One of the biggest taxation reforms in India -- the Goods and Service
Tax (GST) -- is all set to integrate State economies and boost overall
growth.
GST will create a single, unified Indian market to make the economy
stronger.
(Goods and Services Tax in India is set to be implemented from
01/04/2016.)
The implementation of GST will lead to the abolition of other taxes
such as octroi, Central Sales Tax, State-level sales tax, entry tax, stamp
duty, telecom licence fees, turnover tax, tax on consumption or sale of
electricity, taxes on transportation of goods and services, et cetera, thus
avoiding multiple layers of taxation that currently exist in India.
Multistage taxation on manufacture and distribution
channels
Sectors specific taxes like Entertainment Tax, Luxury
Tax, Textile Cess etc.
Difference types of Cesses like Education Cess,
Secondary & Higher Education Cess etc.
Tax on value additions i.e. Value Added Tax
Tax on Inter State transaction i.e. Central Sales Tax
By CA. Vinay Bhushan
Manufacturing
Sector
Value Added
Tax { 0%, 4%, 12.5%}
Central Sales
Tax {2%}
Central Excise
Duty {8%}
Educations Cesses
{3%}
R & D Cess
{5%}
Other local taxes like Entry Tax, Octroi, State Cesses etc. are also applicable
Confusion and Mistrust
Complex and lacking in stability
Hidden tax on exports, no state tax on
imports
High transaction costs
Goods and Services Tax -- GST -- is a comprehensive tax
levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and
services at a national level.
Through a tax credit mechanism, this tax is collected on
value-added goods and services at each stage of sale or
purchase in the supply chain.
The system allows the set-off of GST paid on the
procurement of goods and services against the GST which
is payable on the supply of goods or services. However, the
end consumer bears this tax as he is the last person in the
supply chain.
It's been a long journey. Although the plan has
been discussed for years, a formal announcement
was made in the 2006 Budget by P Chidambaram,
the then finance minister. Since then it has missed
several deadlines. The BJP government is now
hoping for a nationwide roll-out of GST from April
2016.
Some States against GST:
The governments of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu
say that the information technology systems and the administrative
infrastructure will not be ready by April 2010 to implement GST. States
have sought assurances that their existing revenues will be protected.
The central government has offered to compensate States in case of a
loss in revenues.
Some States fear that if the uniform tax rate is lower than their existing
rates, it will hit their tax kitty. The government believes that dual GST
will lead to better revenue collection for States.
However, backward and less-developed States could see a fall in tax
collections. GST could see better revenue collection for some States as
the consumption of goods and services will rise.
Almost 140 countries have already implemented
the GST. Most of the countries have a unified GST
system. Brazil and Canada follow a dual system
where GST is levied by both the Union and the
State governments.
France was the first country to introduce GST
system in 1954.
Central Taxes
- Central Excise Duty
- Additional Excise Duty
- Service Tax
- Additional Customs Duty
(CVD)
- Special Additional Duty of
Customs (SAD)
- Surcharges and Cesses
State Taxes
- VAT /Sales Tax
- Entertainment Tax
- Luxury Tax
- Tax on Lottery, betting &
Gambling
- State Cesses and
Surcharges
- Entry Tax
GST
CGST IGST SGST
It would be applicable to all transactions of goods and
service.
It to be paid to the accounts of the Centre and the
States separately.
The rules for taking and utilization of credit for the
Central GST and the State GST would be aligned.
Cross utilization of ITC between the Central
GST and the State GST would not be allowed except in
the case of inter-State supply of goods.
The Centre and the States would have concurrent
jurisdiction for the entire value chain and for all
taxpayers on the basis of thresholds for goods and
services prescribed for the States and the Centre.
The taxpayer would need to submit common format
for periodical returns, to both the Central and to the
concerned State GST authorities.
Each taxpayer would be allotted a PAN-linked
taxpayer identification number with a total of 13/15
digits.
It will cover all types of person carrying on business activities,
i.e. manufacturer, job-worker, trader, importer, exporter, all
types of service providers, etc.
If a company is having four branches in four different states, all
the four branches will be considered as TP under each
jurisdiction of SGs.
All the dealers/ business entities will have to pay both the types
of taxes on all the transactions.
A dealer must get registered under CGST as it will make him
entitle to claim ITC of CGST thereby attracting buyers under
B2B transactions.
Importers have to register under both CGST and SGST as well.
The dealers registered under GST (Manufacturers,
Wholesalers and retailers and service providers) will charge
GST on the price of goods and services from their
customers.
They will claim credits for the GST included in the price of
their own purchases of goods and services used by them.
The sellers or service providers collect the tax from their
customer, who may or may not be the ultimate customer,
and before depositing the same to the exchequer, they
deduct the tax they have already paid.
Under GST registration, it is likely to be linked
with the existing PAN.
The new business identification number was
likely to be the 10-digit alphanumeric PAN, in
addition to two digits for state code and one or
two check numbers for disallowing fake
numbers. The total number of digits in the new
number was likely to be 13-14.
“After making the calculations by including petrol
and octroi in the GST as opposed to the states’
demand of keeping them out, the rate that has
been arrived at is 11 per cent and 12 per cent for
the Centre and states, respectively,” the official
said.
1. GST is a transparent Tax and also reduce numbers of
indirect taxes. With GST implemented a business premises
can show the tax applied in the sales invoice. Customer will
know exactly how much tax they are paying on the product they
bought or services they consumed.
2. GST will not be a cost to registered retailers therefore
there will be no hidden taxes and the cost of doing
business will be lower. This in turn will help Export being
more competitive.
3. GST can also help to diversification of income sources
for Government other than income tax and petroleum tax.
4. Under Goods and Services Tax, the tax burden will be
divided equally between Manufacturing and services. This
can be done through lower tax rate by increase Tax base and
reducing exemptions.
5. In GST System both Central GST and State GST will be
charged on manufacturing cost and will be collected on point of
sale. This will benefit people as prices will come down
which in turn will help companies as consumption will
increase.
6. Biggest benefit will be that multiple taxes like octroi, central
sales tax, state sales tax, entry tax, license fees, turnover tax etc
will no longer be present and all that will be brought under the
GST. Doing Business now will be easier and more
comfortable as various hidden taxation will not be present.
1. Critics say that GST would impact negatively on
the real estate market. It would add up to 8 percent
to the cost of new homes and reduce demand by
about 12 percent.
2. Some Economist says that CGST, SGST and IGST
are nothing but new names for Central
Excise/Service Tax, VAT and CST and hence
GST brings nothing new for which we should
cheer.
The Empowered Committee describes the GST as
“a further significant improvement – the next
logical step - towards a comprehensive indirect tax
reforms in the country.” Indeed, it has the
potential to be the single most important initiative
in the fiscal history of India. It can pave the way for
modernization of tax administration - make it
simpler and more transparent and significant
enhancement in voluntary compliance.