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The Goods and Services Tax Council should consider raising the GST exemption threshold to Rs 1.5 crore annual turnover and also do away with the requirement of state-wise registration, which would help ease compliance, economic think tank GTRI said on Friday. The GST network has over 1.4 crore registered taxpayers, making it the largest global platform for indirect taxes. "The GST Council now needs to consolidate gains by making compliance easy," the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said, while recommending seven reforms for next phase of transformational growth. The think tank suggested increasing the GST exemption limit to Rs 1.5 crore, which it feels will be a game changer for India's MSME sector and set them on the path to job creation and growth. Currently, registration for GST is optional for firms with an annual turnover of less than Rs 40 lakh for goods and Rs 20 lakh for services. "Firms with less than Rs 1.5 crore annual turnover account for 84 per cent of total
A meeting of the panel of state finance ministers looking into GST rate rationalisation has been deferred, sources said. The Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation, headed by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, also includes West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal, and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad. It has met twice so far and was scheduled to meet on November 27 to consider recommendations of the Fitment committee regarding GST rate and slab changes. Sources said the meeting has been deferred and the GoM would submit its report to the GST Council, chaired by the union finance minister and comprising state counterparts. The Council, which meets once every quarter, is slated to meet next month. Sources had earlier said the Fitment committee, comprising tax officers from states and the Centre, has made many "sweeping" recommendations regarding slab and rate changes and taking items out of the exemption list. All