CAIT asks for delayed GST roll out on September 1

The Dollar Business Bureau

Due to small businesses, which may not have the digital and technological means necessary to adapt to the GST regime, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has requested for a delay in the nation-wide roll out of GST.

The new tax regime is scheduled to commence on July 1, 2017, after its final draft gets ratified in the parliament during the second half of budget session. CAIT argues that this gives only a 60 day bracket for small traders to transition into GST. Requesting for the implementation to be postponed to September 1, 2017, the leading trade association says that this would give enough time for small traders to understand and adopt the new tax mechanism.

"Nearly 70% of small businesses in the country are yet to adopt digital technology in their business format and as such it is a big challenge for them to computerise themselves in this short period," CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said.

To allow reasonable amount of time for trade associations to work on awareness and education programs which will make transition from VAT to GST easier and smooth, CAIT has asked for a deferred GST roll out date.

Though CAIT is in favour of an early implementation, he said that approximately two crore small enterprises falling under the GST law needed time to comply with the new online tax system.

CAIT has also expressed disapproval on the e-permit mechanism for inter-state transactions. While taking away the essence of a one nation-one tax idea, the e-permits will hinder seamless business activity across states. Praveen Khandelwal explained that the e-permits were redundant, because the new integrated tax enabled the government to keep track of all movement in goods and services.