GST, first tax based system of it’s kind

GST, first tax based system of it’s kind

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Dec 1, 2016: With the state government all set to implement goods and services tax (GST) from April 2017  next, Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Ritvik Pandey on Nov 30, Wednesday allayed fears among the representatives of various industries and business houses.  Commissioner Pandey was participating in an awareness programme organised by KCCI Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mangaluru on Nov 30,  Wednesday.

He described GST as purely information technology-based (IT) administration, embedded with a top-notch state-of-the-art system to enable people in the realm to pay taxes online. People can file their returns using mobile applications, without even logging on to the dedicated GST portal.

Unlike value added tax (VAT), which was made IT-compliant in the later stages of its implementation, GST is being introduced to ease business, boost transparency and also get rid of indirect taxes, he added.

Explaining, Pandey said, apart from IT based system, the two biggest changes expected are transaction-based tax and flourishing of inter-state trade and commerce. Invoice of every trade that plays a key role in levying tax under GST should be uploaded within first 10 days of a month. It appears to be a smooth process again, as the traders have already started to upload their invoices. While the small service providers will feel the pinch, the credit-based business is expected to get further push, he explained.

Saying that 16 to 17 kinds of taxes will be merged under GST, Pandey said in the existing situation there was a lot of confusion over goods and services. It was owing to the same confusion among photographers that they were unwilling to pay tax for the goods, as they claimed to be service-oriented professionals. Following this, the department had to move the High Court, which also ruled in favour of the photographers. However, the Supreme Court in the later stages called it goods.

Following the ruling, the photographers who are rendering their services from a certain period are asked to collect valued added tax (VAT) from their customers.

With the afore mentioned example, Pandey said once the GST is effective, it is expected to remove the distinction between goods and services and bring in scattered taxes under one rule.  Managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Corporation Bank Jai Kumar Garg said the bank is fully geared up to handle the situation.

Listing many firsts the bank had achieved in the past, fast complying with the changes, Garg said, "We introduced automated teller machines (ATM) based payments of income taxes (IT), computerisation of branches and also introduction of core banking system."