A panel discussion on GST and its impact on small and medium enterprises is scheduled in Coimbatore on June 9.

The objective of this discussion is to educate SMEs on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), its implications and opportunities. With just three weeks left for the roll-out of the tax regime, there are questions about the state of preparedness, particularly amongst the smaller companies.

The challenge to migrate/adapt to the new system appears a tough proposition for SMEs with limited resources as manpower will have to be trained, accounting systems should be changed to build in the new taxes and logistics – reworked to optimise on the tax incidence. Opportunities though are expected to multiply as the unorganised sector would also come within the tax net.

Touted to be the most significant tax reform since Independence, GST would integrate and simplify the indirect tax system replacing multiple taxes such as State value added tax, Central excise, service tax, entry or octroi and other indirect taxes.

The panellists at the discussion will include N Ramkumar, Deputy Commissioner – Central Excise, Coimbatore; Prashant Ganti, Head – Product Management (Global Compliance, accounting and payroll solutions), Zoho Corp; Krishnan, Director, Deloitte and Tax consultant; A Shankar, Senior Vice-President and Head – MSME and Rural Banking, Lakshmi Vilas Bank; V Sundaram, President, Codissia, and Krishnakumar, Vice-President, SIEMA. The event will be held at The Residency Towers.

Source: Business Line