GST exemption has brought cheers to MSMEs, but not everybody's happy

Not everyone is happy with the sops given to small businesses under the GST regime as it encourages distortions within the tax system

The latest round of relaxation in the registration threshold and composition scheme is likely to substantially reduce the compliance burden on small businesses. According to government statistics, the increase in the registration threshold could benefit 2 million taxpayers to opt out of the GST net. Increasing the exemption threshold and the ambit of composition scheme to include service providers should go a long way in simplifying GST compliances for small businesses. 

“This is in line with the global policy where the focus is on large taxpayers for tax collection,” says Pratik Jain, partner and leader indirect tax, PwC. 

Experts say the decision