GST first federal product of India: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the goods and services tax (GST) would be India’s first federal product (policy). Also, the GST Council would be the first federal institute where the Centre and the states decide policies in co-ordination.

The GST is slated for a July 1 roll-out. The Council, headed by Jaitley and representatives from all the states, have finalised rates of several goods and services in four slabs — 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent.

“The new indirect tax (GST) is a product of federal India. The Centre and the states jointly administer it and decide taxation policies. In fact, the GST Council is India’s first federal institution and, therefore, coordination between the taxation authorities of the Centre and the states will also be important,” Jaitley said here on Monday, after inaugurating the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN).

The GST is expected to reduce harassment taxpayers face as the technology used would help enable single interface compliance, he added. “Globally, the experience has been that honest taxpayers always trusted the taxing authority.

However, the taxpayer never knew who the taxing authority was. The elimination of this interaction between the tax assessing authorities and the taxpayers minimises harassment, brings greater accountability and greater trust into the system.”

The finance minister emphasised on the need for continuous training and evolution of the personnel involved in tax collection under the GST. “When we first took the initiative, we may not have anticipated the evolution that was going to take place. But it converged into a situation where training of almost everyone for the new system became absolutely essential…. The NACIN will play a vital role in training officials.”

“THE ELIMINATION OF THIS INTERACTION BETWEEN THE TAX ASSESSING AUTHORITIES AND THE TAXPAYERS MINIMISES HARASSMENT, BRINGS GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY AND GREATER TRUST INTO THE SYSTEM” ARUN JAITLEY, Union Finance Minister