KSA Infomatrix

The government on Friday, following the changes being put in effect on GST rates on about 200 items, allowed companies to paste a price sticker on packaged products to reflect new maximum retail price (MRP) until December. GST was rolled out on July 1 following which companies were asked to paste new price stickers on packaged commodities to reflect the new maximum retail price (MRP) until September. The deadline was later extended until December. The permission to paste additional price stickers was given under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011. Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in a statement said, GST rates have been reduced on some products and therefore the ministry has given the permission to “affix an additional sticker or stamping or online printing for declaring the reduced MRP on the pre-packaged commodity.” Notably, the new price sticker has to be pasted on the product along with the old MRP. Manufacturers have time until December this yea...

After its muted performance in the June quarter due to the transition to GST, India Inc is getting back to form, going by the September quarter results of 700-odd companies. Net profit (adjusted) for these companies grew 13.45 per cent in the three months ended September 2017, over the September 2016 quarter (year-on-year). The disruptions caused in the run-up to GST resulted in only 1.08 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit for these companies in the June 2017 quarter. Restocking of inventory post GST as well as the onset of the festival season helped consumer-oriented sectors such as apparel, durables, auto, gems and jewellery deliver much higher profit growth than in the previous quarter. Improving rural sentiments thanks to a good monsoon and higher MSPs also saw agrochemical companies emerge on top. Refineries, too, did well, backed by better refining margins and inventory gains from rising crude oil prices. Select companies in the real estate, infrastructure and m...

After its muted performance in the June quarter due to the transition to GST, India Inc is getting back to form, going by the September quarter results of 700-odd companies. Net profit (adjusted) for these companies grew 13.45 per cent in the three months ended September 2017, over the September 2016 quarter (year-on-year). The disruptions caused in the run-up to GST resulted in only 1.08 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit for these companies in the June 2017 quarter. Restocking of inventory post GST as well as the onset of the festival season helped consumer-oriented sectors such as apparel, durables, auto, gems and jewellery deliver much higher profit growth than in the previous quarter. Improving rural sentiments thanks to a good monsoon and higher MSPs also saw agrochemical companies emerge on top. Refineries, too, did well, backed by better refining margins and inventory gains from rising crude oil prices. Select companies in the real estate, infrastructure and m...

The number of registrations is inflated and does not represent the actual number of taxpayers liable It’s more than four months since the Goods and Services Tax was introduced, and while consumers have learned to live with this, businesses are still struggling to adapt. The Government has been on its feet, tweaking rules periodically in an attempt to assuage sentiments. The GST Council that meets today is again expected to announce a slew of changes to the new tax regime. One aspect that could figure in the deliberations is the lower number of GST returns being filed when compared to the number of taxpayers registered on the GSTN. This issue is, however, expected to be addressed over the coming months. The mismatch could be partly due to the low level of computer literacy in the country, poor internet connectivity, glitches in the GSTN and the complex return filing mechanism. But the Government also needs to take a closer look at the denominator (number of eligible taxpayers ...

Providing a big relief to India Inc and consumers alike, the GST Council decided on Friday to lower the tax rate on 178 items, leaving just 50 items in the top 28 per cent rate slab under the Goods and Services Tax. “Optically, some items should not be in the 28 per cent bracket even if they were taxed at such levels before GST,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after the Council meeting. Now, only items that attract the cess, such as luxury and sin goods, white goods, cement, paint, and automobile, aircraft and yacht parts, will be in the top tax category. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 4 given an indication of this, during his presentation on ‘India’s Business Reforms’, attended by World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva. Modi had said that if no State government creates trouble, further steps will be taken to address problems faced by businesses and traders in the implementation of the GST by the Council at its meeting in Guwahati. On Friday, the Council meet...