New Delhi, July 4 (KNN) With a view to help MSMEs in filing GST returns, the Revenue officials will soon visit colleges and universities in Kolkata to persuade students, especially those pursuing the commerce stream to become GST experts.

Devendra Nagvenkar, commissioner of CGST and Central Excise North Commissionerate, at a special session on 'One Year of GST Implementation' organized by CII said “Not only could this be a source of livelihood for them in the future, numerous MSMEs, which find it difficult to file GST returns, will also benefit in the process.”

"We will soon prepare a strategy as to how we will go about it," he added

Further he added that the government has now turned its focus on consolidation and ease of compliance and making the things much simpler we have launched a special clearance drive of GST refund of export and they will continue the effort.

The number of registered tax assesses in Kolkata zone has increased to over 6.5 lakh under the new indirect tax regime, from around 2.86 lakh in the pre-GST regime.

The total GST collection by the department was Rs 26,550.21 crore during 2017-18 as compared to a collection of Rs 24,609.42 crore, comprising central excise and service tax in the previous year.

"The rate of filing returns in Kolkata Zone is slightly more than the national average of 65 percent and the department is taking various measures to pursue and encourage non-filers to file their returns," he said, adding that Bengal would be the first state to cross the threshold of estimated revenue collection.

Further, he mentioned that for easy and successful implementation of the E-Way Bill, 500 officers of this zone have been trained.

Notably, the jurisdiction of Kolkata CGST and Central Excise includes Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar islands.