Hasmukh Adhia, India's revenue secretary at the Finance Ministry is seen in a August 14, 2015 file photo taken in New Delhi, India. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
The government on Tuesday advanced the GST Council meeting to October 6 to sort out problems arising from refund in the new tax system, which have sent sectors including exports into crisis mode.
Earlier, the GST Council was to meet on October 24. Exporters met the government and complained about a “severe social crisis” arising afterdelay in refund that has left them with no money to pay salaries and bonus to their employees ahead of the festive season of Deepavali.
The Committee on Exports set up to look into the problems of working capital crunch faced by the exporters met here for the first time, and decided to sort out the problems well in advance so that the GST Council can pronounce a decision on October 6.
Among the solutions that are being debated arecreation of an e-wallet for exporters from which money automatically flows for procurement of goods without having to worry about the GST refund.
Exporters body Federation of Indian Exports Organisation (FIEO) also suggested issuance of duty credit scrips for payment of Integrated GST and bank interest by exporters.
The meeting chaired by Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia is considering the suggestions but a final decision would be taken only at the GST Council meeting on October 6, sources attending the meeting said.
The government’s revenue position in the GST era will also be looked into in the meeting.It was earlier believed that the government has collected Rs 92,000 crore as taxes in the month of July in the GST regime, but the final figures revealed that Rs 65,000 were claimed as refund.
Tuesday’s meeting was attended among others by chairperson, CBEC, Director General DGFT, Additional Secretary, GST Council and commissioners of commercial taxes from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, who are the members of the committee.