Therefore, we have allowed such dealers to apply for a new GST number without using the migration system. They need not worry about VAT refunds of the period before 30 June, as the amount will be credited to their accounts, even after they switch over to the GST system.”

Reacting to the step taken by the department, Dinesh Kalra, president of Ludhiana Business Forums, said: “This is a highly appreciable move on the part of the excise department. There are still a lot of people who have not been able to get GST numbers, just because either their PAN numbers or other details in their VAT registrations did not match during migration to GST. The new registration process is pretty simple and takes only a few minutes to complete it on the GST portal. Moreover, when we are entitled to claim the full amount of pending VAT refund, I think this is the best solution.”

Source: Times of India