Intrastate E-way bill threshold to be reduced to Rs. 50,000 in West Bengal

West Bengal would cut the intrastate e-way bill threshold from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 50,000 beginning in December, bringing it in line with the rest of the country and preventing GST slippage.

According to a recent West Bengal GST notification, an e-way bill will be required for the movement of goods worth more than Rs. 50,000 within the state. The provision will also apply to job-related items.

State GST commissioner Khalid Anwar told that the e-way bill threshold was changed for two reasons.

“The first is to achieve parity with the rest of the country, which is already Rs 50,000 for interstate goods movement. The Rs. 1 lakh intrastate movement threshold was frequently misinterpreted as applying to interstate movement of goods, and traders were penalised,” he said.

The second reason is that unscrupulous traders are using the increased threshold, resulting in tax slippage. He believes that lowering the threshold will assist protect tax revenues.

Anwar stated that the state initially fixed the intrastate threshold at Rs. 1 lakh to help small traders by providing breathing room and avoiding early complications with the e-way system. The threshold has been reduced now that the method has been streamlined.