Gujarat Gets Permanent Seat on New GST Standing Committee

Ahmedabad: Gujarat will be among five large states to serve as permanent members of a new Standing Committee under the GST framework, alongside Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

According to reports, the 12-member committee will comprise five large, four medium and three small states. Apart from the five permanent members, the remaining seven seats will rotate among states every two years.

The Centre has asked states to expand the Goods and Services Tax (GST) base with the support of data analytics and technology, shifting the focus towards bringing more businesses into the tax net following rate rationalisation and procedural simplification.

India currently has 1.7 crore registered GST taxpayers. The Centre and the GST Network (GSTN) are working with states to identify gaps and improve tax compliance, the quality of disclosures and revenue collection.

States may also be asked to introduce business-to-consumer (B2C) e-invoicing from April 1. GSTN plans to launch a B2C app through which customers can generate invoices. The government intends to encourage businesses to adopt the system through incentives rather than making it mandatory.

The proposed system is expected to improve supply chain visibility, generate transaction data and help plug tax leakages. DeshGujarat