Agri and All Trade Chamber welcomes GST Council’s decisions

The members of the Agri and All Trade Chamber has welcomed the progressive recommendations of the 57th GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as a significant step towards a simplified, transparent and taxpayer-friendly GST regime.

In a press release, chamber senior president S. Rethinavelu and president K. Thiruppathi Rajan said on Friday that they welcomed removal of arrest provisions under GST, enhancement of prosecution threshold from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, reduction of general penalties, relief from small-value tax demand notices., simplification of GST registration procedures, faster and automated GST refunds and wider eligibility for input tax credit (ITC) and refunds and among others.

The Chamber had been demanding these reforms for a long time as it would reflect towards a trust-based taxation than fear-based enforcement.

The Chamber strongly objected to the continued levy of 5% GST on specified pre-packaged and labelled foodgrains, including rice, wheat, pulses and flour, in packages up to 25 kg, while individual packages exceeding 25 kg are exempt. How can the same foodgrain be taxable in a 5 kg or 10 kg pack but exempt in a 30 kg pack, they asked. and urged that the taxation should be based on the product, not on the size of its packaging.

Small packages are predominantly purchased by ordinary households, particularly lower and middle-income families. The present distinction therefore places an avoidable burden on consumers purchasing smaller quantities. If any concession is to be given based on packaging, smaller consumer packs deserve priority over bulk packs — not the reverse.

With GST revenue collections at comfortable levels, the Chamber urged the Council to completely exempt essential foodgrains and their basic products from GST, irrespective of packaging, branding or labelling.

The Chamber also reiterated its demands for ITC on commercial and industrial buildings used for taxable business activities, for protection of genuine purchasers against suppliers’ GST defaults and removal of disproportionate interest, penalties and retrospective tax burdens among others.