FICCI applauds the decision of the GST Council to double the exemption threshold limit for registration under GST from Rs 20 lakh to 40 lakh. This is one of the most crucial decisions of the Council and would indeed help a large number of taxpayers. It is a big step in the right direction and I am confident that going forward the Council may consider increasing it further, said Sandip Somany, President, FICCI.

The decision regarding raising of the annual turnover limit for composition scheme to Rs 1.5 crore from the current Rs 1 crore, coupled with the facility of quarterly payment of tax along with annual return filing, is a major relief for businesses. This is a major step towards tax simplification and will ensure ease of compliance, said Sandip Somany.

The proactiveness of the Council in understanding the concerns of the small service providers and announcing expansion of the composition scheme to them and those making mixed supplies (goods and services) with a threshold upto to Rs 50 lakh with a tax rate of 6% will benefit the industry significantly. FICCI had suggested this measure to make the composition scheme available to the service providers also. All the decisions in the meeting are aimed to simplify the compliance mechanism for the small businesses and pave the way for bringing stability in GST regime.