Gujarat, Haryana all praise for GST Council decisions, Delhi says it's not needed at all

New Delhi : The finance ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states - Haryana and Gujarat - have found compliance with the decisions taken by the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council on Friday, while the Finance Minister"> Delhi Finance Minister is of the opinion that the GST is a big failure.

The GST Council gave relief to small and medium businesses on filing and payment of taxes, eased rules for exporters and cut tax rates on various items.

Gujarat Finance Minister Nitin Patel on Friday said, "The decision will bring relief to the small traders in Gujarat."

Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu said, "The decision by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding refunds will bring relief to the entire exporter sector. The decision was purely based on keeping the welfare of public and the nation in mind."

Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia though praised the decisions taken by the GST Council, he also asserted that people are disappointed with the tax regime.

"The decision was good and beneficial for small traders. The exemption that is given to the exporters is going to be profitable for them. But after a whole day meeting, one thing that came forward is that the GST is a big failure. The GST has failed to deliver on many things, due to which people are upset,"

"The GST is not needed at all, soon the government will realise," he added.

The GST Council today raised the composition scheme threshold for businesses to Rs. 1 crore, which will allow them to pay a tax of 1 per cent to 5 per cent, without having to deal with a three-stage filing process.

The decision was taken during the 22nd GST Council meeting, which was chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi.

The impact of the GST on trade, and its transition issues were discussed in the meeting held earlier today.

The panel decided to give an option to taxpayers to avail the composition scheme if their turnover is less than Rs. 1 crore as against the previous limit of Rs. 75 lakh.

Under the composition scheme, the tax rate for traders of goods will be 1 per cent, 2 per cent for manufacturers and 5 per cent for restaurants and suppliers of food or drinks.

The GST Council also announced tax relief for exporters.

"The tax refunds to exports will start from October 10. There will be a nominal 0.1 per cent GST applicable on exports," the finance minister announced, in a media briefing here, on Friday.

The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an annual turnover of Rs. 1.5 crore will be allowed to file quarterly returns.

"Small businesses will also have to file monthly returns for three months - July, August and September - and the switchover to quarterly filing will happen from the cycle starting October 1," Jaitley added.

"Every exporter will now get an e-wallet. In the e-wallet, there would be a notional amount for credit. The refund they will eventually get will be offset from that amount. The e-wallet will be introduced from April next year," Jaitley added.

He further said that the reverse charge mechanism for transactions between registered, unregistered business has been deferred till March 31, 2018.

The Finance Minister added that the pattern of collection [of the GST] is not clear after two months, because it was a period of transition.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier on Wednesday, had also assured that the glitches would be fixed, in an hour-long speech on the Indian Economy.