Budget 2018: Key takeaways from Modi government’s last full budget

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FM, Arun Jaitley.

Budget 2018 has been presented by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and here are the key takeaways:

Personal tax

While the personal income tax structure remains the same-that is no new tax slab and no higher exemption limits-as a as a small concession, Jaitley has announced a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for salaried taxpayers. This will be in lieu of the existing transport allowance and medical expense reimbursement. However, other medical reimbursements in case of hospitalisation will continue.

According to him, the existing allowances amount to Rs 30,000 so the actual tax benefit here on would be Rs 10,000 more for each taxpayer. This move is expected to benefit 2.5 crore people-25-30% of the total taxpayer base–and reduce paperwork along the way. The revenue cost of this concession is pegged at Rs 8,000 crore.

But if he is putting money in your wallets, his other hand is also taking cash away. The education cess levied on the tax you pay (also applicable on corporation tax) has gone up by 1%. The new 4% Health and Education Cess is expected to help the government collect an additional amount of Rs 11,000 crore.

Senior citizens

Apart from farmers and the gareeb nagrik, it is the older demographic that stands to gain the most from the latest Budget. To begin with, tax exemption of interest income from bank deposits has been raised to Rs 50,000 from the current Rs 10,000. He has also proposed to raise the deduction under health insurance premium under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act to Rs 50,000 (from Rs 30,000 currently). In case of senior citizens with critical illnesses the deduction will be Rs 1 lakh. Moreover, Fixed Deposit/Post office interest to be exempt till Rs 50,000. These concessions are expected to give senior citizens extra tax benefit of Rs 4,000 crore.

In addition to tax concessions, the government has proposed to extend the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana up to March 2020 under which an assured return of 8% is given by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The existing limit on investment of Rs 7.5 lakh per senior citizen under this scheme is also being enhanced to Rs 15 lakh.

Corporate tax

Jaitley has announced that companies with a turnover of up to Rs 250 crore will now be taxed at 25% (from 30%). According to him, this move will benefit 99% of companies and the revenue foregone is pegged at Rs 7,000 crore in 2018-19. After this, out of about 7 lakh companies filing returns, only about 7,000 companies will remain in 30% tax slab.

The other bit of bad news is that the FM proposed to tax long term capital gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh on sale of equity shares/units of Equity oriented Fund at 10%, without allowing any indexation benefit. To justify his move, he pointed out that the total amount of exempted capital gains had surged to nearly Rs 360,000 crore, as per returns filed for assessment year 2017-18, and that the return on equity was attractive even without exemptions. A major part of this gain has reportedly accrued to corporates and LLPs. So while retail investors will also be hurt by this move, the impact will be most felt by corporates.

However, existing investors will be exempted from capital gains tax up to January 31, 2018. All gains made thereafter this cut-off date will be taxed. This move could earn the government Rs 20,000 crore in revenue in the first year. The revenues in subsequent years may be more.

Petrol/diesel prices

In a rejig of excise duty on petroleum products, the union government has cut basic excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2. The Modi government has also abolished additional excise duty on fuel by Rs 6. Despite that petrol prices are likely to remain the same as a new road cess of Rs 8 per litre has been introduced.

Farmers

The Union Budget 2018 seems to have been the shot in arm it was predicted to be for the slowing agricultural sector of India. Staying true to government’s electoral promise of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, Jaitley kept the minimum support price (MSP) of kharif crops and all rabi crops at one and a half times the production cost of the crops. Currently, most of the rabi crops get that benefit.

In addition, an Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund of Rs 2000 crore will be set up for developing agricultural markets. Jaitley further allotted Rs 500 crore under Operation Greens-to be launched on the lines of ‘Operation Flood’-to address price volatility of perishable commodities and to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and more.

As per provisions of Budget 2018, government will encourage organic farming by FPOs and Village Producers Organizations (VPOs) in large clusters, preferably of 1000 hectares each. Women Self Help Groups will also be encouraged to take up organic agriculture in clusters under National Rural Livelihood Programme. Also, a sum of Rs 200 crore have been allocated to support organized cultivation of highly specialized medicinal and aromatic plants and aid small and cottage industries that manufacture perfumes, essential oils and other associated products.

Significantly, calling bamboo “green gold”, the finance minister announced the launch of a restructured National Bamboo Mission with an allocation of Rs 1,290 crore. The government will also set up two new funds for the fisheries sector and animal husbandry sector with a total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore.

Explaining that India’s agri-exports potential is as high as $100 billion against current exports of $30 billion, Jaitley wants export of agri-commodities to be liberalized. “I also propose to set up state-of-the-art testing facilities in all the forty two Mega Food Parks,” he added.

Lastly, the Budget not only proposed to raise institutional credit for agriculture to Rs 11 lakh crore for 2018-19 (up from Rs 10 lakh in the current fiscal) but also addressed the issue of air pollution due to burning crop residue. The Finance Ministry said that a special scheme will be implemented to support the efforts of the governments of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for disposal of crop residue.

The icing on the cake is the announcement of 100% tax deduction for first five years to companies registered as farmer producer companies with a turnover of Rs 100 crore and above.

Poor families

“From ease of doing business, our government has moved to ease of living for the poor and middle class,” Jaitley said in his speech. But he actually meant only poor families, who have been extended a plethora of schemes and allocations. Take the new National Health Protection Scheme under which annual health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family will be offered for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. This is expected to benefit over 10 crore vulnerable and under-privileged families. “This will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address soon after the Budget speech.

The government will also establish 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres under the Ayushman Bharat programme to provide comprehensive health care-including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services-free essential drugs and diagnostic services. The Budget has earmarked Rs 1200 crore for this flagship programme.

In line with the government’s “Housing for All by 2022” promise, Jaitley announced that a dedicated Affordable Housing Fund will be set up, funded from priority sector lending shortfall and fully serviced bonds authorized by the government.

Also on the cards are free LPG connections to 8 crore poor women-up from the initial target of 5 crore beneficiaries-under the Ujjwala Scheme; two crore more toilets under Swachh Bharat mission, and a whopping Rs 16,000 crore allocation for the Saubhagya Yojana, under which four crore poor households are being provided with electricity connection free of charge.

Railways

Jaitley has proposed an ambitious plan for Indian Railways with a focus on modifications and safety rather than new train lines. He announced a capital expenditure allocation of Rs 1.48 lakh crore-the  highest ever-for capacity expansion, maintenance of tracks, transforming almost the entire network into broad gauge, redevelopment of railway stations, producing upend coaches, the bullet train project, safety policies and more.

The FM announced that Wi-Fi, CCTVs will be provided in every station and escalators will be provided in stations with more than 25,000 footfalls. In the coming year, there will be a focus on upgradation of signalling and use of fog safety devices. He added that 600 railway stations across the country have been picked for modernisation and 4,000 km of railway network is set to be commissioned for electrification.

According to him, the coming year will be dedicated to building world-class trains and a railway institute will be set up in Vadodara, where the workforce behind high speed railway projects would be trained. There will also be a special focus on the upliftment of suburban trains in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Education

“In order to further enhance accessibility of quality medical education and health care, we will be setting up 24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals by upgrading existing district hospitals in the country. This would ensure that there is at least one medical college for every three parliamentary constituencies and at least one government medical college in each state,” said Jaitley.

Significantly, by 2022, every block with more than 50% scheduled tribe population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have ‘Ekalavya’ school at par with Navodaya Vidyalas. Jaitley also announced a new scheme for revitalizing school infrastructure, with an allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore over four years. He added that an integrated BEd programme will be initiated for teachers, to improve the quality of teachers.

Custom duties

Custom duty on mobile phones increased from 15% to 20%. The duty applicable on some mobile phone parts and accessories has been hiked to 15% and that on certain parts of TVs to 15%. “To help the cashew processing industry, I propose to reduce customs duty on raw cashew from 5% to 2.5%,” added Jaitley.

Significantly, Budget 2018 has levied a “social welfare surcharge” at 3-10% on imports in place of the Education Cess and Secondary and Higher Education Cess currently in place.

Source: Business Today

Listed SMEs to touch 1,000 in next 2 yrs: Merchant banker

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SME ExchangeThe number of small and medium enterprises listed on BSE and NSE platforms is expected to reach 1,000 in the next two years from nearly 350 at present, leading merchant banker Guiness Corporate Advisory Services said today.

More companies will tap the initial public offer (IPO) route for business expansion plans, to support working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.

In the entire 2017, 132 SMEs raised a record Rs 1,785 crore through IPOs, much higher than 66 firms that garnered Rs 540 crore in 2016.

Besides, 2017 witnessed more fund-raising than aggregate capital garnered in past five years cumulatively. Overall, the firms mopped up Rs 1,315 crore in the last five years.

“Both the exchanges (BSE and NSE) have already listed nearly 350 SMEs in the last couple of years and this number will definitely reach to 1,000 during the next two years,” Guiness said in a statement.

The firms will be from various sectors such as media and entertainment, manufacturing, textiles, engineering, finance, chemicals, agriculture, food processing and construction.

“SMEs have very well embraced the idea of raising equity through IPO route in the last couple of years. There has been a phenomenal change, as they were perennially dependent on debt for their working capital and expansion plans in the past. This change will be a game changer for the growth of the SMEs in the country,” the merchant banker said.

BSE and NSE launched SME platforms in March 2012, becoming the only two bourses to offer such a segment in the country. Since then, more than 300 companies have got listed on these platforms.

“SMEs have really got benefited from this platform, we are encouraging more SMEs to come out with IPO. This would remain a great source of funds. Many listed SMEs have also moved to main board exchanges because of their growth in the last couple of years. This is also a good gateway for eventually get listed on the main platform of the exchanges,” BSE SME Head Ajay Thakur said.

 

Source: Times of India

117 companies raise Rs 62k cr via IPOs in Apr-Nov FY18, highest in 5 years

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As many as 117 companies have garnered a staggering Rs 62,736 crore through IPOs in the first eight months of Financial Year 2017-18, much higher than the cumulative amount raised in the last five fiscals, Parliament was informed on Friday.

These 117 initial public offers (IPOs) include 28 main- board public offers and the remaining for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.


During April-November of 2017-18 fiscal, a total of 117 companies raised Rs 62,736 crore through IPO route. This was much more than the cumulative amount of Rs 62,147 crore garnered in the last five financial years.

Besides, the ongoing fiscal has witnessed the highest IPO activity since 2007-08, when companies had mopped up Rs 52,219 crore through the route.

The IPO chart in this fiscal is led by General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) that garnered over Rs 11,176 crore. This was the largest public float by any firm after the October 2010 offer by Coal India which raised Rs 15,000 crore.

GIC is followed by New India Assurance Company that raised Rs 9,467 crore, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company (Rs 8,695 crore) SBI Life Insurance Company (Rs 8,386 crore) and ICICI Lombard General Insurance (Rs 5,700 crore).

Individually, a total of 106 firms had garnered Rs 29,104 crore in the entire 2016-17, while 74 companies had raised Rs 14,185 crore in 2015-16.

Further, 46 firms had mopped up Rs 3,039 crore in 2014- 15, 40 companies had raised Rs 8,692 crore in 2013-14 and 33 firms had raked in Rs 6,497 crore in 2012-13.

 

Source: Business Standard

GST returns filing: Tax experts doubt system’s accuracy; only a quarter of taxpayers meet October 31 deadline

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Increasing the fear of an unravelling of the exercise of invoices-matching, which is crucial to realising the presumed merits of the goods and services tax (GST), like reduction of tax evasion and cascades, three-fourths of the 60 lakh eligible taxpayers haven’t completed the formalities of filing.

Increasing the fear of an unravelling of the exercise of invoices-matching, which is crucial to realising the presumed merits of the goods and services tax (GST), like reduction of tax evasion and cascades, three-fourths of the 60 lakh eligible taxpayers haven’t completed the formalities of filing both the inward and outward supplies-based returns for July till a day before the October 31 deadline. This has forced the government to give another window till November-end “to facilitate about 30.81 lakh taxpayers” to file details of inward supplies (GSTR-2). The triplicate comprehensive returns for July, the first month since GST’s launch, were originally required to be filed in the subsequent month itself, but due to the GST Network’s technical glitches and low levels of compliance, the deadlines have been extended multiple times. The schedule for filing these returns for August onwards has not even been announced yet, as this was to follow from the July-cycle learning. While invoice-matching is getting unduly delayed, piling up a huge job for the taxmen, the consequent blockage of input tax credits is bound to hit the working capital for large sections of the industry.

Since the launch of GST, small and medium enterprises have faced cash crunch, while exporters have got the refunds of July and August taxes only recently. Of course, the government has allowed industries with turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore to file the detailed returns on a quarterly basis while assuring them of prompt release of input tax credits claimed via monthly interim returns, but the deferment of invoices-matching would mean large-scale adjustments of the tax and ITC figures later. The government has faced much criticism for the imperfections of the GST it launched (multiple rates, high peak rates, exclusion of real estate and five petro- leum products etc). Also, since the GST was introduced, it has had to make more compromises that besmirched the new tax further. While dozens of items saw rate changes post-July, the GST Council, on October 6, accorded virtual tax waiver for exporters till March 31, 2018, despite exemptions running contrary to the GST’s basic tenet.

Besides, units with up to Rs 1.5 crore turnover were allowed to file quarterly instead of monthly returns, a move that would allow 90% of the non-composition GST registrants to shift to the easier system of filing returns every quarter, but could make prompt invoices-matching difficult. As reported by FE on Monday, the council may allow all taxpayers to move to quarterly mode of filing returns as it meets at Guwahati on November 10. The composition scheme — that allows businesses to pay taxes as a small percentage of turnover annually — is set to be made available to units with turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore, in what could effectively exclude 90% of the taxpayers from being part of the multi-point destination-based tax chain.

GST Network, which is the IT backbone of GST, estimates that about 80 crore invoices would be uploaded on to the system every month. A tax official said that even if 2-3 crore of the invoices don’t match, it will lead to numerous disputes, which would be arduous to resolve. “Besides, tax evasion takes place when transactions are off-book which will never be captured through invoices. The government needs precise and visible enforcement to minimise tax evasion,” the official said. To begin with, GST Council should have implemented matching at the GST level where sale and purchase are matched on the basis of the unique GST registration number of each taxpayer. Invoice matching should ideally have been brought in a few months later after the system stabilised. Now that some taxpayers are allowed to file returns only quarterly, the matching should also be harmonised with it and not be carried out every month.

These steps alone will make the process smoother,” Rahul Renavikar, managing director of Acuris Advisors said. Aditya Singhania, of Taxmann, said: “The matching concept is a much appreciated step for allowing input tax credit which is regulated by the GSTR 1, 2 and 3 mechanism. But with the brilliant concept, the IT platform of GST i.e. www.gst.gov.in should equally work in same wavelength for achieving the objective. Due to certain bugs and frictions, coupled with totally new forms of returns, taxpayers were unable to file the (returns) on time.” While industrialised states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka among others had invoice-matching systems prior to GST, although these were not granular-level matching. A Maharashtra tax official, who requested anonymity, said that matching at the level of VAT number –much simpler than invoice-level matching – had enabled identification of 80% mismatches, which enabled the tax department to take action against hawala operations.

However, some tax officials have doubted the efficacy of invoice-matching, saying this wasn’t much of a success in any country with GST-type tax. “The first two month would pose immense challenges on how to deal with invoice mismatches and the provision may eventually have to be done away with,” a revenue department officials told FE on the condition of anonymity. The tax department is also worried that about 40% of taxpayers who filed the returns for July have claimed nil-tax liability. “It is indeed a large number. If enforcement is required, we will carry it out, though not in the nature of search and seizure. We may opt for discreet inquiries and meetings with such groups of taxpayers, to find out the reasons for the trend,” revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia had told FE earlier.

–  Financial Express

Banks begin to accept GST input claims to grant working capital

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More than 90 days after the roll-out of the goods and services tax (GST), lenders are gravitating to sanctioning working capital loans, especially to micro and small units, against documents used in the new tax regime.

They are no longer looking at just sales of the units concerned to decide on loan sanctions.

Banks are looking at input credit in deciding how much working capital loans they should advance.

The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, and Union Bank of India, also a public sector bank, have started giving loans, especially to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) after assessing their input tax credit claims.

A public sector bank executive said the large number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) had been included under the ambit of formal trade with the introduction of the GST.

SMEs are facing a working capital crunch because in the absence of proper financial returns, they are unable to access bank credit.

In the traditional route, banks make working capital assessments based on sales, as indicated in the balance sheet.

Besides this, entrepreneurs are facing a credit crunch because in the GST regime SMEs are entitled to input tax credit, and it is stretching their operating cycle.

A Punjab National Bank (PNB) official said the banking system is shifting to looking at the history of transactions such as GST credit-based decisions about credit, especially for SMEs.

SBI Chief General Manager (SME) V Ramling said using GST claims by banks would give SMEs the time to manage their working capital requirements till the time they got input tax credit. It will also help stabilise SMEs to run their operations without any hurdles.

SBI said the loan would be sanctioned outside Assessed Bank Finance (ABF) at 20 per cent of the existing fund-based working capital limit or 80 per cent of input tax claim due on purchases, whichever is lower.

Units and companies seeking a loan under the product need to give a certificate from their chartered accountant, confirming the input credit claims.

 

Source: Business Standard

Individual businesses to soon be under ambit of bankruptcy code

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Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India has published draft rules dealing with insolvency resolution process of individuals and firms on its website
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India has published draft rules dealing with insolvency resolution process of individuals and firms on its website .                                    The existing insolvency and bankruptcy code, at present, applies only to corporate defaulters

The government on Tuesday expanded the scope of the new insolvency rules to bring individual businesses under its purview.

On Tuesday, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) published the draft rules dealing with insolvency resolution process of individuals and firms on its website (www.ibbi.gov.in) ; public comments can be submitted till 31 October.

Once notified, even individual businesses such as proprietorships will come under the bankruptcy regime. This will enable an orderly bankruptcy resolution within the purview of a transparent rules-based regime. The existing insolvency and bankruptcy code, at present, applies only to corporate defaulters.

“These rules shall apply to matters relating to the insolvency resolution process for individuals and firms under Part III of the code,” said the draft rules issued by IBBI.

Part III of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, deals with insolvency and bankruptcy of individuals and partnership firms.

According to a statement issued by IBBI on Tuesday, the draft rules and regulations have been submitted by a working group which was formed to recommend the strategy and approach for implementation of the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, dealing with insolvency and bankruptcy in respect of guarantors to corporate debtors, i.e., personal guarantors, and individuals having businesses.

“So far, the rules were only in respect of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) and the rules concerning individuals and partnership firms were yet to come,” said Satwinder Singh, partner at Vaish Associates, a law firm. “The jurisdiction for corporate, companies, limited liability partnership (LLP) lies before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and with the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) for individuals and firms. The provisions relating to insolvency and bankruptcy of individuals and firms had not been notified earlier, so now the IBBI has come out with the draft rules.”

Harsh Pais, partner at law firm Trilegal, said, “It is a positive step towards consolidating the bankruptcy regime for individuals, for whom there was no systematic approach previously. For companies, at least there was recourse to the Companies Act, whereas for individuals there were only some archaic laws from the early 1900s, which were hardly relied upon in practice.”

Most of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) take the legal form of either partnership or proprietorship firms. Though the loans are smaller in value, SME borrowers far outnumber companies, resulting in their borrowings exerting a significant influence in the financial sector’s stability.

Bankruptcy resolution is high on the agenda of the central government, which is keen to improve the ease of doing business in India and attract more private investments from domestic and overseas sources. An efficient exit route from failed projects is an essential factor that lenders consider before participating in projects.

 

Source: Live Mint

GST Council meeting: Full text of recommendations made by panel today

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GST Council has considered the implementation experience of the last 3 months and gave relief to small traders, says Arun jaitley.

More than three months after the Goods and Services (GST) was introduced, the GST Council made a number of big changes today, to give some relief to small and medium businesses (SMEs) on filing and payment of taxes. The panel also eased rules for exporters and cut tax rates on some items. Those businesses with annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore and which constitute 90 percent of the taxpayer base but pay only 5-6 percent of overall tax, have been permitted to file quarterly income returns. “GST Council has considered the implementation experience of the last 3 months and gave relief to small traders… Compliance burden of medium and small taxpayers in GST has been reduced,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. The SMEs had earlier complained of tedious compliance burden under the new regime. Below is the full text of the recommends made by GST today:

The GST Council, in its 22nd Meeting which was held today in the national capital under Chairmanship of the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley has recommended the following facilitative changes to ease the burden of compliance on small and medium businesses:

Composition Scheme

1. The composition scheme shall be made available to taxpayers having annual aggregate turnover of up to Rs. 1 crore as compared to the current turnover threshold of Rs. 75 lacs. This threshold of turnover for special category States, except Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, shall be increased to Rs. 75 lacs from Rs. 50 lacs. The turnover threshold for Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand shall be Rs. 1 crore. The facility of availing composition under the increased threshold shall be available to both migrated and new taxpayers up to 31.03.2018. The option once exercised shall become operational from the first day of the month immediately succeeding the month in which the option to avail the composition scheme is exercised. New entrants to this scheme shall have to file the return in FORM GSTR-4 only for that portion of the quarter from when the scheme becomes operational and shall file returns as a normal taxpayer for the preceding tax period. The increase in the turnover threshold will make it possible for greater number of taxpayers to avail the benefit of easier compliance under the composition scheme and is expected to greatly benefit the MSME sector.

2. Persons who are otherwise eligible for composition scheme but are providing any exempt service (such as extending deposits to banks for which interest is being received) were being considered ineligible for the said scheme. It has been decided that such persons who are otherwise eligible for availing the composition scheme and are providing any exempt service, shall be eligible for the composition scheme.

3. A Group of Ministers (GoM) shall be constituted to examine measures to make the composition scheme more attractive.

Relief for Small and Medium Enterprises

4. Presently, anyone making inter-state taxable supplies, except inter-State job worker, is compulsorily required to register, irrespective of turnover. It has now been decided to exempt those service providers whose annual aggregate turnover is less than Rs. 20 lacs (Rs. 10 lacs in special category states except J & K) from obtaining registration even if they are making inter-State taxable supplies of services. This measure is expected to significantly reduce the compliance cost of small service providers.

5. To facilitate the ease of payment and return filing for small and medium businesses with annual aggregate turnover up to Rs. 1.5 crores, it has been decided that such taxpayers shall be required to file quarterly returns in FORM GSTR-1,2 & 3 and pay taxes only on a quarterly basis, starting from the Third Quarter of this Financial Year i.e. October-December, 2017. The registered buyers from such small taxpayers would be eligible to avail ITC on a monthly basis. The due dates for filing the quarterly returns for such taxpayers shall be announced in due course. Meanwhile, all taxpayers will be required to file FORM GSTR-3B on a monthly basis till December, 2017. All taxpayers are also required to file FORM GSTR-1, 2 & 3 for the months of July, August and September, 2017. Due dates for filing the returns for the month of July, 2017 have already been announced. The due dates for the months of August and September, 2017 will be announced in due course.

6. The reverse charge mechanism under sub-section (4) of section 9 of the CGST Act, 2017 and under sub-section (4) of section 5 of the IGST Act, 2017 shall be suspended till 31.03.2018 and will be reviewed by a committee of experts. This will benefit small businesses and substantially reduce compliance costs.

7. The requirement to pay GST on advances received is also proving to be burdensome for small dealers and manufacturers. In order to mitigate their inconvenience on this account, it has been decided that taxpayers having annual aggregate turnover up to Rs. 1.5 crores shall not be required to pay GST at the time of receipt of advances on account of supply of goods. The GST on such supplies shall be payable only when the supply of goods is made.

8. It has come to light that Goods Transport Agencies (GTAs) are not willing to provide services to unregistered persons. In order to remove the hardship being faced by small unregistered businesses on this account, the services provided by a GTA to an unregistered person shall be exempted from GST.

Other Facilitation Measures

9. After assessing the readiness of the trade, industry and Government departments, it has been decided that registration and operationalization of TDS/TCS provisions shall be postponed till 31.03.2018.

10. The e-way bill system shall be introduced in a staggered manner with effect from 01.01.2018 and shall be rolled out nationwide with effect from 01.04.2018. This is in order to give trade and industry more time to acclimatize itself with the GST regime.

11. The last date for filing the return in FORM GSTR-4 by a taxpayer under composition scheme for the quarter July-September, 2017 shall be extended to 15.11.2017. Also, the last date for filing the return in FORM GSTR-6 by an input service distributor for the months of July, August and September, 2017 shall be extended to 15.11.2017.

12. Invoice Rules are being modified to provide relief to certain classes of registered persons.

Source: Financial Express