There has been a strong demand for streamlining VAT administration through citizen-centric, service-oriented processes, and establishing a certain degree of standardization with respect to Commercial Tax (CT) administration. Since the CT departments mainly interface with businesses and often account for 60−70 per cent of the total revenue of the States and Union Territories (UTs), their functioning can directly affect the attractiveness of a State or UT as a business destination. It is against this backdrop that the Commercial Taxes MMP was conceived. The initiative is spearheaded by the Department of Revenue (DoR), Ministry of Finance, with strategic consultancy provided by the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) and Ernst & Young (E &Y).

Under this MMP, various recommendations have been made to facilitate simplification of administrative procedures and reduction of processing timelines. Some of the key recommendations are noted below:

• Electronic filing of returns
• Electronic clearance of refunds
• Electronic payment of tax
• Online dealer ledger
• Online issuance of CST statutory forms through Tax Information Exchange System (TINXSYS)
• Facility to dealer to obtain various online information services

For more information, visit http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_revenue/index.html