Small traders still wary of embracing GST
Despite the government’s best intentions to roll out GST tentatively by 1 July, stakeholders do not seem prepared to embrace the new indirect tax regime that early. Be it small traders, a large number of SMEs, tax consultants and technology companies are “looking nervous” to be the part of the new indirect tax structure, especially in the absence of the final GST law which is still to emerge, hopefully by 31 March. “I do not think that small and medium enterprises or small traders are prepared for it,” says Mahesh Gupta, ex- president of PHD Chamber of Commerce. Making a law is easier than making people aware about its impact on their business lives; so the “government has to initiate a programme to train this community, otherwise it would create more chaos”, says Gupta.
Agrees Bimal Jain, a tax consultant with A2Z Taxcorp LLP, says: “The state of unpreparedness is an issue that we have been raising before the government for long. About 75% of the SMEs’ universe ( 5 million) needs time to make a smooth transition from paper to a paperless form of tax compliance.” Since the country is moving towards the biggest indirect tax reform, there is a broad consensus that if the government really wants to implement GST by 1 July, then a GST awareness programme needs to be officially taken up at a mass level and on a war footing. “To me, September looks like a more practical date to bring in GST as by that time, the government can take them (traders & SMEs) on board,” feels Jain. In the absence of these programmes, a large part of the tax-paying community would become dependent on tax consultants which would have a cost paying which would make these smaller businesses uncompetitive. “Tall claims that GST would make tax compliance easy with minimal cost would be defeated if small traders become dependent on CAs or other tax consultants,” says Archit Gupta, Founder & CEO, ClearTax.com.
Besides the trading or small business community, GST service providers (GSPs) — a body of about 34 government approved technology companies providing crucial IT support and an interface between tax authorities and taxpayers — are also waiting for GST’s fine print to evolve the required software support.
Taxation experts or consultants also complain about non-availability of the final GST law with its attendant rules and regulations. ABB is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport and infrastructure globally. The company operates in more than 100 countries with about 132,000 employees. ABB has been successfully investing on the Indian subcontinent and has expanded its manufacturing, engineering and R&D footprint by employing over 10,000 people. ABB has 12 manufacturing sites on the subcontinent and one of its seven corporate research centres around