GST preparedness among traders is a major challenge

Moneylife Digital Team 12 June 2017

In the wake of the implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax) from 1 July 2017, the preparedness at the level of small businesses is a major challenge. The proposed GST taxation system is entirely based on technology where not even a single paper will be used. The basic fundamentals of raising invoices, procedure of availing input credit, integration of goods & services, compulsory rating of each entity registered under GST are some of the key issues which are entirely different from current VAT tax regime, pleads a press release from Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

Empowerment of such a large number of traders with technology in such a short span of time when only 19 days are left is quite impossible, points out Khandelwal.

Khandelwal said that till the time traders are equipped with technology, some in-between measures need to be adopted to help the traders in compliance of GST through digital technology. He has suggested that the government should take trade associations can be used as GST Facilitation Centres. He has also suggested that Computer Kiosks can be installed in commercial markets enabling the traders to do compliance against a nominal fee. CAIT has suggested that trade associations make clusters of 30 to 50 traders and connect them with an accounting professional, who should assist traders in performing compliance obligations under the respective cluster.

Comments

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Vanamamalai Sundararajan

9 years ago

The PM had comprehensively answered this charge in the Parliament before. He has also pointed out that many of these schemes were started by the erstwhile NDA Govt. under PM AB Vajpayee and were rechristened by UPA I and UPA II. The writer would have done well had he factored the response by the PM to this charge.

The process of renaming has continued under the present Govt. However, they have tweaked and as mentioned by another user implementation matters. The publicity and implementation fervour shown by the present Govt. is unmatched by any of the previous ones. Meanwhile what is the use of naming a scheme as "Total Sanitation Campaign" as if were are a English country than naming it "Swacch Bharath Abhyaan" which most citizens could identify themselves with. Anyway many parts of North India seems to have accepted the schemes with new gusto now.