Traders urge GST Council to remove anomalies in tax slabs

New Delhi: Traders from across the country met here on Friday and demanded re-examining the category of products and services under the 28 percent slab and simplify procedures under the new tax regime to promote voluntary compliance.

Assessing the situation after one week of GST rollout at a meeting convened by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), traders said their counterparts in small towns are in a state of confusion due to lack of knowledge about even basic fundamentals of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and its compliance obligations leading to procedural lapses.

Trade leaders from 23 states attended the meet and in a unanimous resolution urged the government to form a GST Coordination Committee at the district level comprising of senior officials and trade representatives.

"We recommend provision of subsidy or incentive to traders operating in smaller town for transition to GST taxation system since they are required to invest their time and money for faster adoption of technology led business practices and accounting procedures.

"Similarly, provision of interim period of 9 months across the country would prove to be a great motivation and relaxation to reduce fear of penalties among traders, CAIT President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said in a joint statement.

The traders' body suggested the government to re-examine the category of products and services under the 28 percent tax slab, arguing that many of the products like auto spare parts and housing industry items deserve to be moved to the lower tax bracket.

Moreover, it said, the government should review its decision of including financial tools and services under tax slab of 18 percent as against the earlier tax rate of 15 percent in order to promote more digital transactions.