At a time when the GST rollout is creating confusion among traders, there has emerged a group of new-age companies that are betting big on the opportunity.
Apart from creating the GSTN network for enrolment, the government had also mandated third-party service providers called GST Suvidha Provider or GSP to develop applications for providing convenient GST solutions. The GSPs provide innovative and convenient methods to taxpayers and stakeholders in interacting with the GST systems from registration of entity, uploading of invoice details to filing of returns.
ClearTax and GSTSTAR are among the GSPs that have developed solutions to assist small and medium business. These start-ups provide cloud-based solutions that help users reduce the cost of the service. ClearTax has partnered with e-commerce major Amazon to offer GST software solution for its sellers. The software provides GST compliant invoicing, helps adhere with regulations, stay on top of reconciliations, and allow timely preparation of GST returns. The company has developed GST compliant solutions to make GST migration easier for businesses.
Archit Gupta, founder and CEO, ClearTax, says: “Online businesses have an increased burden of GST compliance. They have to claim TCS (Tax Collected at Source) and input tax credit properly and do so on time. Delay in GST compliance can be a significant risk to working capital of these sellers.”
Another Bengaluru-based start-up GSTSTAR, founded by Infosys veterans Shailesh Agrawal and Balaji G.S. Rao, provides GST tech product and allied services which will help enterprises, SMEs and tax professionals with solutions for smooth and swift migration to GST. Shailesh Agrawal, co-founder, GSTSTAR, says: “Driven by technology, the GST tax regime will make India truly a Digital India for all businesses and benefit end consumers with a unified tax regime.”
The company has even raised $1 million in seed from T.V. Mohandas Pai and V. Balakrishnan.
According to experts, the solutions provided by start-ups can be easily accessible for small and medium enterprises as they use cloud-based solutions. Large players like SAP and Oracle have also launched GST solutions which can be used by large enterprises.
