GST Council meets today in Guwahati; more relief for SMEs on cards

Guwahati: More relief seems to be on the cards for small and medium sized entrepreneurs as the GST Council is set to begin its 23rd meeting in Assam’s capital on Thursday.

Officers from finance departments of various states will convene on November 9 while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will head the meeting on November 10.

Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) have been facing the teething troubles of the Goods and Service Tax (GST), rolled out in July this year.

In its last meet in New Delhi, the GST Council had provided a major relief to SMEs in the form of raising the threshold for availing the composition scheme to Rs 1 crore. It was also decided that small businesses with annual turn over of up to Rs 1.5 crore will have to now file returns and pay returns quarterly, instead of monthly, to reduce compliance burden on them. These businesses cover around 90 per cent of the tax base but pay around 5-6 per cent of the total GST.

More tax relief is also expected in the case of items placed in the highest 28 per cent slab. "Tax rates on 80 per cent of 227 items falling in top slab is likely to be reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent in the next GST council meeting. The GST fitment committee has also recommended reducing tax rates from 18 per cent to 12 per cent on a number of goods", Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and member of GST Council, Sushil Modi had said earlier.

This means good news for those waiting to buy white goods or furniture as most of these are placed in the highest tax slab.