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GST still unclear; need to educate small and medium business owners: Survey Report

Updated: Apr 13, 2018 07:57:54am
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GST still unclear; need to educate small and medium business owners: Survey Report

New Delhi, Apr 13 (KNN) The small and medium businesses and retailers are still grappling with the know-hows under the Goods and Services Tax, a survey carried out by e-commerce app WYDR revealed.

It’s been more than nine months since the roll-out of India’s new tax regime- GST but business-men are still facing difficulties and challenges in understanding the whole process of GST, according to survey report.

The Wydr surveyed total of 130 businesses across India and found that the post introduction of GST maximum of respondents faced decline in their sales and revenue.

According to the survey, 57% respondents representing the fair share of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers said that they do not understand the working of GST fully yet.

Further, nearly 19% said that they do not understand the GST working at all.

On the other hand, analysing the impact of GST on sales and revenue, it has been found in the report that over 53% of the respondents admitted that they have experienced a decline in their sales and revenues, while only 25% said the impact on sales was positive.

Also on profitmaking, industry seems to be struggling to make profits post GST; with 26% faced a decline in profits by more than 30% and around 55% respondents are unsure or believe that GST is not good for their businesses in the long run.

Wydr founder and CEO, Devesh Rai said that the unprecedented scale of implementation of GST naturally leads to some challenges and teething troubles in the first few months.

He said that the survey results demonstrate that despite of significant progress in GST rollout, the administration needs to enhance its focus on educating small and medium business owners across India.

He further added that those businesses whose annual sales are above the threshold level of Rs 1.5 crore are liable to pay GST and eligible to deduct input tax credit which leads to increase in complexity.

Also, firms don’t just need to apply the correct rate, but also have to match invoices of their outputs and inputs in order to be eligible for full input tax credit, which increases compliance costs further, he added.

He said that the situation is not that bad in India, considering the time and scale of implementation, however, the government is working towards minimizing the issues.

Survey further highlighted that the so called ‘one nation one tax’ system has left 82.8% of the respondents with new additional costs and increased business expenses.

According to survey, 30% respondents believe that GST is not a simplified tax structure and needs a lot of understanding, while more than 55% said they do not get GST-related help easily, which indirectly hinders their growth and progress.

Also, 45% believe that GST is good for business in the long run. However, about half of the respondents agree that GST has opened up scope for expanding their business in other states of the country.

Wydr is a B2B app-based marketplace for retailers and wholesalers to buy directly from distributors and manufacturers. (KNN/YV)

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