The new registrations under the Goods and Services Tax have crossed the 1000,000 mark, creating a milestone. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted, “The figure of new registrations approved in GST crosses 1000,000. About 200,000 applications are pending in process.” NR Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy said, “Out of 10-1200,000, even if 8-900,000 file returns there will be a substantial increase in revenues. It will also have benefits on the direct tax side and help check evasion.”
Arun Jaitley had recently said that if tax base expands, the government could consider lowering tax rates. The GST Network (GSTN), IT backbone of the new tax system has also registered 8600,000 existing business and service providers. GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said, “Out of this 8600,000, we have activated the GSTIN number for 7100,000.”
The GSTN network operations have been smooth and adjusted well to the flow of applications. Several businesses which are below the threshold turnover of Rs 2000,000 are also registering to ensure that the input tax credit chain is maintained. GST registration is compulsory for businesses with over Rs 2000,000 annual turnover. The government expects that it will be able to significantly expand the tax base after the implementation of GST, with some estimates forecasting a 20-25% increase in indirect tax collections.
