Asian Tribune Your Multilingual Newspaper covering World and local news News
The GST Council made sweeping changes to give relief to small and medium businesses on filing and payment of taxes, eased rules for exporters and cut tax rates on more than two dozen items.
New Delhi: Three months after the rollout of the new indirect tax regime, the GST Council on Friday made sweeping changes to give relief to small and medium businesses on filing and payment of taxes, eased rules for exporters and cut tax rates on more than two dozen items.
Businesses with annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore, which constitute 90 percent of the taxpayer base but pay only 5-6 percent of total tax, have been allowed to file quarterly income returns and pay tax instead of the current provision of monthly filings.
Also, the turnover threshold for businesses to avail of the composition scheme that allows them to pay 1-5 percent tax without going through tedious formalities, was raised to Rs 1 crore from current Rs 75 lakh.
The government has also revoked GST notification on gems and jewellery. A separate notification in this regard will be issued later. Bringing in some more reforms, the government said that any person buying jewellery worth above Rs 50,000 will not have to furnish PAN card and Aadhaar Card details.
Entities dealing in gems, jewellery and other high value goods and has an annual turnover of over Rs 2 crore will no longer be under the purview of the money laundering act.
Eating out is set to become cheaper with the GST Council agreeing to reduce the GST rate from the current 18 percent to 12 percent. Jaitley said a group of ministers would revisit the tax on AC restaurants.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has recommended the following facilitative changes to ease the burden of compliance on small and medium businesses:
Composition Scheme
The composition scheme shall be made available to taxpayers having annual aggregate turnover of up to Rs 1 crore as compared to the current turnover threshold of Rs 75 lakh. This threshold of turnover for special category States, except Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, shall be increased to Rs 75 lakh from Rs 50 lakh .
The turnover threshold for Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand shall be Rs 1 crore. The facility of availing composition under the increased threshold shall be available to both migrated and new taxpayers up to 31.03.2018.
Persons who are otherwise eligible for composition scheme but are providing any exempt service (such as extending deposits to banks for which interest is being received) were being considered ineligible for the said scheme. It has been decided that such persons who are otherwise eligible for availing the composition scheme and are providing any exempt service, shall be eligible for the composition scheme.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) shall be constituted to examine measures to make the composition scheme more attractive.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has recommended the following facilitative changes to ease the burden of compliance on small and medium businesses:
Composition Scheme
The composition scheme shall be made available to taxpayers having annual aggregate turnover of up to Rs 1 crore as compared to the current turnover threshold of Rs 75 lakh. This threshold of turnover for special category States, except Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, shall be increased to Rs 75 lakh from Rs 50 lakh .
The turnover threshold for Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand shall be Rs 1 crore. The facility of availing composition under the increased threshold shall be available to both migrated and new taxpayers up to 31.03.2018.
Persons who are otherwise eligible for composition scheme but are providing any exempt service (such as extending deposits to banks for which interest is being received) were being considered ineligible for the said scheme. It has been decided that such persons who are otherwise eligible for availing the composition scheme and are providing any exempt service, shall be eligible for the composition scheme.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) shall be constituted to examine measures to make the composition scheme more attractive.
GST on unbranded namkeen, unbranded ayurvedic medicine, sliced dried mango and khakra has been cut to 5 percent from 12 percent, while the same on man-made yarn used in textile sector has been reduced to 12 percent from 18 percent.
Tax on stationery items, stones used for flooring (other than marble and granite), diesel engine parts and pump parts has been cut to 18 percent from 28 percent. GST on e-waste has been slashed to 5 percent from 28 percent.
Food packets given to school kids under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) will attract 5 percent tax instead of 12 percent.
Job works like zari, imitation, food items and printing items would attract 5 percent tax instead of 12 percent. Government contracts involving high amount of labour will be levied 5 percent GST instead of 12 percent in order to contain cost of those programmes, he said.
