Composition scheme on GSTN portal from today

The registration facility for input service distributors (ISDs) will start from Wednesday and that of TCS and TDS deductors will open some time after July 20, GSTN Chairman Navin Kumar said. Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework, businesses have to register with GSTN – the IT backbone – following which they are given a provisional ID which can be used for transactions and filing tax returns.

"More than 3.58 lakh new registrations have come in since June 25. Also, more than one lakh existing excise, service tax and VAT assessees have migrated to the GSTN portal in the last 10 days taking the total migration tally to nearly 68 lakh," Kumar said.

Beginning Wednesday, the GSTN portal will start a facility for registered businesses to indicate their option for the composition scheme.

"Taxpayer can log into their account in the GSTN portal and choose the option of the composition scheme. The option would remain open and they can choose it anytime they want," Kumar added.

Taxpayers with an annual turnover of up to Rs 20 lakh – 10 lakh in the North-East and special category states – are exempt from GST. Small businesses with a turnover of Rs 20-75 lakh can opt for composition scheme in which traders, manufacturers and restaurants can pay tax at 1 per cent, 2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.

Businesses opting for the 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.