Hint of 3% GST hike puts small units at 100% unease

Ludhiana: Opposing the GST council’s reported proposal of increasing the minimum tax slab from 5 to 8%., the city businessmen have said that any hike in the goods and services tax will ruin all the pre-burdened industries in the post-Covid turbulent times.

Ludhiana MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprises) Association president Harish Kairpal said: “Our association has verified inputs that the GST council is considering to increase the lowest slab of 5% tax to 8%. This will be disaster for the ailing sectors such as textiles, garments, and engineering and even some of the healthier industries. It will not only increase our tax burden but also make the end products costlier. The central government should not go ahead with this proposal at any cost.”

Ludhiana Business Forums joint secretary Abhinav Sehgal said: “The 5% GST slab covers a huge number of taxed items produced in micro factories. Even a 1% tax increase is enough to hurt these small units and businesses that operate on thin margins and limited capital.”

 

Ludhiana Apparel Manufacturers Association general secretary Atul Saggar said: “We fail to understand this sudden need for increasing the minimum tax slab. On the one side, the GST revenues of the state and the Centre are at an all-time high, while on the other hand, they still want to penalise small businessmen with a 3% tax rise under this slab. We request the GST council, central government, and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs to make no attempt to change the lowest GST slab.”

Source::: THE TIMES OF INDIA,  dated 09/03/2022.