GST Council doles out sops for SMEs; composition scheme limit raised to Rs 1 cr

New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the GST Council on Friday reached consensus on increasing composition threshold for SMEs to Rs 1 crore from Rs 75 lakh, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu said.

This will allow small businesses, including eateries, to pay 1-5 percent tax without having to deal with the three-stage filing process.

Chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the 22nd meeting of the GST Council was attended by finance ministers of states and GST Secretariat officials.

The GST Council discussed issues faced by small traders and requested quarterly filing of returns for small businesses, Ramakrishnudu told reporters after the meeting concluded.

The Group of Ministers, under Sushil Modi, set up to look into GSTN glitches also briefed the Council on the portal's functioning.

With over 33 lakh businesses filing the final GSTR-1 return, the GoM has tasked GSTN to send reminder text messages to the remaining 20 lakh businesses which are yet to submit the tax forms.

The last date for filing of final sales returns for July in GSTR-1 form is October 10, while the date for uploading of purchase returns in GSTR-2 is October 31.

The final GSTR-3, matching GSTR-1 and 2, is to be filed by November 10.