“The reforms mentioned in the GST Council meet hold potential to bring ease to lakhs of small enterprises that have been trying to meet the procedural requirements and understand the system. The reduced burden of tax compliance is definitely a welcome measure for our SMEs including the exporters. Small businesses comprise 90% of the taxpayer base but pay only 5-6% of total tax. Such businesses across the vast length and breadth of India have been coping hard due to less liquidity and fund availability.

With the move in place, SMEs with an annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore have been allowed to file quarterly income returns and pay tax instead of the current provision of monthly filings. Our SMEs now have lesser formalities to comply as the turnover cut off for businesses to avail the composition scheme allowing them to pay 1-5% tax is raised to Rs 1 crore from current Rs 75 lakh.

These reforms will help SMEs concentrate more on their core businesses and spend less resources on financial guidance.” – by Dinesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, IndiaMART.com(GST council Meeting)