(Eds: Changing slug)New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) Businesses which opted forcomposition scheme in the July-September quarter will get tofile their maiden GST returns soon.
Around 15 lakh businesses opted for composition scheme,which allows them to pay taxes at a concessional rate andmakes compliance easy, till September under the Goods andServices Tax (GST) that rolled out from July 1.
"We are ready with GSTR-4 which will be used bycomposition scheme businesses for filing returns. The utilitywill be available on GSTN portal soon," GST Network CEOPrakash Kumar told PTI.
As per the GST laws, for July-September quarterbusinesses, with turnover of up to Rs 75 lakh, opting forcomposition scheme can file quarterly returns and pay taxes.
The scheme is optional under which manufacturers otherthan those of ice cream, pan masala and tobacco products haveto pay a 2 per cent tax on their annual turnover.
The tax rate is 5 per cent for restaurant services and 1per cent for traders.
There are over 1 crore registered businesses under theGST, which has amalgamated over a dozen taxes to make India asingle market for seamless flow of goods and services.
The GST Council had earlier this month raised theturnover threshold from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore forbusinesses to opt for the scheme.
Hence, those with turnover of up to Rs 1 crore can takeadvantage of composition scheme beginning October 1.
Also, a group of state finance ministers have been set upto make the scheme more attractive.
The objective behind the composition scheme is to bringsimplicity and reduce the compliance cost for small taxpayers.
As per the Central GST Act, businesses are eligible toopt for the composition scheme if a person is not engaged inany inter-state outward supplies of goods and not into makingany supply of goods through an electronic commerce operatorwho is required to collect tax at source.
While a regular taxpayer has to pay taxes on a monthlybasis, a composition supplier is required to file only onereturn and pay taxes on a quarterly basis.
Also, a composition taxpayer is not required to keepdetailed records that a normal taxpayer is supposed tomaintain. PTI JD BALSBTBAL.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.