Govt sets July 21 deadline for GST composition scheme

To opt for composition scheme, the taxpayer needs to log into his account at the GST Portal www.gst.gov.in and select 'Application to opt for the Composition Scheme' under 'Services' menu, a GSTN statement said.

"Any person who has been granted registration on a provisional basis and has turnover not exceeding Rs 75 lakh, and who wishes to opt for the composition levy, is required to electronically file an intimation, duly signed or verified through EVC, at the GST portal on or before July 21, 2017," GSTN Chairman Navin Kumar said.

Under composition scheme, traders, manufacturers and restaurants can pay tax at one per cent, two per cent and five per cent, respectively in the new indirect tax regime.

Businesses opting for composition scheme will see a lesser compliance burden as they will have to file returns only once in a quarter as against monthly returns to be filed by other businesses.

There are over 69 lakh excise, VAT and service taxpayers who have migrated to the GSTN portal for filing returns in the GST regime which ushered in on July 1. Besides, there are over 4.5 lakh new taxpayers who have registered in the portal. These new registered taxpayers can opt for the composition scheme at the time of registration. GSTN also clarified that taxpayers who have been given provisional IDs must complete all parts of the enrolment at the GST portal and submit the same along with the required documents with digital signature or EVC.

Once the form is completed and submitted, the enrolled taxpayer will be issued the final Certificate of Registration which would mark completion of migration under GST. In case an enrolled taxpayer fails to submit the duly filled form with the requisite documents, his provisional registration is liable to be cancelled. pti

FIEO worries GST will badly dent exporters' liquidity

New Delhi: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will severely dent the liquidity situation of traders and the compliance cost of merchant exporters may go up, top exporter body FIEO said on Friday.

According to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), export competitiveness of domestic players may fall by about 2 per cent due to liquidity problems.

FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai said the government is looking into various options to neutralise the effect of GST regime.

"GST will severely dent the liquidity of the exporter in a big way and the compliance cost of the merchant exporter may go up. Export competitiveness of India may tank by about 2 per cent and this will be a big blow to exporters," he said in a statement.

FIEO President Ganesh Kumar Gupta termed GST as a "path breaking" reform, but it will bear fruits in the long run with initial hiccups.

He explained that the liquidity problem of the exporters, delays in initial returns for exports in July and August, procedural issues in bonds are being flagged by FIEO with the officials concerned. The issues were discussed in Mumbai on Thursday.

Before GST, exporters used to get ab-initio exemptions from duties. But they have to pay first and then seek refund.

Due to this process, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations stated that about Rs 1,85,000 crore will get stuck with the government.