Maharashtra is on the top position among other states in the country when it comes to migration of existing traders and fresh registrations under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) network.

"Out of 9.16 lakh, existing tax paying traders in Maharashtra who had registered themselves under central excise, service tax and value added tax (VAT), around 8 lakh have migrated to the GST network as on August-end," Subhash Varshney, principal chief commissioner, GST and central excise, Mumbai zone told PTI.

"So far, 2.86 lakh traders have already gone for fresh registrations in Maharashtra," he said.

Thus, Maharashtra is on top among other states in terms of migration of existing traders and fresh registrations under GST Network, Varshney said.

Uttar Pradesh (5.93 lakh) has secured second position whereas Tamil Nadu (5.23 lakh) is on the third position in terms of migration of traders through GST network so far, he added.

At the national level, he said, 58.53 lakh traders out of a total of 72.4 lakh traders have got migrated to GST network so far.

When it comes to fresh registration of traders under GST network, Uttar Pradesh (2.54 lakh) and Gujarat (1.16 lakh) have secured second and third positions respectively.

Thus, a significant increase in taxpayers base is expected in the Maharashtra, he said.

The date of filing of the first regular return GSTR-1 under the new GST law was recently extended to September 10 from September 5, to facilitate taxpayers who could not file the returns in time.

To educate and assist taxpayers in filing their returns, the central GST authorities had launched a program of 'live demo' at multiple locations across the city a fortnight ago.

Now, with the extended date of September 10 approaching, the central tax authorities have extended the reach of this program across Maharashtra in co-ordination with state GST authorities.