Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has no plans to exclude all essential commodities being sold from the ambit of taxes and that only small-scale entities and women self-help group Kudumbashree are exempted from being levied the GST, Finance Minister K N Balagopal clarified on Thursday.
When pointed out that small entities are already excluded from the purview of taxes, the minister said their case was mentioned as certain authorities started levying taxes on them. He was addressing a press meet.
It is now clear that there is no move from the state government to provide significant tax relief to people and traders as is being made out from recent statements of the chief minister or the finance minister.
The central government issued a notification that a 2.5 percent GST will be levied on unbranded essential commodities like rice, wheat, and pulses from the 18th of this month. The state, too, rolled out a similar notification, charging a further 2.5 percent on its part.
Thus, a five percent GST was effected on the sale of essential commodities. However, there were talks and promises of Kerala exempting the GST (Goods and Services Tax), which led to confusion.
The GST from the Centre and the state meant all essential commodities below 25 kgs and sold in packets are being levied the five percent GST. Earlier, only branded items needed to meet the tax.
Small entities already out of the tax ambit
Small businesses having an aggregate turnover of Rs 40 lakh are not required to get GST registration as per law. Though the entities with a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore are required to take registration, they needn’t pay the tax. Since small entities and Kudumbashree already fall under these two categories, the GST hike does not apply to them. Hence the promise to exempt them from the GST ambit does not make any difference in reality.
