- Course correction
Nearly 100 days after India’s tryst with the new Goods and Services Tax regime began, the GST Council empowered to oversee its implementation has approved several alterations. These relate to coverage and compliance norms with a view to easing the burden of paperwork and stretched cash flows imposed on smaller businesses and exporters. The Council lowered the rates on 27 items, including dried sliced mango, khakhra, unbranded namkeen and, more importantly, yarn and sewing threads to soothe the textile industry that has been in distress over GST norms and is a bulwark for job-creation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Council’s decisions at its 22nd meeting, taken at his behest to overcome the GST system’s apparent shortcomings, are akin to an early Deepavali. That the meeting was advanced by almost 20 days, and that it has tried to deliver on the Prime Minister’s promise to fix the problems faced by traders in the first quarter of GST is welcome. The decision to switch the requirement to le three monthly returns and an annual return to a quarterly frequency for firms with a turnover of ₹1.5 crore will ease the burden of compliances on small and medium enterprises, and reduce the workload on the tax regime’s fledgling IT backbone. Equally critical is the expansion and proposed simplification of the composition scheme, under which firms with an annual turnover of up to ₹1 crore pay a flat and low tax, and the six-month suspension of the reverse charge mechanism that required large firms to deduct tax on supplies from firms outside the GST net. This should spur fresh confidence among small firms and help expand the tax base. The promise of faster tax refunds, starting Tuesday, for exporters facing a working capital crunch too is re-assuring. Time will tell how smoothly these decisions pan out on the ground, but suspension for six months of the payment of integrated GST (IGST) on inputs used for exports will bring immediate relief. While putting offthe e-way bill provisions dealing with movement of goods that were making businesses and transporters nervous, the Council is instead considering a staggered introduction. So the system would begin with one or more States from January 2018 and cover the entire country by April 2018. It is not clear months, and industry has good reason to worry about fresh complications. Amidst this flurry of adjustments, suspense persists on the operationalisation of the GST law’s anti-profiteering provisions, which cramp pricing decisions by businesses. The government needs to move swiftly to bring clarity on all such remaining grey areas. Lastly, though some of the latest rate revisions may be based on impeccable economic rationale, it is important to resist giving the impression that some tweaks, even if they are warranted, are based on the Assembly election schedules.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Tryst
Meaning: A private romantic rendezvous
Example: Her father discovers the tryst and immediately arranges to send Claire home.
Synonym: Meeting, Engagement
2) Regime
Meaning: A system or ordered way of doing things.
Example: Detention centres with a very tough physical regime.
Synonym: System, Arrangement
3) Oversee
Meaning: Supervise (a person or their work), especially in an official capacity.
Example: The Home Secretary oversees the police service.
Synonym: Supervise, Superintend
4) Compliance
Meaning: The action or fact of complying with a wish or command.
Example: The ways in which the state maintains order and compliance.
Synonym: Yielding, Capitulation
Antonym: Denial, Dissent
5) Imposed
Meaning: Put (a restriction) in place.
Example: Sanctions imposed on South Africa.
Synonym: Foist, Force
Antonym: Disorder, Displace
6) Soothe
Meaning: Gently calm (a person or their feelings)
Example: Sir Irwin held him down gently, soothing him with soft words and petting him.
Synonym: Calm, Calm down
Antonym: Aggravate, Agitate
7) Bulwark
Meaning: A defensive wall.
Example: Israel bills the barrier as its bulwark against infiltrating Palestinian suicide bombers.
Synonym: Wall, Rampart
Antonym: Hurt, Injury
8) Behest
Meaning: A person’s orders or command.
Example: They had assembled at his behest.
Synonym: Instruction, Bidding
9) Shortcomings
Meaning: A fault or failure to meet a certain standard, typically in a person’s character, a plan, or a system.
Example: He is so forthright about his shortcomings, it’s hard to chastise him.
Synonym: Defect, Fault
Antonym: Benefit, Perfection
10) Akin
Meaning: Of similar character/ Related by blood.
Example: Something akin to gratitude overwhelmed her.
Synonym: Similar, Related
Antonym: Unlike, Unrelated
11) Turnover
Meaning: The amount of money taken by a business in a particular period.
Example: A turnover approaching £4 million.
Synonym: Revenue, Gross revenue
12) Fledgling
Meaning: A person or organization that is immature, inexperienced, or underdeveloped.
Example: The country’s fledgling democracy.
Synonym: Emerging, Emergent
Antonym: Expert, Professional
13) Backbone
Meaning: The chief support of a system or organization.
Example: These firms are the backbone of our industrial sector.
Synonym: Mainstay, Cornerstone
14) Deduct
Meaning: Subtract or take away (an amount or part) from a total.
Example: Tax has been deducted from the payments.
Synonym: Subtract, Take away
Antonym: Add, Increase
15) Spur
Meaning: A thing that prompts or encourages someone; an incentive.
Example: Wars act as a spur to practical invention.
Synonym: Stimulus, Incentive
Antonym: Block, Curb
16) Crunch
Meaning: A severe shortage of money or credit.
Example: The agencies are facing a financial crunch.
17) Staggered
Meaning: Continue in existence or operation uncertainly or precariously.
Example: The treasury staggered from one crisis to the next.
18) Interim
Meaning: The intervening time.
Example: In the interim I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.
Synonym: Meantime, Meanwhile
19) Complications
Meaning: A circumstance that complicates something; a difficulty.
Example: There is a complication concerning ownership of the site.
Synonym: Difficulty, Problem
Antonym: Clarity, Ease
20) Flurry
Meaning: A sudden short period of activity or excitement.
Example: There was a brief flurry of activity in the hall.
Synonym: Burst, Outbreak
Antonym: Delay, Rest
21) Cramp
Meaning: Painful involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles, typically caused by fatigue or strain.
Example: An attack of cramp.
Synonym: Muscle spasm, Muscular spasm
22) Swiftly
Meaning: At high speed; quickly.
Example: She got up and walked swiftly to the door.
Synonym: Rapidly, Quickly
Antonym: Slow, Sluggish
23) Grey areas
Meaning: An ill-defined situation or area of activity not readily conforming to a category or set of rules.
Example: Grey areas in the legislation have still to be clarified.
24) Impeccable
Meaning: In accordance with the highest standards; faultless.
Example: He had impeccable manners.
Synonym: Flawless, Faultless
Antonym: Flaw, Fault
