Gaurav Gogoi Urges Centre to Simplify GST Compliance for Small Businesses

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Jorhat MP and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi has urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to simplify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance framework, citing difficulties faced by small businesses, traders and manufacturers across the constituency.

In a letter to the Finance Minister, Gogoi said his interactions with traders and entrepreneurs revealed that the major challenge for small businesses was not taxation itself but the complexity of GST compliance. Frequent amendments to rules and procedures, he said, make it difficult for small traders, particularly those in rural and semi-urban areas, to keep pace with regulatory changes.

Gogoi also highlighted the continued pendency of GST notices dating back to the initial years of GST implementation. He said genuine taxpayers who may have committed inadvertent procedural errors continue to face uncertainty and financial burdens because of unresolved proceedings.

The MP called for a simplified, transparent and time-bound mechanism to settle such legacy GST notices.

Another concern raised in the letter was the complexity created by multiple GST slabs, which, according to Gogoi, often result in classification disputes and additional compliance burdens. He urged the Centre to continue efforts to rationalise and simplify GST rates.

Gogoi further raised concerns over the denial or blockage of Input Tax Credit (ITC) to purchasing businesses because of defaults by suppliers.

The MP also stressed the need to make official GST guidance, educational materials and digital portal support available in Assamese and other regional languages. He said the lack of accessible information in regional languages forces many small traders to depend on intermediaries even for routine compliance.

Among his key suggestions, Gogoi called for consolidating GST amendments into fewer and predictable implementation cycles, resolving legacy notices within a fixed timeframe, protecting legitimate ITC claims, and establishing district-level GST Facilitation Centres in coordination with trade associations and professional bodies. He said such centres could assist small businesses with registration, return filing, compliance-related queries and grievance redressal.

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