The Finance Ministry on Monday said GST has reduced the rate at which people have to pay tax, helped increase compliance and doubled taxpayer base to 1.24 crore.
Series of Tweet by Finance Minister
“It is now widely acknowledged that GST is both consumer and taxpayer-friendly. While the high tax rates of the pre-GST era acted as a disincentive to paying tax, the lower rates under GST helped to increase tax compliance,”
GST for Business
Businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh are GST exempt. Initially, this limit was Rs 20 lakh.
Additionally, those with a turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore can opt for the Composition Scheme and pay only 1 per cent tax.
GST for Services
For services, businesses with turnover of up to Rs 20 lakh in a year are GST exempt.
A service provider having turnover of up to Rs 50 lakh in a year can opt for composition scheme for services and pay only 6 per cent tax.
Relief to housing sector
“Significant relief has been extended to the construction sector, particularly the housing sector. It has now been placed at the 5% rate. GST on affordable housing has been reduced to 1%
Relief to Small Taxpayers
For smaller taxpayers with an annual turnover of up to Rs 5 crore, the rate of interest for late filing of GSTR-3B returns was halved to 9 per cent if filed by September 30, 2020.
Revenue Neutral Rate
The revenue neutral rate as per the RNR (Revenue Neutral Rate) Committee was 15.3 per cent.
Compared to this, the weighted GST rate at present, according to the RBI, is only 11.6 per cent, the ministry said.
Number of assessees
The number of assessees covered by the GST at the time of its inception were about 65 lakh. Now the assessee base exceeds 1.24 crore.
Returns Filling
Till now 50 crore returns have been filed online and 131 crore e-way bill generated
