Ease GST compliance, bizmen tell collector

Businessmen representing close to two dozen associations on Friday asked the district collector of Ahmedabad to enable the smooth functioning of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) network, and ensure that compliance is easy so as to avoid businessmen falling victim to systemic failure.

The demands were made at a meeting held in the city as a part of the statewide initiative to hear grievances of the business community in Gujarat. Sources from business circles told DNA that the dissent among the business community has become a major embarrassment for the administration, and could prove counter-productive for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming state assembly elections later this year.

The meeting by district collector Avantika Singh came after a high-level delegation from the central government met office bearers of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association (GSBTA), Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) over the past two days.

However, stakeholders are of the opinion that enough interactions have been done with the government and the focus should now be on the time-bound redressal of grievances by the government. "We have been voicing our hardships for quite some time.

Now we need to know when we will get rid of these bottlenecks," said Vaaris Isani, president of GSBTA. He added that despite assurances from the government, the penalty for late filing of GSTR-3B has not been discontinued.

Shailesh Patwari, president of GCCI said that the chamber raised some additional issues which include the replacement of the daily cash transaction cap of Rs 5,000 to a monthly cap of Rs 3,00,000; reducing the GST rates for goods and services bought for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP); and including CETP under the GST regime so that members can avail tax credit.