Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India categorically stated that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented from July 1, 2017. Dr Adhia was speaking at a Town Hall Meeting with GST stakeholders including Tax Assesses, Traders and representatives of Trade Unions in Bengaluru, Karnataka yesterday. The Meeting was jointly organized by the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax, Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC), Government of India and the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Government of Karnataka, as part of the Outreach Programme on GST.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Adhia further said that the Karnataka Government has made maximum contribution for GST and the Central Government is moving ahead as the GST would prove to be a game changer. He said that GST would help in creating lot of jobs for young generation. Dr Adhia further said that India’s economic potential is much higher and the GST would help in converting the economic energy in to real growth.

Responding to the various queries from the stakeholders, Dr Adhia elaborated the benefits of GST, explained how it would lead to ease of doing business, how to comply with its various provisions among others. He said that GST would bring in uniformity of different tax laws and tax rules.He said that there would be seamless transfer of input tax credit under GST regime. In his concise briefing, Dr Adhia clarified the doubts of various stakeholders about different issues relating to GST. He also assured to reply to the queries and to clarify the doubts of people at large about GST through the GST Twitter handle.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Krishna Byre Gowda, Agriculture Minister, Government of Karnataka and Member of the GST Council spoke at length and explained the rationale of tax structure under GST regime. He also elaborated the contribution of GST Council under the Chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley which took all the decisions so far unanimously and helped in reaching the present stage of GST implementation. He said that the GST is a major customer-friendly indirect tax reform. He said that the intention is not to increase the taxes but to increase the revenue by implementing GST as it would bring transparency, simplification and efficiency in tax administration and help in curbing tax evasion & thereby leading to tax buoyancy.

Goods and Services Tax implementation to unify indirect taxes, enable seamless input tax credit and simplify compliance for businesses. Implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is presented as the central reform to unify indirect taxation into a uniform regime enabling seamless transfer of input tax credit, simplifying compliance and reducing multiple tax rules, thereby improving ease of doing business. The announcement frames GST as enhancing transparency and administrative efficiency to curb tax evasion and support revenue mobilisation and economic growth.