GST ready to roll with 87% traders registered

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 24

Even as traders felt edgy before the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, the Excise and Taxation department has managed to register 87 per cent of the total traders registered under VAT under the new tax regime.

District Excise and Taxation Commissioner (DETC) Harvinder Singh said out of a total of 20,798 VAT dealers, 18,156 were registered under the GST.

He said many VAT dealers may not be eligible to be placed under the GST. A dealer with over Rs 5 lakh taxable turnover used to be registered under the VAT but only the one twith over Rs 20 lakh taxable turnover can register under the GST.

The District Excise and Taxation Commissioner also called upon the dealers and businessmen to get themselves registered under the GST for the convenience of trade. He said two different training sessions were held for the staff to educate them about the norms and provisions of the new law. One of the training session lasted for two days and another for the rank of inspectors and above for five days.

He explained that the department held and participated in seminars of industrialists to take the initiative forward through its associated platforms. Their staff also visited different industrial areas to make them aware of the GST. A technical workshop to remove the doubts and fears of the registered dealers was held at Bachat Bhawan on February 28. The department, in league with industrial associations, also held a meeting with VAT dealers to encourage them to enlist for the GST. One such programme was held at Focal Point.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs in general and textile businessmen in particular were edgy over the outcome of the next tax regime.

Most of them were so far out of the tax net, barring income tax.