The Hyderabad GST Commissionerate will soon come up with the Telugu version of GST Rate Finder mobile app as part of measures aimed at making information and transition to the indirect tax regime smooth.
“We will be launching the app [in Telugu] in a few days,” Additional Commissioner at the Hyderabad GST Commissionerate P.Anand Kumar, who had been entrusted with the work, said. Such a vernacular version would help “small traders and man on the street” get easy access to information on GST rates.
All features of the GST Rate Finder app the Central Board of Excise and Customs had unveiled last month, to help users determine the rate for a good or a service by entering the name or chapter heading of the commodity or service, would be available in the Telugu version. Noting that several outreach initiatives had been undertaken, he said information on different aspects of GST, from the rates to the process of registration and filing of returns, was available on the portal www.cgsthyderabadzone.gov.in.
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The Hyderabad GST Commissionerate had conducted 595 outreach programmes since July 1, the highest across the country.
The Commissionerate, whose jurisdiction spreads over the entire Telangana, has got over 12,000 new registrations and expects the assessee base in the State to increase further.
Most of the new registrations were by micro, small and medium enterprises, and came in the backdrop of a reduction in the exemption limit to ₹20 lakh for manufacturers.
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Under erstwhile central excise, the limit was ₹1.50 crore.
Prior to the GST roll out, there were 16,000 central excise and one lakh service tax assessees in the State.
Elaborating on the registrations, he said it was a smooth process because of the facilitation measures, also evident from the least number of queries received by the Commissionerate, Mr.Anand Kumar said “there is an incentive to get registered.”
Previously, there was an incentive to evade because the product became relatively cheaper.
However, with GST and the accompanying Input Tax Credit, the benefit in complying with law is for everyone to see and there is no cascading impact of the levy.
In case of manufacturing, customers in the chain were insisting on GST registration number from the supplier to avail themselves of the ITC.
On whether there were complaints of irregularities post-GST roll-out, he replied in the affirmative, adding their numbers, however, were less. Most pertained to commercial establishments selling stocks at old, higher prices.
A revenue official had brought to the notice a mall where products were being sold with an MRP (inclusive of taxes) tag on which GST was collected separately.
“After July 1, even if you are selling old products, the shop has to reduce the price taking into account the new rate and the ITC that it is entitled to on that item. There is nothing to lose [for the commercial establishment],” he added.
Cautioning those indulging in malpractices, he said the GST Commissionerate was monitoring the situation and at the same time aware of the teething problems of the trade.
On coordination between the State and Central government officials, he said it is already in place.
A common portal telanganagst.gov.in launched last month is symbolic of that and “from here onwards we are not [going] to work in silos,” he added.