New Delhi, Jun 30 (IANS): The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will honour taxpayers who have been a part of the GST success story on the eve of completion of four years of indirect tax reforms.

The board carried out a data analytics exercise to identify taxpayers who have made substantial contribution in payment of GST in cash along with timely filing of returns.

As a result, 54,439 taxpayers have been identified. More than 88 per cent of these taxpayers are from Micro (36 per cent), Small (41 per cent) and Medium enterprises (11 per cent) representing a wide spectrum sectors involved in the supply of goods and services spread across all states/UTs.

These taxpayers would be honoured by CBIC by issuing certificates of appreciation. Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) will be sending out the certificates of appreciation to individual taxpayers by e-mail. Also, the taxpayers will be able to print and display these certificates.

"While it is widely acknowledged that the nation meets its obligations towards spending in various social sectors and welfare schemes and infrastructure development out of revenues mobilised through tax payments by millions of honest tax payers, this step marks the first effort by the government to directly communicate to the GST taxpayers for their contribution," a finance ministry statement said.

GST is considered a historic tax reform introduced on the 1st of July 2017. Over the years there has been a reduction in the tax rates, simplification of procedures and a growing economy has also led to an exponential increase in the tax base. GST revenues have steadily grown and have been above Rs 1 lakh crore for eight consecutive months in a row.