Office of the Commissioner of State Tax, Maharashtra State, has issued a Trade Circular prescribing a transitional procedure for obtaining e-CST declarations for return periods prior to October 2025. A new application system has been developed by the Maharashtra GST Department for administration under the MVAT, CST, and PT Acts, replacing the earlier SAP-based system. Under the new system, a facility has been provided to dealers for obtaining e-CST declarations. Taxpayer data relating to returns, Form 704, and details of declarations already issued for periods prior to October 2025 is currently under migration from the old system to the new system. This procedure is stated to be temporary in nature.

The transitional procedure applies to dealers seeking e-CST declarations for return periods prior to October 2025 and is applicable until August 31, 2026.

The facility is available through the “E-CST” tile on the Mahagst portal under dealer login. A User Manual is available under the “What’s New” section of the portal.

For return periods prior to October 2025, taxpayer data relating to returns, Form 704, and details of previously issued declarations are not available on the new Mahagst portal. Accordingly, the taxpayer is required to upload the following:

Copies of returns and acknowledgements pertaining to the relevant application period, along with a declaration certificate in the prescribed format on the company’s letterhead, duly signed by the authorised signatory and certified by a Chartered Accountant. The certificate is required to contain details of declarations already received for the relevant period and the balance amount of interstate purchases or interstate consignment transfers for which the application is being submitted.

The taxpayer is also required to furnish: (a) reconciliation of interstate purchases or interstate branch transfers for the relevant tax period or return period; (b) a list of declarations already received by the taxpayer or issued by the Department, containing declaration type, declaration Sr. No., declaration value or amount, and date of issue; and (c) such details along with the application in the form of an attachment, to enable the officer to verify the application. Such details are required to be reconciled with the value of declaration sought in the subject application.

The dealer is required to enter the amount of purchases against declarations as per the return(s) pertaining to the relevant application period under the head “Value for C/F/H/I/E1/E2 Form Transactions,” along with the amount of declarations already received under the head “Value for Form Utilized.” Once submitted, the amounts for the relevant application period shall be frozen and automatically populated in subsequent applications pertaining to the same period.

The Trade Circular has been issued by Asheesh Sharma, Commissioner of State Tax, Maharashtra. A prescribed declaration format for “Declaration Regarding Already Received Declaration” addressed to the jurisdictional officer has been annexed to the circular, covering Forms C, F, I, and H.