GST: Industry upbeat, small traders wary

Chandigarh, July3
The industry in the organised sector has given the thumbs up to the smooth implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Though the impact of the GST will be known only from Monday onwards, when the trade returns full throttle after the weekend roll out of this major tax reform, most segments of the industry are upbeat.
Despite some teething troubles, hand tools, forging and auto parts industry, and sports and large textile units in the state are happy with the GST rollout. Initially wary of the new tax regime, the large-scale trade and industry – those who work in the organised sector — feels that in the long run, GST will boost the economy. However, the initial hiccups such as inability to get the registration because of overloaded systems and a near halt in supplies are bothering them.
RS Sachdeva, chairman, PHD Chamber, says since the rollout of GST two days ago, supplies to secondary and tertiary units from the primary units have come to a halt. “We foresee a slowdown in supplies, which will impact production and sales for the next 10 days. But once the initial hiccups are over, we will be better off. However, the biggest problem now is the inability of the taxation department to register dealers under GST because of a system overload. This is causing panic,” he said. No wonder, the trade and industry have remained almost shut since yesterday.
Of 2.41 lakh dealers in Punjab who will come under the GST rule (those having a turnover of over Rs 20 lakh per annum), over 2 lakh have already been registered themselves under the GST. Officials in the Excise and Taxation Department say they are speeding up the registration and by the time the first return under the GST has to be filed, they will have a 100 per cent registration of dealers. “In any case, we are also allowing the dealers to file summary returns as of now,” says a senior taxation official.
SC Ralhan, president, Fecderation of Indian Export Organisations, says only those who indulge in unaccounted for business will be affected. “Such traders have always worked on ‘parchi’ system. No sales are accounted for and the business works purely on the market sentiment. Thus, the impact will be on traders who supply iron and steel in the construction sector, cloth merchants and small hosiery manufacturers. Punjab has gained infamy for many traders supplying goods in the name of selling fabric as there was no tax on fabric. All this tax evasion will now come to a halt,” he says.
However, the small traders and manufacturers are worried over the additional costs on industry. They feel that they will have to seek professional help in filing their returns, besides installing computers for regular billing.
Ajit Lakra, head of the textile division of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisations, says there is a need to monitor operational implementation of the GST to inculcate confidence in minds of these traders.
Anurag Aggarwal, Financial Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, says the government is going all out to help the traders. “We have set up 42 facilitation centres across Punjab, where traders can seek help in filing returns. These centres will remain operational as long as there is demand from the traders. To reach smaller towns, we will extend this facility in Sewa Kendras,” he says.
Growth-oriented: The large-scale industry feels once the initial hiccups are over, GST will boost economy in the long run
Server slow: RS Sachdeva, chairman, PHD Chamber, says the biggest problem is the slowdown of the online system for registering dealers, which is causing panic