Only 30% SMEs ready for GST, rest yet to start syncing process: Report

As the date nears for India's biggest tax reform to roll out, around 70 percent of the small and mid-sized firms are yet start the process to get in line with the goods and services tax (GST) structure.

Talking to the Hindustan Times, tax consulting firm KPMG and the Federation of Small Medium Enterprises (FISME) said that while big firms are ready to adopt the new tax structure, small companies, especially from India's humongous unorganised sector are finding it hard to align themselves with GST in the given amount of time.

Sources have told the newspaper that small companies are not ready for the July 1 deadline and this can have a short term impact on their business which could even lead to some job loss.

To help these MSMEs, FISME along with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has plans to launch a helpline, which will be operational soon.

"The idea is to handhold the small companies and most general queries will be answered immediately while specific problems that are brought up will be resolved in 48 hours,” Anil Bhardwaj, general secretary, FISME, told HT.

Waman Parkhi, partner, indirect tax, KPMG said that not more than 30 percent of SMEs are ready for GST and the other problem is that until the final tax structure is laid out the companies won't be able to list new prices for their goods.