Popcorn Paradox
India’s Goods and Services Tax, introduced with the promise of simplifying the tax structure, has once again come under scrutiny.
The Confederation of All India Traders ( CAIT) has urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to waive mandatory GST qualification for e-commerce.
CAIT National President B C Bhartia said, “Mandatory GST number is a deterrent for small retailers to adopt e-commerce. Under GST Act a seller who wishes to sell products in e-commerce is invariably required to obtain a GST number. Any seller who does not have a GST number is not allowed to sell products on any e-commerce portal. This provision of the Act is barring lakhs of traders across the Country from using e-Commerce to sell their products.”
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He said that on the one hand in pursuance of the vision of PM Narendra Modi, several ministries and state governments are eager to bring more and more sellers on an e-commerce platform but the provision of not allowing sellers without having GST number has become a major deterrent and roadblock to embracing digital commerce by lakhs of traders of the country.
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Bhartia added, “The Govt is much talking about the empowerment of small retailers in the country but since these small retailers are having their annual turnover less than Rs 40 lakhs, they are exempted to take GST registration and hence this threshold relief given by the GST Council has become a nightmare for those small traders who wish to adopt digital commerce.”
“Not only the traders but a large number of artisans, craftsmen, cottage and household industries, artists and various other similar sections are facing challenges in onboarding themselves on e-commerce platforms which is badly hitting not only the domestic market but even exports are being suffered to a greater extent,” added Bhartia.
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