Patna, Oct. 8: There appears to be more relief for small traders as far as the rules dealing with Goods and Services Taxes are concerned.
The Centre has appointed a group of ministers to look into some points which could give relief to the small traders. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who has been included in the group of ministers drafted by the Centre, shared this information today.
Finance minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma has been made the convener of the group which has finance ministers from four other states. Sushil holds the charge of the finance department in Bihar.
Some of the important points, Modi said, which the group of ministers has been asked to look into, pertain to if the traders opting for composite scheme under which they pay one per cent as tax can be allowed to pay no taxes on the sale of items which are tax-free. At present sale of these items are included in the overall turnover.
Also, the group would look into the point whether the compounding dealers could be allowed to sell their items in other states or not. At present, they have the permission to import goods from other states but they cannot sell their goods in other states.
The committee would also look whether the input tax credit facility could be extended to the compounding dealers or not.
This announcement was made two days after the GST Council announced that the traders having turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore need not file monthly returns and from October 1 onwards they would have to file quarterly returns. Also, the council had decided that the traders having a turnover up to Rs 1 crore could opt for composite scheme, which entails payment of taxes at a fixed percentage. Earlier, traders having turnover up to Rs 75 lakh had been given the facility of composite scheme.
Modi said the group of minister would also look into the issues dealing with the GST imposed on air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned restaurants.
'Based on the report submitted by the group, the GST Council would take any decision on these issues in its next meeting scheduled to be held in Guwahati on November 9 and 10,' said the deputy chief minister.
