The apex decision-making body for the Goods and Services Tax, will meet in Guwahati later this week to deliberate on more measures to make the new tax regime smoother.

A few weeks ago, amid the furore over a massive rise in compliance burden due to GST, the government decided to do a reality check. It set up a few computers and asked several indirect tax officers involved with conceptualisation and implementation of the new regime to try filling up the forms themselves.

While there were a few who managed to complete the task, there were several who had difficulty doing what they had been asking businesses to do all over the country. Those who were computer-savvy managed to do it but there were some who took time, said a source, confirming the development.

Suddenly, officers seemed to become aware of complications with the three-stage filing process. It seemed there was a sudden change of heart, officers became sympathetic to something they were refusing to acknowledge for months despite complaints, said a revenue service officer.

The change in mood in the government is apparent with the revenue department and the Central Board of Excise and Customs becoming more responsive to change. But before the officers took the test, the feedback in an internal survey wasn’t too favourable either. A survey of businessmen was limited to Gujarat and Haryana and the overwhelming impression was that the process was too cumbersome.