Businessmen, shopkeepers and traders have expressed strong resentment in the wake of one year completion of GST implementation. They are of the view that the procedure of GST is ‘very complicated.’
The Taxation Committee Chairman of Laghu Udyog Bharati (a national organization of Micro and Small Industries) Northeast region Vinod Lohia, while talking to Northeast Now said, “The GST was a pre-mature baby which was born on July 1, 2017. At present, the baby needs an intensive care for survival.”
“The Centre has been doing discrimination with the North-eastern states,” Lohia said adding, “A business whose aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds Rs 20 lakh has to mandatorily register under Goods and Services Tax. But, the limit is set at Rs 10 lakh for North Eastern states, which is a massive discrimination.”
Chartered accountant Rakesh Agarwala of H K Agarwala & Associates, Panbazaar in Guwahati pointed out that the software used in GST process is the main problem for which people are still confused.
Admitting that the GST procedure is a complicated one, Rakesh Agarwala said, “There is no similarity between the features available in the GST software and the provisions mentioned in the guidelines. Therefore, the small businessmen or traders found it complex.”
Talking to Northeast Now, Md Murtaja, a businessman at Fancy Bazaar in Guwahati, which is the business hub of the Northeast region, said, “GST has affected the economy badly. The retail sector businessmen have suffered a lot. Still the businessmen are in confusion. They are not clear about it whether it is for good or bad.”
“People suffered a lot after demonetisation in 2016. Immediately after that the BJP-led Government imposed GST which broke the backbone of the common people especially those who have been doing small businesses,” he said.
Murtaja also said, “The Government must listen to the public.”
Nikhil Sharma, another businessman at Fancy Bazaar said, “There is no need to prove again that GST has affected the small businessmen a lot. We know what we have been facing in business. Most of us are still not clear about the concept.”
“The GST is like a ghost. There is adownfall in business not only in Assam but in the entire country” were his concluding lines.