Shri. K. Ramakrishnan, Commissioner of Central GST & Central Excise, Salem, presided over the function held at GST BHAWAN, Anaimedu, Salem. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Sinha, Zonal Divisional Railway Manager, Southern Railway, Salem was the Chief Guest and Mr. M . Jayaraman, State GST Joint Commissioner, Shri. P. Elango, General Manager (Finance and Administration), M/s JSW Steel Ltd., Salem and various business tycoons, businessmen, auditors, accountants, central and state government officials participated and graced the function.

Ms. DEEPTI IP, Joint Commissioner, IRS welcomed the participants and delivered the welcome address. Subsequently, Salem Commissioner Mr. K. Ramakrishnan delivered his keynote address in which he informed the following:-

This year's GST Day 2023 THEME is 'Celebrating Simplification and Economic Growth'. GST tax has been suitably modified in these 6 years with the reforms aimed at suiting the needs of the businesses. So far 49 GST council meetings have been held and the GST law has been simplified for the benefit of the taxpayers. Due to such simplified tax reforms undertaken by the Central Government, the GST revenue of Rs 1.86 lakh crores was achieved in this country last April 2023. It reaffirms that GST is indeed a “Good and Simple Tax” and makes it clear that we are moving towards achieving the goal of “One Country- One Market-One Tax”.

The number of taxpayers in Salem Commissionerate has almost doubled from around 36000 in July 2017 when GST was introduced, to around 74000 in June 2023 this year. This is about 106 percent increase in tax base since the introduction of GST. Also, the tax revenue of Salem Commissionerate in 2017-18 was Rs 1358.31 crore, which has increased to Rs 3162.85 crore in 2022-23. This is a 132 percent increase over the GST tax revenue collected while compared with the year 2017-18. DIN number is compulsorily mentioned while communicating with the trade and industry. He also informed that the office communication is now entirely through E[1]Office without any manual processing of new files.

Further, the government has also held 49 GST council meetings to support the trade and industry and had issued notifications, circulars and messages promptly to solve various problems faced by the taxpayers. When there is change in the taxation provisions, the traders were informed and explained promptly through various webinars, meetings, seminars communication through email and twitter messages. All the doubts projected by the trade were duly clarified through the dedicated GST – SEVA KENDRA (Service Center) facility in our office. Automatic Return Scrutiny e-Form Scrutiny has been introduced for traders from May 2023 and E-Invoice is to be introduced from October 2020 for turnover over Rs. 500 crores is proposed to be implemented from August 2023 to traders having turnover of over Rs. 5 crores.

Mr. Pankaj Kumar Sinha, Chief Guest, Shri. M. Jayaraman, Joint Commissioner, State GST and Shri. P. Elango, General Manager (Finance & Administration), JSW Ltd, Salem also addressed the gathering. Quiz competition was conducted on the occasion and winners were awarded certificates. Commendation certificates were issued to the officers for their meritorious service and to officers who donated their blood on the occasion of World Blood Donation Day.

High revenue achievers in terms of tax payment, Entrepreneurs and exporters who performed well were felicitated and honoured at this function. All categories of businesses, entrepreneurs, exporters, small and micro entities, traders, central & state serving officers, retired officers and family members attended the ceremony in large numbers and graced the occasion. Mrs. K Jayachitra, Assistant Commissioner, thanked all the participants and concluded the function.

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AP/DL

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