Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting said that 70 years after getting political Independence and 17 Years after it was first proposed during the Vajpayee government, India finally got a Good and Simple Tax in the form of GST, at the stroke of midnight last night.

 

Speaking at the Charted Accountants day organised by Hyderabad chapter of ICAI in Hyderabad today, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said that Central and State Governments used to impose a total of 17 taxes on goods and services resulting in different taxes at different locations, even though as a Nation we are one. “The first of July, 2017 has acquired as much significance as the 15^th of August, 1947 in the history of our country. These two dates are the most transformative landmarks in the history of modern India”, he said. Preparing for the GST regime is not big task and particularly, when IT tools are available easily to do so. In any case, over 70% of tax payers have already got themselves registered on the GSTN (Goods and Services Technology Network), he added.

 

Shri Venkaiah Naidu also said that it is not correct to say that Government has not given sufficient time and the trade is not ready for the switch over to a single tax regime. In any case, the Government has relaxed the time frame for such people to file their return till September. The approved GST rate structure with five slabs of taxation is certainly perfect in the sense that it is the outcome of the collective wisdom of the country as embodied in the GST Council which consist of the central and all state governments and belonging to different political structures. Shri Venkaiah Naidu added that a rational taxation system should aim at redistribution of income and that is what is being aimed at unlike in the past when the poor were paying disproportionately more in the form of indirect taxes, he stated. The Government has ensured that 81% of the goods would be taxed at the rate of 18% and below and there would be a general decline in the price level.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labor and Employment said that with the rolling of Goods and Services Tax (GST) across the nation, one lakh jobs will be created in the first three months in the country. In addition to this around 60,000 persons would get employment in accountancy sector, he said.  He also informed that the GST roll-out was a historic moment and it’s like nation achieving economic and tax freedom, he said. Telangana State Finance Minister Shri Etela Rajender and others were also present.  

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