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The government, on Wednesday, September 3, said that in order to continue with ease of doing business reforms, the GST registration process has been further simplified, especially for small businesses and low-risk applicants. Under the new system, registration will be granted within three working days to eligible applicants.
Responding to a question by IANS, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman, Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, said that small businesses that estimate they will not be availing more than Rs 2.5 lakh of input tax credit can opt for this simplified registration. "Such registration will be granted automatically by the system within three working days. After operating this registration, if they grow and they want to transition to the normal registration, again, there is a provision and based on the risk analysis for the normal category of registration, they can be transitioned to the normal category,” Agarwal added as the Union government rationalised the indirect tax structure, cutting the current four slabs down to two -- scrapping the 12% and 28% rates, while retaining the 5% and 18% slabs.
He further stated that there is a process which has been approved by the GST Council regarding the refund. “There is a provision of granting 90% of the claimed amount on a provisional basis. Now, the GST Council has recommended an amendment in the rule, which prescribes that on the basis of identification after the risk evaluation by the system, this 90% amount can be granted within seven days by the officer," the CBIC chief told IANS.
Presently, there is no provision for granting of 90% amount on a provisional basis. So, an amendment in the law has been recommended by the GST Council. He further stated that this amendment is likely to take some time because it will require the approval of the Parliament. As far as filing the monthly GST return, there is no change which has been recommended by the GST Council, said Agarwal.