SMALL TRADERS CRY FOUL

Surat-based power-loom owner Bhavesh Patel and Kanpur’s tarpaulin maker Rohit Maheshwari have one thing in common: both nurse a grouse against the Goods and Services Tax

MUMBAI/KANPUR/SURAT/CHANDIGARH/KOLKATA: Surat-based power-loom owner Bhavesh Patel and Kanpur’s tarpaulin maker Rohit Maheshwari have one thing in common: both nurse a grouse against GST that was billed as the biggest tax reform in India since independence when it was introduced a year ago.

Patel closed his 17-year-old factory in January as the absence of input tax credit for the textile industry led to an increase in manufacturing costs amid rising competition from China.

“Profit had become a far cry. I was incurring losses to the tune of ₹50 per metre,” Patel said.

Maheshwari finds the filing of monthly returns cumbersome. He claims to have lost money due to glitches in GST servers.

He said many of his input tax credit claims have been pending with the government for the past year.

Every month, Mahaeshwari spends two days on filing his GST return. “Even a spelling or numerical mistake will leave me with a sore head,” he said, recalling how mistakes in making entries had cost him money and server crashes brought penalties.

“The GST technical infrastructure clearly is way below what it should be as the server crashes regularly and entries don’t reflect it,” he said.

The one year since the introduction of GST has been torrid for small businesses like the ones run by Patel and Maheshwari although the NDA government at the Centre has tried to address some problems faced by traders and reduced tax rates for several sectors including real estate and hospitality.

“The number of power-loom machines has slipped to 5.5 lakh from 7.5 lakh in Surat since implementation of GST. Around two lakh workers have lost jobs,” said Ashok Jirawala, president of the Federation of Surat Weavers Association.