Applauding
the efforts, Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII stated that since
the launch of GST, Government has left no stone unturned and the GST Policy
Wing, GST Council and senior officers of the CBEC have been proactively
engaging with the industry in spreading the awareness in terms of issuing FAQs,
issuing clarifications and addressing concerns of the industry with the intent
to help implement GST. Several CII requests have been considered to fine-tune
GST Law, tweaking GST Rates and clarifying provisions, which are indeed helpful
in successful transition to GST, said Mr Banerjee.
Today,
we need to handhold the industry, especially the MSME sector, emphasized Mr
Banerjee. For ease of doing business especially for the MSME, provisional
Input tax credit period may be extended to 6 months from the current 2 months’
period; this will help cross matching of invoices through the GSTN portal and
also save the blockage of the working capital for the small players, said Mr
Banerjee.
Filing
of GST Return may be made on a quarterly basis, as against the current monthly
filing requirement as the MSME sector is still not well equipped with the IT
infrastructure and a qualified manpower; this small measure will help bring
them into the GST mainstream, emphasized Mr Banerjee.
Another
issue which need attention is the reverse charge mechanism (RCM). Under RCM,
threshold exemption for payment of tax may be increased from the present Rs.
5000/- to 50,000/- which shall help ease burden of excessive compliances
especially for the MSME players. Format of Returns may also be simplified and
only basic core details may be required to be furnished, suggested Mr Banerjee.
Mr
Banerjee also highlighted issues related to exporters and suggested that
Government may consider special initiatives for promoting exports, including by
addressing teething troubles for exporters under the GST regime.
Payment
of IGST for imports under Advance Authorisation, EPCG and on advance receipts
adds to credit requirements of manufacturers and raises costs. All import
duties including IGST should be allowed to be debited under Advance
Authorization as the authorization is utilised for self and the finished goods
manufactured from imported material is exported. Further, advance receipts for
exports should be exempted from payment of IGST. Suggested Mr Banerjee.
Another
important issue is that under VAT/CST, merchant exporters could purchase goods
without payment of tax on furnishing of a declaration form. This provision
needs to be added under the GST law so that refund of tax is faster and
capital is not held up. Currently, the tax for inputs for exports is needed to
be paid directly even though provision for refund is provided. Further, delays
in filing of GSTR 3 should be addressed for quick refunds of IGST paid on
exports, stated Mr Banerjee.
Goods
and Services Tax (GST) was implemented on 1 July, 2017 with a view to create a
common national market by amalgamating multiple central and state taxes into a
single tax regime. Implementation of GST across the country has been a success
so far, barring initial technical GSTN hiccups, which have also been addressed.
Payment of tax on a single GSTN platform, seamless flow of input tax credit
(ITC) and removal of various state barriers for smooth movement of goods across
Sates is the mainstay of the GST reform; commended Mr Banerjee.
28
September 2017
New
Delhi