The All India Manufacturers’ Organisation has expressed concern that the proposed GST will drive up compliance costs and time because of involvement of multiple agencies and complicated paper work.
The 75-year-old organisation with a countrywide network finds that the manufacturing units will have to annually file 111 returns in each of the State it has a presence in. Under the prevailing VAT, there is just one return. This is just one of the major 15 concerns the organisation brought out at a media interaction on November 24.
KE Raghunathan, National President, AIMO, while clarifying that the organisation’s members welcome the GST proposal, said there are some rough edges that need to be smoothened. The MSME sector, in particular, will be drastically hit if these issues are not addressed.
A GST advisory panel, including industry and trade players, should be created, he said.
S Srinivasan, Chairman, AIMO – Tamil Nadu State Board, said apart from the huge number of returns, a company will have to register twice for State and Central GST in every State it operates in. Industries should be allowed to make one GST payment which the State and Centre can share, he said.
Companies should be allowed one unified registration and integrated monthly and annual filing. A unified authority should be created rather than the dual control by State and Centre over enterprises with a turnover of more than Rs. 1.5 crore.
The envisaged tax on advances from suppliers and on-stock transfers should also be dropped, he said.
Other recommendations include: allowing input-credit benefit for petroleum products used as input or as fuel in factories; providing all input forms of GST credit adjustment against any output form of GST as currently the provisions do not allow CGST to be adjusted against SGST.
Undue restrictions on availing input tax credit for business expenses should be lifted, and proper regulations for sales return should be included, it said.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
