Goods and Services Tax to benefit MSME sector: Mishra

MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra today said small and medium enterprises need not fear Goods and Services Tax, and they should register themselves with the GST Network as it will benefit them.
He said the government has set up GST cells to resolve issues related with the new tax regime.
The minister was speaking to reporters at the sidelines of national workshop on Goods and Services Tax (GST) readiness here.
Mishra also said that GST will help in reducing tax evasion and end inspector raj.
"It is a very important tax reform. Small and medium industry should not be apprehensive about anything. We are doing workshops across the country to resolve all your issues," he added.

He also asked the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to give feedback to the ministry on GST as it will take that up with the GST Council.

"We have set up GST cells for the industry. I request you all to do GST registration," the minister added.
He said the MSME ministry has sought inputs from the khadi players on levy of GST on their products so that it can take up the issues with the GST Council.
Later, an official statement quoting Mishra said that the MSME ministry has directed the banks to accelerate the pace of solving loan-related problems of the entrepreneurs.

He said that rolling of GST will help in reducing tax burden, and MSMEs should see it as an opportunity rather than a challenge.
The minister also informed that the ministry has taken up various efforts to popularize GST.
Till now, more than 12,000 entrepreneurs have been trained for GST by various MSME field offices and training institutes.
Mishra has directed all officials to use social media to provide information, publish notification and reply to questions on GST.
Further, he added that 'Digital MSME Scheme' has been launched to sensitise and encourage the sector towards new approach such as cloud computing for ICT adoption in their production and business processes.

Minister of State for MSME Haribhai Parthibhai appealed to entrepreneurs to choose their vendors judiciously so as to take benefit of the input tax credit being offered by the new system.