The Centre on Tuesday constituted a committee under Goods and Services Tax Network chairperson Ajay Bhushan Pandey to look into possible simplification of the process of filing returns for the 2017-’18 financial year, PTI reported. The 10-member committee will submit its report by December 15.

The panel, which has tax commissioners from Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, will suggest modifications on how to file returns including changes in rules, format or laws. On simplifying of the process of filing, Pandey said, “The whole idea is that people who are nil filers, who have no sale/purchase transactions, but have taken a registration for some future use – should be able to file their GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns just by pressing a few buttons. That is our ultimate aim.”

As many as 40% of the businesses filing their returns on the GST Network have nil tax liability.

The committee will collect feedback from all stakeholders and come out with an appropriate plan for simplifying the filing process, Pandey said. He added that the panel would also consider what information on returns should be sought from business, and at what frequency.

The Centre had announced the formation of the committee on November 10. It had also postponed the date for filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 returns to March 31, 2018.