The Finance Ministry’s resolve to go ahead with implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, rejecting the chorus of demands for its postponement, is myopic (“ Put off GST rollout to Sept.1, Aviation Ministry tells FinMin ,” June 15). Experts have justifiably raised a red flag over the challenges faced by industries in the service sector. Companies with multiple offices spread across the country are now required to obtain separate registration for each State. With barely 15 days remaining for the roll-out, the IT system and the GST Network (GSTN) system are not even accepting new registrations. The GST Suvidha Providers (GSP) too have reportedly expressed their inability to perform their assigned tasks due to various technical and other reasons. Some of the rules too have not been finalised yet. There is nothing sacrosanct about July 1 as the GST is required to be only operationalised by September. However, the GST Council’s decision to enhance the composition scheme limit from ₹50 lakh to ₹75 lakh should provide some relief to small enterprises. However, what has not been debated is the effect of keeping the exemption slab low at ₹20 lakh for small businesses. They will have to adapt to IT and business processes compatible with the GSTN which is bound to increase their compliance cost, thereby reducing their competitiveness.
S.K. Choudhury,
Bengaluru
