The Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, 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 today.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 Thakurfurther 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. Adding his concern over fake invoice menace, the Minister added that “IMANDAR TAXPAYERS SE BAIR NAHIN, FAKE INVOICES WALON KI KHAIR NAHIN”. He summed-up GST to be a WIN-WIN situation for all the stakeholders associated with the best tax GST.Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri P.K. Das, Chairman, CBIC and Shri John Joseph,Member, CBICgraced the occasion. Senior officers of various Ministries of the Government of India, senior officers of CBIC, senior retired officers of CBIC, the representatives of all major Trade and industry Associations were also present on the occasion in large numbers.On this occasion, the Union Minister of State for Finance, Shri Thakur granted Commendation Certificates to 30 CBIC Officers from various formations across the country for their valuable contribution in the administration of GST. He also released a book on “GST for MSME” by CBIC.
Earlier, welcoming the dignitaries and the invitees, Shri P.K. Das, Chairman CBIC said that the introduction of GST was a revolutionary step not only for the trade & industry, but also for all CBIC officers as well. GST through dual (Centre & State) administration lays the road map to achieve the goal of ‘One Nation, One Market and One Tax’ for sincerely making Indian economy stronger than before. He further added that CBIC had been releasing SOPs and FAQs about various concerning provisions like TDS, Anti-Profiteering etc. and will continue to take such measures as and when required.Speaking on the occasion, Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary said thatGST is an excellent example of Federal Cooperation. There are 1.2 Crore tax payers who have registered on GSTN. Around 70 lakh tax payers regularly file returns and an amount of Rs. 1 lakh Crore of tax is paid online.He further stated that the return filing process, refund sanction procedure and multiple ledger etc. havebeen streamlined. The e-invoice is proposed to be released which will streamline Return Filing Process. He called upon the officers that on this Day, we should remember what can be further done for trade facilitation.At the end, proposing Vote of Thanks, Shri John Joseph, Member (Tax Policy),CBIC assured all the Speakers that CBIC aspires to improvise tax administration with the changing requirement of times and further assured that whatever extra mile is required to work to address the challenges, our endeavour would be to keep improving the tax administration to meet these challenges.The event ended with the thanks to all those present at the occasion.