oppn parties Welcome Move To Seek Suggestions For Systemic Overhaul Of GST

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  • India becomes the first country in the world to make flashing of anti-tobacco warning on shows on OTT platforms
  • BJP says that by targeting PM Modi on his visits abroad, Rahul Gandhi is denting India's image
  • Nepalese Prime Minister PK Dahal Prachanda arrived in India on a 4-day official visit in whihc border issues and several others contentious issues will be discussed
  • Even as Home minister Amit Shah tours Manipur and holds peace talks, violence continues in the state after a lull of one day
  • PM Modi says that boycott of Parliament inauguration by some opposition parties was an insult to the nation
  • Allahabad HC upholds Varanasi district judge's order that petition for worshipping Shringar Gauri in Gyanvapi mosque is maintainable and can be heard
  • Rahul Gandhi says if PM Modi were to meet God, he is such a 'specimen' and know-all that he would start explaining to God how the universe functions
  • Deloitte raises flags in Adani Ports' dealing with three entities regarding disclosure of facts
  • Centre meets the fiscal target of 6.4% in FY23
  • Data released by NSO shows India's GDP grew at 6.1% in Q4 and 7.2% in the full year in FY23
  • IOC takes cognizance of police action on wrestlers, asks IOA to protect athletes
  • World Rapid Chess champion Magnus Carlsen says India is doing a lot of right things and will soon emerge as a powerhouse nation in chess with scores of talented youngsters
  • Thai Open badminton: PV Sindhu & K Srikanth ousted, but Kiran George stuns third seed Shi Yu Qi 21-18, 22-20
  • The lone Congress MLA in West Bengal, Bayron Biswas from Sagardihi, who won in a byelection recently, joins Trinamool, Congress says such 'poaching' not good for opposition unity
  • PM Modi says every move of his government is guided by the wish to improve the lives of the people
Excellent GDP growth: Q4 at 6.1% and FY23 at 7.2%, beats all estimates
oppn parties
Welcome Move To Seek Suggestions For Systemic Overhaul Of GST

By Sunil Garodia

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

The government has decided to set up a 12-member committee to suggest a complete overhaul of the GST system. This was long overdue. The GST was applied in haste when it was still work in progress. There were several flaws and shortcomings that crept in. Some major ones have been taken care of in the subsequent meetings of the GST Council, but other more serious ones have been discovered through the actual application of the tax regime over the years. These shortcomings have allowed unscrupulous businessmen to avoid compliance, evade taxes and even make use of the input tax benefit to commit serious fraud by raising false bills or use the inverted duty structure to pay less than due.

Hence, the decision to set up the committee is welcome. The committee needs to suggest a complete systemic overhaul of the GST regime through feedback from all the stakeholders. Since the GST has replaced a plethora of taxes, it has become the only source of revenue for both the Centre and the states, except for a few sectors. Hence, leakages have a serious effect on revenue generation and thus prevent governments from spending on nation-building.

The loopholes need to be plugged. Compliance needs to be improved by making the system simpler. Reporting has been made much simpler than it was when the system was introduced but if there is scope, it should be further simplified to ease the burden on small traders. Cross-platform tax structure (especially import duties) and rates need to be revisited to do away with the incentive to juggle bills provided by the difference in rates.

Although the system looks foolproof as both purchase and sales invoices need to be uploaded facilitating cross verification and easier detection of fraud, umpteen cases of taking undue benefit of input tax by raising false bills have come to light. The government has lost crores due to this. This is one area where the committee needs to suggest tighter monitoring through set procedures and red flags must be inbuilt in the system to detect such fraud.

No system can be absolutely foolproof as there always be ingenious minds who will find a loophole. But the system should be made so robust that such loopholes can be identified when the first person takes advantage of it and plugged before any serious leakage. That should be where the committee should apply its mind and come up with strong suggestions.