KSA Infomatrix

Retailers won't have to issue long invoices detailing prices and taxes for each item under the goods and services tax (GST) regime, further easing the billing and compliance burden on them. They will also not have to issue separate invoices for exempted items taxed at the 0% rate and can club all purchases in one bill.  The GST Council has approved these changes based on the recommendations of the law committee set up to review demands by stakeholders. The two changes will make invoicing and filing easier for retailers. They can issue invoices clubbing all goods taxed at one rate and mention just the total tax, facilitating smaller and less cumbersome invoices.  Under the earlier arrangement, all items had to be mentioned separately along with their prices and taxes. Retailers had argued that the end-customer is concerned with the net sale price and didn't need a detailed tax breakup, but this was rejected by the committee. It said buyers have a right to know the tax bei...

Three months after the July 1 rollout of the Goods and Services Tax, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday promised to simplify the levy with fewer tax slabs once there was greater revenue buoyancy. Noting that there was space and scope for improvement, he said, “Eventually, once we become revenue-neutral (we can afford) to think in terms of bigger reforms such as fewer slabs …But for that, we have to become revenue-neutral-plus.” At the valedictory address at the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN), Jaitley said there was a need to reduce the compliance burden for small taxpayers. His comments are significant, given that critics have pointed to multiple rates under GST as being far removed from the original objective of a single tax rate on both goods and services. But with numerous exemptions and a four-tier rate structure, apart from a compensation cess and different rates for gold (3 per cent) and rough diamonds (0.25 per cent), the current...