Mumbai: Every PMC account holder is feeling the pinch. While many lost investments, there are others who have lost investments along with means to run their business. With Goods and Service Tax (GST) deadline nearing, many entrepreneurs are running from pillar to post to find a way to pay off GST and other taxes.“I am considering about borrowing money to pay off GST. However, this is not the right approach but taxes have to be paid or else we will land in trouble with tax authorities,” stated Andheri-based Manjit Garkal. These are worries related to survival of businesses, which also comes handy with paying off other daily expenses, added Garkal.
For 47-year-old, Gullu Sethi, the only option in front of him is to accept the penalty and late fee. “Paying GST is an important part of every business today. At present, I have no money to pay the taxes. So, I will pay up later with penalty and late fee.”Varaiya & Shah LLP, partner, Rajeev Varaiya, stated, “While late fee and interest are mandatory in case of late payment of GST, in special cases there can be waiver. The finance ministry can waive off late fee and interest, if it finds the case is genuine.” This is one such instance, Varaiya added, as everything is out there. Garkal added his chartered accountant told him that the finance ministry will have to issue a notification on this. "But the ministry is not even acknowledging the crisis, I doubt they will consider the waiver."
Many PMC account holders who run businesses, have been connecting with each other to find a way to deal with this situation or find a way to get a waiver. Another PMC account holder, Harpreet, said, “GST is a statutory payment. I know it will be a task but I will rather borrow and pay it off.”
