The Office of the Commissioner of State Tax. Maharashtra State on June 12, 2026, issued circular on Transitional procedure regarding e-CST declarations.
The Maharashtra GST Department has introduced a new application system for administration under the MVAT, CST, and PT Acts, replacing the earlier SAP-based system. As part of this upgrade, a facility for obtaining e-CST declarations has been made available to dealers through the new portal. However, data relating to periods prior to October 2025—such as returns, Form 704, and previously issued declarations—is still under migration, leading to practical difficulties in processing applications for such periods.
To address these challenges, the Department has prescribed a temporary procedure for obtaining e-CST declarations for periods prior to October 2025, which will remain in force until August 31, 2026. While the application continues to be filed through the “E-CST” module on the Mahagst portal, taxpayers are now required to upload supporting documents, including copies of returns, acknowledgements, and a declaration certificate certified by a Chartered Accountant. This certificate must include details of declarations already received and the balance eligible transactions.
Additionally, taxpayers must submit reconciliation statements of interstate purchases or branch transfers along with a detailed list of declarations already received or issued. These details should include declaration type, serial number, value, and date, enabling the authorities to verify the application accurately. The information provided must also reconcile with the declaration values being claimed in the application.
Further, dealers are required to carefully input transaction values and declaration utilisation figures in the prescribed fields, as once submitted, these figures will be frozen and auto-populated for subsequent applications of the same period. The circular emphasizes careful compliance and invites stakeholders to report any implementation difficulties to the Office of the Commissioner of State Tax, Maharashtra.
[Trade Circular No: 4T of 2026]
