The government on Friday extended the deadline for small businesses to opt for the composition scheme in the goods and services tax (GST) regime by nearly four weeks to 16 August.

Small businesses with the turnover of up to Rs 75 lakh earlier had time till Friday to opt for the scheme in the goods and services tax regime. “The board hereby extends the period for filing an intimation in Form GST CMP-01… up to 16 August 2017,” the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said in an order.

To opt for composition scheme, the taxpayer needs to log into his account at the GST portal www.gst.gov.in and select ‘Application to opt for the Composition Scheme’ under ‘Services’ menu. They have to fill up the Form GST CMP-01 to opt for the scheme.

Under composition scheme, traders, manufacturers, and restaurants can pay tax at 1, 2 and 5%, respectively. Businesses opting for the composition scheme will see a lesser compliance burden as they will have to file returns only once in a quarter as against monthly returns to be filed by other businesses.

There are over 70 lakh excise, VAT and service taxpayers who have migrated to the GSTN portal for filing returns in the GST regime which kicked in from 1 July. Besides, there are over 8 lakh new taxpayers who have registered on the portal. These newly registered taxpayers can opt for the composition scheme at the time of registration.