Chandigarh, July 1: The stand of the Congress on the goods and services tax (GST) seems to be a study in contrast, depending on whether it is in power or opposition. While the party decided to give the special midnight session of Parliament to roll out the new tax regime from July 1 a miss, the Punjab government will be “on the move” to support GST.
Saddled with high debt and a parched treasury, state finance minister Manpreet Badal sees GST as a game-changer for Punjab. “Initially, there will be a chaos. From next week, officers of the finance department, including I, will be travelling across the state to allay fears of traders and manufacturers who are protesting against the implementation of GST. It’s more a fear of the unknown. We will try to make the rollout as seamless and painless as possible,” he said.
According to the FM, Punjab stands to gain on many counts. “Our value-added tax (VAT) was among the highest. It not only rendered us uncompetitive as an investment destination, but also hit tax compliance. With GST, more traders are trying to get into the tax net. So both tax compliance and buoyancy will go up. Being a consumption state, Punjab also stands to gain as GST is a destination-based tax,” he explained.
Punjab has been promised a 14% growth in revenue for five years, starting with 2015-16 as base year for this fiscal, and so on. The state is expecting over 30% higher revenue in the first quarter of the GST rollout.
News Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com
