Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said small retailers in textiles sector have not been affected by Goods and Services Tax (GST), while replying to a starred question in Rajya Sabha on July 18 in a written reply.

The Finance Minister said that organised players and unorganised sellers are left unaffected by the new regime. He also informed that the GST Council had thoroughly considered the tax rates of the sector before designing the final structure.

“It is not correct to say that textiles sector was never taxed in independent India. In fact, during 2003-04, the entire textiles sector was subjected to central excise duty. Necessary steps have been taken to facilitate taxpayers to take GST registration,” Jaitley said.

“Thus, the GST rate structure for the Textiles Sector enables ease of classification and determination of rate,” he added.

The Minister also informed that GST Seva Kendras have been established in various centres to provide taxpayers with necessary information to guide through the transition process.