n Acknowledges limit of ` 5,000/day is too small under RCM
n Will be meeting GST Council on October 6
PANAJI
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that he will be advocating suspension of reverse charge mechanism (RCM) under Goods-and-Services-Tax (GST) till March 30.
Parrikar was addressing a public meeting with traders on compliance-related issues faced by the business community when filing GST returns.
Parrikar said, "I will be advocating suspending RCM up to March 30. In the meanwhile, loopholes should be identified in RCM so that necessary modifications can be made. Then, from April 1 next year, modified RCM can be in place."
Under RCM, if an unregistered supplier sells goods to a registered buyer, then the buyer is under an obligation to pay GST. Several members of the trade, who were present during the public meeting, said that RCM puts an unfair burden on the buyer to pay GST because his supplier didn't pay it.
As per GST rules, a buyer can buy goods worth up to Rs 5,000 per day from an unregistered supplier and doesn't have to bother about paying GST. But, if the amount is more than Rs 5,000 per day, then the buyer has to pay GST.
CM also acknowledged that this limit of Rs 5,000 per day is too small. Sources revealed that Parrikar will be meeting the GST Council on October 6. CM assured the traders that he will voice their concerns to the GST Council.
Traders highlighted a number of other GST related concerns, which have made their life very difficult. Bhushan Kumar, owner of a hardware shop in Ponda, said, "The GST website is such that once you submit a form, you can't change it even if you have made a mistake. I request that this issue should be looked into."
Businessmen also rued the lack of accountants in the state who can help them in filing GST returns. A trader said, "Some accountants are charging Rs 3,000 for filing one GST return. Since we have to file 12 GST returns in a year, it means Rs 36,000 per year, which is a lot for small traders."
Rajendra Narvekar, president, All Goa Tax Practitioners Association, said, "The commercial taxes department should give a live demo to dealers on how to file GST return."
Responding to this, Parrikar said, "Two wards can be taken in one day by the commercial taxes department to give live demo to dealers."
Dipak M. Bandekar, commissioner of commercial taxes, was present during the public meeting with Parrikar. He said, "In July, the state government got Rs 105 crore from SGST (state government's share in GST) and Rs 35 crore as IGST (inter-state GST) devolution from central government. In August, the state government got Rs 109 crore from SGST and Rs 48 crore from IGST."
