Nagpur: The prevailing technological challenges and GST infrastructure bottlenecks still remain as major bones of contention, according to CAIT. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has welcomed the timely addressing some of the key complaints of small traders and giving them relief to some extent. “Raising the composition scheme to Rs 1 crore, allowing quarterly return to businesses with a turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore to pay tax and deferment of E Way Bill & Reverse Charge till 31st March,2018 speaks positive attitude of the Government,” said the CAIT. The CAIT will soon release a White Paper on GST on its current situation.
CAIT National President Mr. B.C.Bhartia and Secretary General Mr.Praveen Khandelwal today listed out 9 points Traders Charter on GST which includes Abolition of Reverse Charge Mechanism since it is merely a technical formality having no affect on revenue, Application of E Way Bill only on inter-state transactions and not intra-state business, Persons having turnover upto 100 crores should be allowed to file quarterly returns and persons having more than 100 crore turnover should file monthly return, HSN Code should be made applicable only on Manufacturers, No tax liability on Purchaser if Seller does not deposit Tax collected by him and Government should deal with him strictly, A GST LokPal should be constituted for impartial redressal of grievances, Representation to traders in GST Council, Formation of Joint Committee of Government Officials at Centre, State and District level to monitor & regulate GST system, Revisiting 28% tax slab and should be restricted to only luxurious & demerit goods and rest of the items should be placed under appropriate lower tax slab.
GST infrastructure issues and the prevailing technological challenges still remain as major bones of contention which require immediate attention, according to CAIT. In this reference, it has urged the government to immediately pay attention to the widespread technical glitches associated with GST filling like non-smooth working of the GSTN portal while processing the large volume of data and transactions, besides delayed refunds and procedural irritants. CAIT has also demanded to rationalise the tax rates on all the general consumables goods being used largely by the common men.
Confusion pertaining to procedures has emerged as another point of concern which requires immediate attention, as according to CAIT, “ease of doing business” must be an important objective of GST. As per the vision of CAIT, it is important to create a positive climate in the country for doing business with ease. Such a favourable scenario would certainly result in providing more opportunity of growth to the unorganised sector. CAIT has actively undertaken various initiatives towards creating favourable business conditions and climate for traders to operate and contribute in Indian economy.