GST Council meet: Diwali comes early for SMEs, exporters

GST Council cuts rates on 27 items, eases compliance burden on small firms; working capital relief for exporters; e-way Bill deferred till April

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Friday took major decisions to prevent working capital of exporters from getting locked up and reduce the compliance burden on small and medium enterprises, while reducing rates on 27 items of daily use, including khakhra, which may help the ruling party, the BJP, in poll-bound Gujarat.

It deferred implementing the controversial e-way Bill and the reverse charge mechanism.

The Council also postponed imposing tax deducted or collected at source, which will particularly benefit e-commerce companies. It also decided to set up a committee to frame principles to reduce rates, depending on revenue patterns of