CBIC to Make GST India to be world class
The Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur said that Goods & Services Tax (GST) has been a Game Changer for all the stakeholders in the economy. The Minister of State for Finance, Shri Thakur was speaking at the ‘GST Day’ Celebrations organized by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes &Customs (CBIC) on the 2nd Anniversary of GST in New Delhi.
Prior to GST, in the Constitutional Scheme, Shri Thakur said that taxation power with the Central Government on goods was limited-up to the stage of manufacture and production, while the States had the power to tax sale and purchase of goods. On the other hand, the Minister said that the Centre had the exclusive power to tax services.
He said that this sort of division of taxing powers created a grey zone which led to legal disputes since determination of what constitutes a goods or service became increasingly difficult to synergise Central, State and Local Area levies. The MOS(Finance) said that in GST, the transition had been to levy taxes on supplies, and mechanisms to be brought in place in such a way that burden of GST does not fall on business but on the end consumption.
By subsuming more than a score of indirect taxes under GST, the road to a harmonized system of indirect tax has been paved to make India an economic union, which has also significantly contributed towards higher efficiency and competitiveness, the Minister added.
The Minister of State for Finance, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur further added that our Prime Mister has rightly called GST as “Good and Simple Tax.’’ He said that it is a shining example of GST having made India a true common market is that the transport time and cost of moving goods across the length and breadth of the country have come down significantly.
Shri Thakur said that there are so many other positives that do not need reiteration”. He has stated that all the decisions taken in GST Council are on consensus basis. He called upon all Officers to make GST in India the best GST available in the world. He stated that the CBIC has done very good job for MSME sector.
The NACIN has conducted GST training for all Officers apart from the support given to GST Practitioners. He has cautioned about fake invoices in GST bring bad name and urged the leaders of Industry to take corrective steps. He summed-up GST to be a WIN-WIN situation for all the stakeholders associated with the best tax GST.
