The only option for making tax payment today, is online mode. Whereas GST , which is  based on Information Technology ,will have various options for tax payment. Under GST the tax payments are proposed to be done through Goods and Services Tax Network – GSTN. There are Various modes proposed for payment by taxpayers, such as , Internet Banking through authorized banks along with credit card and debit card; Over the Counter payment (OTC) through authorized banks; Payment through NEFT and RTGS from any bank (including other than authorized banks).

The taxpayer would be able to choose his preferred bank for Internet Banking, from the list of various authorized banks, registered with GSTN. OTC mode is proposed to be available for payments up to Rs. 10,000/- per challan only. Credit and Debit Cards of all banks shall be accepted, preferably with more than one payment gateways. In addition, the taxpayer would be required to pre-register their credit card, from which the tax payment is intended, with the GSTN system, which may be put to verification process by taking a confirmation from the credit card service provider.

The payment processes is proposed to electronically generate challan from GSTN Common Portal in all proposed modes with no manual intervention. GSTN is intended to facilitate hassle free, anytime, anywhere mode of payment of tax with paperless transactions. Registered tax payer or his authorized person would be allowed to generate challan where basic details such as name, address, e-mail, mobile no. and GSTIN of the tax payer will be auto populated. Even for unregistered person, temporary Registration number would be granted on GSTN Common Portal, by any tax authority for facilitating tax payments, which would be later converted into a regular registration number.

The tax payers could partially fill in details and save the challan form, for completion at a later stage. A saved challan could be edited before finalization. After finalization the challan would be generated, for payment of taxes, available for printing for future record. The finally generated challan would be assigned a 14-digit CPIN (Common Portal Identification Number), having date “yymm” followed by 10-digit. After the challan is generated, it is proposed to be frozen, not allowed to be modified. The CPIN would be valid for a period of seven days and 30 days when payment has been made through NEFT or RTGS. On the day immediately after the date of expiry of validity period GSTN would purge all unused CPINs.

However, other means of payment, such as payment by book adjustment as is presently being allowed by Government of India to some Departments / State Governments or payment by debit to export scrips, while paying tax are likely to be discontinued  under the GST Regime.