The 6th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Day was celebrated here today with the vision GST@6 सरलीकृत कर, समग्र विकास with Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presiding over as the Chief Guest and Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary as the Guest of Honour. Senior officials from Ministry of Finance, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and other government departments were present. 

Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, while addressing at GST Day 2023, said, “GST is the embroidery that stitches the diversity of Indian markets into the fabric of economic progress. The GST Council meetings have become the shining examples of cooperative federalism, where the Centre and States have deliberated, discussed, and decided on various complex issues to make GST more responsive and nuanced. Even today, and certainly in the future, the success of GST is predicated on the feedback loop between the taxpayer and the department.” 

The Finance Minister recalled the fragmented state of Indirect Tax System in India where every state was effectively a distinct market. Multiple Tax Rates laws and procedures, cascading of taxes and check posts at every inter-state border were all burdens on taxpayer as well as common man. Smt. Sitharaman particularly emphasised the positive impact of GST on consumers by reducing their tax burden and recalled that on many common use items, tax incidence under GST has become lower as compared to Pre GST rates such as Tea, Milk Powder, Hair Oil, Toothpaste soap etc. Even after implementation of GST, rates have been pruned on common use items to reduce the burden on consumers, the Finance Minister said. These include goods such as common household items like kitchenware, furniture, electrical equipments, bathroom & toilet fittings, refrigerators, TV, certain food items etc. Smt. Sitharaman also highlighted the sensitivity of GST Council in reducing rates even post introduction of GST. 

The Finance Minister also highlighted benefits to MSME under GST by easing their compliance burden through measures like composition scheme, QRMP (quarterly return with monthly payment, optional annual return etc). The centre piece of the GST-Facilitation Revolution has been technology. GST is technology-enabled and technology-driven. GST has also shown an impressive and steady increase in revenue collection over the last six years due to higher economic activity and enhanced compliance. Appreciating efforts of CBIC officers, she said numerous officers across India have gone into making the grand vision of the GST project a reality. Officers have faced innumerable challenges during the journey: the teething problems, especially with regard to technology, communicating & resolving the queries of the taxpayers, and the CoVID pandemic, among many other things.

The trade associations have also played a vital role as well in the formulation and implementation of GST. Not only were they proactive in bringing their issues to the forefront, they also helped in disseminating knowledge of GST through seminars and workshops. This consultative and collaborative approach is instrumental in making responsive and responsible policymaking.

Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary highlighted the salient features of GST and in particular removal of multiple taxes and implementation of the concept of One Nation One Tax. MoS was appreciative of the launch of performance management system Pratidin and other technological initiatives of the department.

Revenue Secretary Shri Sanjay Malhotra complimented the officers who were awarded the Commendation certificate. He congratulated the Officers for receiving commendation certificate on the occasion of GST Day for exemplary service. He noted that CBIC is responsive to suggestions made by trade and would work on it to provide solutions. He exhorted the department to focus on three Ts namely Taxpayers, Technology and Team Work.

Chairman CBIC Shri Vivek Johri in his welcome address highlighted the benefits of GST at the level of macro and micro economy. At the macro level he highlighted gains like better compliance, more market integration through enhanced internal trade flows. At micro level he highlighted the benefits to the taxpayers like easier processes, smooth flow of Input Tax Credit and fast refund. He strongly urged that given the benefits of GST, those businesses who were outside the GST should become part of it. He indicated that CBIC will also launch an outreach programme top inform regarding benefits of GST to trade at large.

The occasion saw presentations by four officers from different CGST zones across the country who presented their experiences about working in GST.

Ms. Jenny Khawlneihnieng, Superintendent from CGST & Customs Guwahati Zone touched upon how technological advances in GST have simplified compliance by taxpayers even in remote areas of North East. 

Mr. K. Samskar, Inspector from CGST Bengaluru Zone illustrated the use of Digital tools by field officers to ensure GST compliance like ITC Verification, Eway Bill verification and generation of actionable information by ADVAIT.

Mr. Sudipta Chakraborty, Superintendent, CGST Kolkata Zone, reminisced his experiences in pre-GST times with innumerable files and records which has transitioned to a paperless digital office in GST regime enabling CBIC to deliver GST services such as refunds to ensure liquidity even in COVID lockdown. 

Ms. Shreya Tulsiyan, Inspector, CGST Kolkata Zone, illustrated how the Digital Framework of GST has enabled officers to give taxpayer services to thousands of taxpayers in a prioritised and time bound manner. She highlighted how the new GST system takes us to closer to our goal of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat Sampann Bharat.

Union Finance Minister inaugurated “प्रतिदिन”, a web based daily performance management system in CBIC to monitor important tasks at the field level for better monitoring of work at the field level as well as to further motivate officers to perform better. Shri Navneet Goel, Principal Chief Commissioner, CGST Bhopal, gave a presentation showcasing features of “प्रतिदिन” which mainly covered monitoring of important tasks; daily data feeding of the performance; allowing timely interventions by supervisory officers based on analytical reports.

A film on “GST Leveraging Technology for Nation Building” was showcased during the event. The film explores how technology has helped to create a bridge between government and taxpayer, revolutionized GST compliances by bringing all compliances online and use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to target tax evaders.

Another video on benefits of GST to the taxpayers especially MSME, consumers as well as economy. 

To commemorate the 6 Years of GST, a song describing positive impact of GST on various stakeholders including citizens was composed & sung by the departmental officers. The song is written by Shri Aslam Hassan Additional Commissioner, CGST Ranchi Zone and Shri Yogendra Garg, Chief Commissioner, CGST & Customs Guwahati Zone. The singing choir included housekeeping staff to officers right upto Joint Commissioner of CGST & Customs Guwahati Zone.

Finance Minister felicitated 24 officers for their continued devotion and commitment to duty on GST Day 2023. List of officers is enclosed as Annexure-A.

On the occasion of the 6th GST Day, CBIC, also recognised the contribution of all the compliant taxpayers to nation building. 50,000 (Fifty Thousand) compliant taxpayers have been identified representing all Industry sectors of the economy for awarding commendation certificates. The MSME sector, which is the growth engine of the Economy and the largest contributor to job creation finds representation in the awards with more than 70% from Small, 19% from Medium and 4% from micro enterprises. These taxpayers have demonstrated compliance in prompt filing of GST Returns and payment of their GST liabilities during the financial year 2022-23. Along with significantly improved collection of GST revenue, there has been clear improvement in the compliance behavior, which has been a result of various measures taken by the Indirect Tax administration to nudge taxpayers to file their returns timely, making compliance easier and smoother; strict enforcement action against errant taxpayers identified by data analytics and artificial intelligence. The States/UTs wise distribution of selected taxpayers is given as Annexure-B.

Shri Shashank Priya, Member CBIC, delivered the vote of thanks and acknowledged the partnership with taxpayers and efforts of everyone in making GST at 6 years a successful event.

Annexure-A

Annexure-B

****

PPG/KMN