With the concerning GST compliance issues, small businesses in the city have raised concerns. Citing delays in refund and the intricate process are putting stress on their finances and slowing expansion.
MSME representatives at a GST Samvaad consultation organised by the India SME Forum in the city raised various on-ground difficulties in the GST system and sought practical reforms.
In the meeting, senior officials from Central and State GST departments, including Commissioner Anoop Kumar Sharma, Additional Commissioner Vishal Malani, Deputy Commissioner B M Jograjya, and Assistant Commissioner B R Dangar, were present.
As per the participants, GST has eased the indirect taxation, its implementation still creates a heavy compliance burden for small businesses. An issue raised was the need for separate registration in every state.
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According to MSMEs, this pushes them to set up offices, hire staff, and undergo repeated verification, surging costs, and delaying registrations from the regular two to three weeks to over two months. The other reason for concern was working capital pressure. For small firms with less margin, the delays in ITC and TCS refunds weaken liquidity.
Other problems discussed are mismatched pertinent notices in GST returns, vendor compliance risks impacting input tax credit (ITC) claims, late approvals, and goods being detained over small documentation errors, disrupting supply chains.
Sharma, addressing the meeting, stated, “We will examine the suggestions and concerns raised by the MSMEs to strengthen the GST ecosystem.” Vinod Kumar, president of the forum, said MSMEs support the ‘One Nation, One Tax’ idea but simplified registration and faster refunds are critical for MSMEs to scale,” he said.
