Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged tax officers to bring-in small traders with turnover less than Rs 20 lakh in the new goods and services tax (GST) regime, regardless of the compliance requirement.

The PM was addressing central and state tax officers on the inaugural day of the 2-day Rajasva Gyan Sangam in New Delhi while he said that eventhough it is not a statutory obligation, small businesses stand a better chance of getting large corporate customers for various goods and services as the new pro-technology tax regime pushes businesses to source supplies from registered entities.

“The Prime Minister said that in order to enable all traders to take maximum benefit of GST, we should work towards ensuring that all traders, including even relatively smaller traders with a turnover below Rs 20 lakh, should register with the GST system,” said an official statement.

He asked tax officers to work-out a system in this regard for small players outside the indirect tax paying bracket.

The PM said that the new tax regime has ushered in more transparency while integrating the country into a unified marketplace. Though, he is of the view that the actual success of GST will be realised when all traders are on-boarded.

He also appealed tax officials to put in efforts and end the fear of the taxman by being friendly to honest taxpayers and foster India as a more tax compliant society.

Since the rollout of GST regime on July 1, more than 17 lakh new traders have been brought into the system till date and the number is continually increasing.