The States, except a few including Kerala and Telangana, and two Union Territories have raised the GST threshold limit for mandatory registration for GST for goods suppliers.
According to information available with the Finance Ministry, 18 States and two UTs have exercised an option to revise the annual threshold limit; for nine States, the option was deemed to have been exercised.
Two UTs and all the 29 States were asked to select their option — whether to raise the limit or maintain the status quo. It was a one-time exercise meant mainly to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs.)
On 10th January, the GST Council had recommended the Government to increase the threshold limits for goods suppliers to Rs. 40 lakhs from Rs. 20 lakhs (for the bigger States apart from Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and J&K) and Rs. 20 lakh (for the seven North Eastern States apart from Uttarakhand and Puducherry). At present, these Rs. limits are Rs. 20 lakh and Rs. 10 lakh, respectively.
It was also decided that the States would have a week to decide on one of the two limits. The threshold for registration for service providers would continue to be Rs. 20 lakh, and in the case of Special Category States, Rs. 10 lakh.
According to a senior Finance Ministry official, the Kerala government had said it would keep the threshold limit at ₹20 lakh, but subsequently said it was still under consideration. “No further communication was received from them,” he said. Similarly, the Telangana government said it would maintain the status quo “till a decision is taken by the Chief Minister”.
Meanwhile, another Finance Ministry official clarified that the States have time till March 31 to select their option and inform the Centre about it.
