GUWAHATI: To give a boost to small businesses, Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley on Thursday, January 10 announced that the GST Council has doubled the annual turnover exemption limit for the composition scheme. The council has increased the GST exemption limit to Rs. 20 lakh from Rs. 10 lakh for Assam and other northeastern states, according to Jaitley.
He also said that the annual turnover for availing composition scheme has been increased to Rs. 1.5 crore from Rs. 1 crore, effective from April 1, 2019.
Businesses under this scheme will now pay a tax on a quarterly basis but the returns will be filed annually, Jaitley said. Service providers and suppliers of goods and services who have a turnover of Rs. 50 lakh will be eligible to opt for the GST composition scheme and pay taxes worth six percent.
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The twin decision under the composition scheme will have an annual revenue impact of approximately Rs. 3,000 crore.
Jaitley also added that small companies will have the option to opt out of the GST tax net. Under the composition scheme, traders and manufactures can pay taxes at a concessional rate of one percent, while restaurants will pay five percent GST.
The council also added that free accounting and billing software will be provided to small taxpayers by GSTN.
There are over 1.17 crore businesses that have registered under GST and among these, among 18 lakh have opted for the composition scheme.
