• A committee set up under revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia on the issues faced by exporters is likely to submit its preliminary report to the Council on Friday.
• The Council could announce a special package for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that could address the concerns of exporters. It is likely to ease the onerous tax compliance requirements faced by MSMEs, reported Livemint.
Reverse charge is the requirement of large businesses sourcing supplies from MSMEs to deduct taxes from them and pay to the government. Normally, it is the supplier’s obligation to collect taxes from the buyer and pay the government.
Since large companies do not want additional compliance requirements for sourcing from MSMEs, these small entities stand to lose their business. MSMEs requested the government to suspend this requirement for some time.
• The package could also include the promise of no enquiry into the tax matters of the previous VAT regime of indirect taxes.
In his speech at the Institute of Company Secretaries in New Delhi on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the traders that the government would not dig into the past through any retrospective investigation of traders joining the formal economy.
• Officials said the meeting of the Council is also likely to assess the improvements in the GST Network’s (GSTN) , where all traders and businesses have to mandatorily file their returns.
The Group of Ministers -- set up under Sushil Modi to look into GSTN glitches -- will brief the Council on the portal’s functioning.
• Also officials said that easy compliance for exporters, like quarterly filing of returns instead of monthly filing, is likely to be discussed by the Council.
• Addressing concerns over the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Modi said his government was committed to removing the bottlenecks.
“After three months of GST implementation, we have seen what has happened. There have been difficulties in filing and technology problems. I have told the GST Council that they carry out a full review of things and whatever is needed to bring it back on track. We are not adamant. Whatever changes are required, the government is with you.”
• PM Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and finance minister Arun Jaitley held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the state of the economy and steps to revive growth.
The meeting discussed steps needed to revive growth in the context of the sharp slowdown in growth in the first quarter. The Opposition has criticised the government’s handling of the economy, GST and demonetisation.
However, the Prime Minister had on Wednesday night put up a strong defence, hitting back at critics saying they were spreading pessimism.