GST Council’s decisions will help small e-commerce sellers: Nasscom

Industry body Nasscom on Thursday said the decision of the GST Council to waive mandatory registration requirement for online sellers as part of the composition scheme will help small sellers to have a level playing field.

The composition taxpayers, making interstate supplies through e-commerce operators, will yield additional avenues for growth to small sellers.

“…waiving off the mandatory registration requirement for person supplying goods through online marketplaces as a part of composition scheme is a positive development for small sellers selling online, enabling small sellers to have a level playing field (vis-à-vis offline sellers) and transform themselves into organised players,” the apex IT association said in a statement.

Nasscom welcomed the decision of the GST Council on the in-principle approval for relaxation in the provisions for suppliers making supplies through E-Commerce Operators (ECOs).

“The composition taxpayers would now be allowed to make intra-state supply through e-commerce operators subject to certain conditions. This will give additional avenues of growth to small sellers and provide them the opportunity to sell across India without having a physical Principal Place of Business (PPoB) in each state, thus increasing efficiency and bringing ease of doing business in India,” Nasscom said.

This would also encourage such sellers to adopt GST compliances effectively as composition dealers are exempted from the maintenance of elaborate accounts and records.

Nasscom also described GoM’s recommendation on IT reforms as “another big move”.

“Putting in place the AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning) based mechanism to verify the antecedents of the registration applicants, and improved risk-based monitoring of their behavior post-registration will help the government in identifying non-compliant taxpayers at an initial stage and will help in minimising risk to the exchequer,” it added.

This would help identify non-compliant taxpayers at an early stage, so appropriate action could be taken to minimise the risk of the exchequer, it pointed out.

The GST Council has decided to ease the process for intra-state supplies made through e-commerce portals.

Now, such suppliers will not have to obtain GST registration, if their turnover is lower than Rs 40 lakh and Rs 20 lakh for goods and services, respectively. This will come into effect from January 1, 2023.