India Inc hails GST Council's decision to allow quarterly return filing

India Inc today welcomed the GST Council's decision to allow quarterly return filing for businesses with turnover of up to Rs 5 crore, saying the move will boost compliance.

In his first GST Council meeting since he took charge as the Finance Minister in May this year, Piyush Goyal allowed businesses with turnover of up to Rs 5 crore to file quarterly returns -- a move which will benefit 93 per cent of the GST registered taxpayers. They will have to, however, pay taxes monthly.

So far, businesses with turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore were permitted to file returns quarterly.

In a statement, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said the single page return form to be filed quarterly for traders having turnover up to Rs 5 crore is a bold step which will ease miseries of traders.

In its meeting yesterday, the GST Council also cut tax rates on 88 items, including footwear, refrigerator, washing machine and small screen TV, while the widely demanded sanitary napkins have been exempted from the levy.

"The decisions relating to simplification of returns and especially keeping the interests of small taxpayers are noteworthy. This would facilitate ease of doing business both for small and large taxpayers," FICCI President Rashesh Shah said.

He further said that the decisions would increase compliance, widen the tax base and are in the right direction to achieve the objectives of GST.