CBIC gives nod to clear pending GST registrations under ‘special drive’ by July 30

In a move that will help in processing of a swathe of pending applications for goods and services tax (GST) registration, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) has issued directions to all field offices to clear all the pending applications by July 30 under a ‘special drive’. Applications which were pending till June 30, and have not been processed till July 15, will be granted deemed approval, while applications received from July 1, 2020 onwards and that remain pending till July 28, will be deemed as approved on July 31.

“The three days deemed approval of application of registration would be resumed from August 1, 2020,” the Board said in a communication to all principal commissioners and commissioners across various jurisdictions. ET has seen a copy of the communication issued on July 17 by the GST policy wing. “Accordingly, it is requested that all pending applications of registration be disposed of, on or before July 30 as a special drive,” the letter added. ET had written about the issue last month.

The move to fast track registrations follows that of complete stoppage as the government had decided against granting any deemed approvals for GST registrations since March 25 – the beginning of the lockdown to counter the spread of Covid 19 pandemic – for fear of possible misuse during the period where central or state tax offices were either closed or operating with skeletal staff.

Applications that would otherwise take only three working days to be processed were held up for months, as the government extended the lockdown for over two months till June 1, after which offices started to reopen. The Board has asked GST Network to provide a list of registration applications that got deemed approval during the lockdown period – because of technical glitches – to jurisdictional officers so as to conduct physical verification of business premises ‘wherever required.’