Gujarat may soon impose e-Way Bill on all goods

Gujarat may soon impose e-Way Bill on all items, well-placed sources in the state government said. It is one of the few states which had rolled out intra-state e-Way Bill on selected items. Sources said states that have e-Way Bill on all items are pressurising states that have it on selected items. However, experts say that the step taken by Gujarat is the most sensible and it should roll out e-Way Bill in a phased manner.

E-Way Bill is necessary for transport of all goods the value of taxable goods is at least Rs 50,000 at to be transported within a radius of 50 km.

It is an integral part of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to avoid tax evasion. Gujarat has made e-Way Bill mandatory for 19 category of goods, where there the likelihood of tax evasion is higher.

A well-placed source in the government said that states that have e-Way Bill mandatory on all goods are, of late, have been pressurising states with e-Way Bill mandatory on select goods to expand the scope of the Bill to all taxable commodities. "Sooner or later, Gujarat will have to expand the scope," said the source.

Experts, however, cautioned against expanding the scope of the Bill.

"It was a bold and a smart decision to impose e-Way Bill on 19 items. These are the one where tax evasion is the highest. There is no point imposing e-Way Bill on all items where chances of tax evasion is less. Traders will have to comply unnecessarily and the government will not be able to increase revenue. In fact, other states should have followed Gujarat in rolling out e-Way Bill in a phased manner," said Nitesh Jain, a chartered accountant.