GST Council Meeting: Relief To MSMEs, And Taxpayers

The government has concluded the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council meeting today, on June 29, and provided relief to the Indian MSMEs and taxpayers. The government has extended the Rs. 40 lakh threshold exemption for intra-state sales and the Rs. 1.5 crore threshold under composition scheme to the online sellers, according to the GST council decision. This is being considered a big relief for the MSME sector, as it will now have access to e-commerce platforms. It will help the sector to enable more sellers to make the shift from online to offline. After the pandemic, online or digital mode of business has gained large popularity, and it has proved to be a game-changer for entrepreneurs.

Additionally, the taxpayers are also going to get some relief after the GST council announcement of waiving the "requirement for filing refund claims by condoning the two-year period between March 1 2020 and February 28 2022," according to reports available to the media. The decision has been taken to ease the burden of the Indian taxpayers after the pandemic hit the country.

However, common citizens are going to get hurt further as the government has decided to raise the tax to 18% from the earlier level of 12% on some of the household goods and services. Amid inflation, the decision will affect the common citizens, and their household expenses will surge further.