Modi tells tax officers to aim at registering small traders for GST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told tax officers to work on a system to ensure that small traders are brought into the GST network, especially those with an annual turnover of less than ₹20 lakh.
He was addressing central and state tax officers on the first day of the two-day Rajasva Gyan Sangam here.
Mentioning the benefits of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Modi said the new tax regime has ushered in more transparency while integrating the country into a unified marketplace.
Though more than 18 lakh traders have been brought into the new indirect tax regime, Modi felt the success of GST would be realised when all traders are brought in its net. He asked tax officers to work on a system so that smaller traders, who are not in the indirect tax paying bracket, also register into the GST network. As per provisions of the new indirect tax, traders with an annual turnover of ₹20 lakh are exempt from GST. As per official data, as of August 29, 58.83 lakh tax payers have completely migrated to GST network, while 13.80 lakh are yet to complete their formalities for migration.
In his address, Modi expressed dismay at the number of pending tax litigations and exhorted tax officers to look at ways of speedy disposal of cases. He said his government was working to shatter the confidence of the corrupt, and instil confidence and trust among honest taxpayers, and urged tax officers to set targets to achieve this mission.
A friendly face with greater transparency and more accessibility has been the main theme of Modi’s address to tax officers every time he has met them. In the last such conference, the PM had urged officers to change their approach towards taxpayers to remove the fear of the department that common people have.
Modi asked officers to use data analytical tools to proactively track and determine undeclared income and wealth. But, at the same time, he also said tax department should reduce human interface in dealings to remove apprehensions of personal bias or vested interests in tax cases. Modi asked officers to come up with ideas for a timebound solution to ‘tax raised and not realised’, and asserted the honest cannot continue to pay for misdeeds of the dishonest.