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GST to rollout on July 1, return deadline relaxed by 2 months
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SME Times News Bureau | 19 Jun, 2017
The GST Council on Sunday unanimously agreed on a July 1 rollout of the
Goods and Services Tax regime despite some pending issues, while
relaxing the return filing deadline for the first two months, and
approved the rules on anti-profiteering to protect consumers.
While
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, making these announcements, said
India does not have the "luxury of time" to defer implementation of the
new indirect tax regime, stakeholders hailed the Council's decision to
give the initial two-month relaxation in filing of returns.
"The
GST Council categorically agreed on the implementation of GST from July
1," Jaitley told reporters here after the penultimate meeting of the
Council before the single pan-India GST is officially rolled out on the
midnight of June 30, replacing the existing myriad central and state
levies on both goods and services.
"A number of companies and
trades have been raising the issue of the lack of their own
preparedness. We do not have the luxury of time to defer implementation
of GST," he said, announcing that the next meeting of the Council headed
by him would be held on June 30.
Regarding the government's
preparedness, Jaitley noted that over 80 per cent registered entities
have already received their provisional GST registrations.
"If
you take from the old system of registrations, then there are 80.91 lakh
assessees, of whom some will get excluded. Registrations are going on
satisfactorily and 65.6 lakh have already taken provisional
registration, which is good enough to file returns," he said, adding
that some new trades will come under the GST for the first time.
In
this connection, the Finance Minister said the Council has allowed
businesses a relaxation of time for the first two months (July-August)
for filing their returns. These would also need to submit only a simple
declaration initially, and would have time to furnish the exact
"invoice-by-invoice data" later.
The Council also approved the structure and rules relating to an anti-profiteering authority (APA)
"We want to keep it as a deterrent and hope we are not compelled to use the APA," the Finance Minister said.
Revenue
Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that under the proposed APA, a company can
be asked to roll-back the price and also refund an amount equal to what
it has made through the hike in prices.
"It will have a sunset clause of two years," Adhia said.
The
GST Council on Sunday also decided on a two-slab structure for taxing
lottery tickets, which Jaitley said proved to be a contentious issue.
While
state-run lotteries will be taxed at 12 per cent under the GST,
state-authorised private lotteries will attract tax at the highest rate
of 28 per cent.
The Council deferred a decision on e-way bills
due to lack of consensus, which means states which have an e-way bill
structure in place can continue with it, while others are exempt.
"Till a consolidated rule is framed by consensus, the transient rule will continue," Jaitley said on the e-way bill issue.
E-way
bill is an electronic way bill for movement of goods which can be
generated on the GST Network (GSTN) portal. Movement of goods of more
than Rs 50,000 in value cannot be effected by a registered person
without an e-way bill.
Briefing reporters earlier during a pause
in the meeting, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu
said he has requested that textiles and fertilisers be exempted from the
GST.
The Council also considered the revision of tax on hotel
rooms and decided that while those in the range of Rs 2,000-Rs 7,500 a
day tariff would face 18 per cent tax, rooms with daily tariff above Rs
7,500 would be taxed at 28 per cent. Restaurant service in five-star
hotels would attract 18 per cent tax, Jaitley said.
He revealed
that only three states -- Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir --
were still to complete their necessary legisaltive formalities for
implementing the GST regime.
Hailing the GST Council's decision
to give initial two-months' relaxation in filing of returns, various
stakeholders said the move will give ample time for the businesses to
prepare their IT systems and comply with the new indirect tax regime. "It
will give more time to traders to prepare themselves to comply with GST
law," the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said welcoming the
announcement by the Finance Minister. Pratik Jain, Partner and
Leader Indirect Tax, at PwC India, said: "Relaxation of time for filing
initial invoice-wise returns is a welcome move which, to some extent,
allays fears of readiness both from Goods and Services Tax Network
(GSTN) and industry's point of view."
Ansh Bhargava, Senior
Consultant, Taxmann.com said: "It is a welcome decision by the GST
Council on the filing as it would allow taxpayers to get accustomed and
adapt to the new system of taxation."
Rajeev Dimri, Leader,
Indirect Tax, BMR and Associates LLP, said: "This measure should
significantly help in assuaging the concerns of inadequate readiness of
GSTN being faced by the industry and confirms that preparedness of GSTN
will not be a roadblock for the implementation of GST as was being
anticipated by the industry."
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