GST lens on UPI payments may drive small biz back into cash: SBI

The aggressive tax enforcement targeting small businesses could undermine the gains of tax formalisation under the goods and services tax (GST), and could push them back into the cash economy, SBI Research has warned in a report.

- ENS Economic Bureau @ Mumbai

"A recent case from Karnataka illustrates this tension of aggressive tax enforcement under the GST regime, where numerous small traders and shopkeepers in Bengaluru have received disproportionately high tax notices, primarily based on digital footprints such as UPI transactions," the report said.