GCCI gets complaints on GST refunds of Rs 275 cr

Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Gujarat’s apex body for trade and industry, on Saturday said that in just three days it got complaints that Rs 295 crore worth of tax refund under Goods and Services Tax (GST) has not been given to the small exporters since July. This has created a severe crisis of liquidity and if not corrected, it will threaten the very existence of the units. 

GCCI had recently complained to the state and central governments that exporters have not been refunded GST since July. 

Exporters are entitled to claim the refund (in form of integrated GST or IGST) for the tax they have paid while buying the raw materials for production. The government asked GCCI to provide details of the pending refund claims. GCCI had asked all the exporters to submit the details of the pending refunds. “In just three days, we got claims worth Rs 275 crore. More details are pouring in,” GCCI president Shailesh Patwari told DNA. 

Patwari said that against the previous promise of the government to provide refund in seven days, exporters are starving for refunds for the tax paid in July. “Their ability to serve fresh contracts are being severely compromised with so much money blocked. Reputation of India in global market is at stake. All these companies are SMEs and none are corporates. If things don’t improve, the very existence of small and medium size companies will be threatened,” said Patwari. 

He also said that BJP got a benefit of doubt in the recent elections to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat, but that may not be the case in 2019 elections if the government do not initiate course correction measures.