GST training set to be the coolest thing this summer

This will be a summer of training not only for businesses but also for politicians. So, members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies (MPs and MLAs) with holiday plans to beaches and hills may instead have to spend time learning the finer points of the goods and services tax (GST) set for the July roll-out.

The Narendra Modi government is going all out to spread awareness about the new indirect tax regime, and training and MPs as well as MLAs is being seen as a necessary first step. The objective is to convey to the masses, through every intermediary possible, that the GST is a consumer-friendly measure and that the tax incidence would not rise under the new regime, a top government official told

Business Standard.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia briefed the Prime Minister and the council of ministers on the basic GST structure at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday. MPs, too, were given a GST briefing during the Parliament session which closed on Wednesday, but more is likely to follow in the coming days.

All states have been asked to conduct training for MLAs to educate them and dispel misinformation over the new tax structure. “We have written to all state governments to convene sessions and conduct training for MLAs. If they need resources in the form of trainers, they will be provided from the department (Central Board of Excise and Customs),” said an official.

Educating MLAs would be key to prevent the public from being misled about the GST rates, the official said. For instance, currently only sales invoice has the VAT component, but the GST will include both VAT and excise, making the tax component appear higher than earlier. “It is not true as excise was charged earlier too but it was not mentioned in the invoice. We do not want people to be misled on grounds that VAT was charged at 5 per cent, but its 18 per cent under GST.”

The government is working overtime to make businesses ready for GST as well. It has already signed a pact with 12 institutions to carry out training for trade and industry.

National Academy of Customs Excise & Narcotics (NACEN), apex institute of government for capacity building in the field of indirect taxation, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with institutes such as Amity University, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), National institute of MSME, NIIT, OP Jindal Global University for imparting training. The government picked up 12 of more than 100 institutes which had applied.

“These institutes have been sifted on the basis of quality to ensure that the information given out is authentic and at an affordable cost,” said another official. The course fee has been capped at ~2,500 per class and ~7,500 for a three-day session. Another half a dozen institutes are likely to be chosen for the purpose.

Laghu Udyog Bharati, a union of micro and small enterprises and an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar, has applied to the government too to be recognised as a trainer. “We have formally applied to the government. We are hopeful that we will be recognized one of the trainers for the sector,” LUB’s Delhi chief Sampat Toshniwal said. The outfit has 16,000 small and micro enterprises across 290 districts as its life member, and over 100,000 enterprises in the sector as its annual members. The Central Board of Excise and Customs has already trained around 60,000 officers of both the centre and states since last September. Along with training, the government is advertising in a big way on GST, through radio jingles, banners and posters in metros and bus stops, besides on traditional media. Not only that, CBEC zonal chief commissioners have been asked to conduct programmes in locations with population ranging from 100,000 to 200,000.