The Central Government, on Tuesday, introduced four Bills seeking to amend the present Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws before the Lok Sabha.
Once implemented, the amendment will make return forms simpler and raise the turnover threshold for availing composition scheme to ₹1.5 crore.
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the amendment Bills, i.e., the Central GST (Amendment) Bill, the Integrated GST (Amendment) Bill, the GST (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill and the Union Territory GST (Amendment) Bill, were primarily aimed at helping the MSME sector and small traders.
Congress Member Sunil Jakhar, warned to avoid ‘hurried’ action of bringing the Bills and said it would hurt the interests of the MSME sector.
He alleged that Punjab was suffering on account of GST implementation and the Centre should have consulted stakeholders before amending the GST laws.
Responding to Mr. Jakhar, Mr. Goyal said the government had held wide consultations with all stakeholders including Punjab and the changes were intended to help small traders.
Mr. Goyal said the threshold for composition scheme was being raised from ₹1 crore to ₹ 1.5 crore.
