Gst News

As many as 13.76 lakh businesses used the GSTN portal on Wednesday to file their returns, the highest in a day under GST. GST Network Chairman Ajay Bhushan Panday said that GSTN which had faced glitches earlier is now in a "very sound state". Nearly 30 lakh GST returns have been filed so far for August, Pandey added.

The government has estimated that valid GST transitional credit claims of taxpayers in July are just ₹12,000 crore, and not ₹65,000 crore as previously claimed. Notably, nearly ₹65,000 crore out of ₹95,000 crore GST collections was claimed as transitional credit. The high credit claim had prompted the government to verify claims of over ₹1 crore each made by 162 entities.

Packaged consumer goods displaying the pre-GST MRP will be confiscated from October 1 under the GST regime, according to reports. The government had allowed the use of stickers with revised rates for packaged items, along with the printed MRP till September 30. The extension was provided so that suppliers can clear off the old stocks.

Small and medium businesses were the worst hit by demonetisation and the GST rollout, said Harsh Mariwala, Chairman of consumer goods company Marico. He said in case of Marico, the negative impact is more in the wholesale business in rural areas. He added in case of larger companies, impact was more in the month of June prior to GST launch.

Government has extended the deadline for sale of pre-GST goods with stickers of revised rates by three months to December 31. This comes after a traders' body claimed that ₹6 lakh crore-worth goods may become redundant if the deadline wasn't extended beyond September 30. The government had allowed use of stickers with revised rates for packaged items till September 30.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs may be reduced in the future if a "revenue neutral plus" tax level is reached. "We have almost by the day, space and scope for improvement," Jaitley added. The government always endeavours to bring down tax rates on mass consumption commodities, he added.

Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej has said the Indian economy is doing much better than what is being generally perceived. He said the growth rate was "reasonable" in April and May, but slipped in June due to destocking ahead of the GST rollout. He also said that people should wait and see as GST will add significant value to GDP.

India needs to cut red tape and reduce tax rate to boost tourism sector in the country, Marriott International's Asia Pacific Chief Craig Smith said. He said the objective of GST is good, but 28% tax rate is very high. "[I]t takes so many permits to do anything... It is at every level. It is complicated," he added.

The Finance Ministry on Friday announced that PAN and Aadhaar details will not be mandatory for jewellery purchases above ₹50,000. Any entity dealing with gems and jewellery and with an annual turnover of ₹2 crore or more shall not be covered under the Prevention of money laundering act. The ministry is expected to issue a separate notification after due consideration.

The GST Council on Friday reduced the tax rate on 27 items of common consumption, including roti, khakra, namkeens, and stationery, with most being brought to 5% category. Tax rate on man-made yarn has been reduced to 12% from the current 18%. Tax rate on unbranded namkeen, unbranded ayurvedic medicine, e-waste, and sliced dried mango has been reduced to 5%.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the government's initiatives like GST and demonetisation are having the desired impact. He said, "You need to shake the system," in order to reduce the quantum of cash and make India a tax compliant society. He further said that immediately after demonetisation, there has been a sharp reduction in insurgency and terror activities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the decision to introduce GST was made to provide relief to small and medium businesses because his government did not want them to get caught in red tapism. He said the problems in the areas of management, shortage of technology, complaints regarding rates, trouble in the practical experience of business class will be addressed.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said that the GDP growth will bounce back in the second quarter as the macro fundamentals are strong. Referring to GST, he said, "When we build a bridge, we need to divert traffic, which leads to long queues of vehicles. But that is temporary, as things get normalised once the bridge is opened."

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said India's transition to the GST has been "fairly smooth" despite attempts by "ill-informed" opposition leaders to derail its implementation. Jaitley said under GST, government has unveiled attractive schemes to ensure that the non-compliant in India become compliant. India is now capable of taking big decisions and implementing them at large-scale, he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, speaking at the Columbia University in New York, said reforms like demonetisation and GST have put the Indian economy on a "far more stronger track". "[W]e can look forward for a much cleaner much bigger India economy in the days and years to come," Jaitley added. He said the Indian model now seems to be emerging.

Slamming the union government's new regime of Goods and Services Tax, sidelined BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha on Friday said, "People in Bihar ask each other in Bhojpuri the meaning of GST. The reply is 'Gail Sarkar Tohar (your government is gone)'." He further raised concerns over the policy of demonetisation, claiming it caused panic among the poor and businessmen.

GST Network Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Friday said nearly 37 lakh GST returns for September have been filed so far. He said about 75,000 returns are being uploaded on an hourly basis. Pandey added the GSTN system is stable and is handling data at just 30% of its capacity with 20 lakh returns being uploaded in last two days.