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Think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has said that small suppliers on e-commerce platforms should be permitted to undertake inter-state supplies without Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration if their turnover does not exceed the threshold. The GST Council has exempted small businesses making intra-state supplies through e-commerce platforms from taking GST registration if their turnover is below Rs 40 lakh in case of goods and Rs 20 lakh in case of services. The rule will kick in from October 1, 2023.

Ahead of the 50th GST Council meeting, GTRI has recommended that similar registration rules should be applicable for inter-state supplies done by micro and small businesses through e-commerce platforms. GTRI has also suggested doing away with the requirement of state-wise GST registrations. Today, if a firm has a presence in 10 states, it must obtain 10 GSTINs and maintain a separate account for each. Since all supplies are captured online by GSTN, the GSTN can extract precise state-wise records from the PIN Code of the place of supply without seeking information from the firms.

GTRI also recommended allowing inter-state use of State GST (SGST) credit. Currently, if a firm has a surplus SGST credit in one state, it cannot be used to pay SGST in another state or to pay Central GST (CGST) dues.