GST issues continue to trouble businessmen even after 6 years

The GST regime was implemented on July 1, 2017. It has been nearly six years and issues that were there back then still continue to be there, reports say. 

A Twitter user named @Saiarav listed the issues that have been a nightmare for traders/businessmen. “The Input Tax Credit regime has been a mess. Many taxpayers have received notices for transactions done a couple of years back,” he writes, quoting an unnamed source’s anecdotal experience. 

The user adds that the compliance cost is extremely high for small traders. “Just filing the monthly return involves cost up to Rs 2,000, including annual returns. Add to it the cost of maintaining accounts. Frequent amendments to the GST law since 2017 have also confused traders,” he writes. 

Then there are issues concerning the filing process and the IT system. “They are so terrible that traders have had to spend up to three days just because the annual return differed from the sum of monthly returns by a couple of rupees,” he writes, giving an extreme example that represents the scale of the problem. 

The GST system apparently continues to break down near the due date, putting filers to inconvenience. 

Twitter user Maragatham says that GST is an iron cage that necessitates a trader to hire a consultant just to continue living with peace of mind. “In addition to the EPF and minimum wage rules, GST becomes prohibitively inefficient for any small business,” he adds. 

However, Nimish Gupta says that the businessmen he has spoken to are happy with GST. “The biggest reason stated was that there is no interaction now with corrupt departments like Excise and Octroi. GST systems have matured over time,” he adds.