Evaders want GST deferred: Godrej

Hyderabad, April 11: Veteran industrialist Adi Godrej says those expressing concerns over GST and calling for postponement of its implementation are mainly tax evaders.

The Godrej Group chairman termed the suggestions to push the GST roll out to October 1 from July 1 in some industry and business quarters as “ridiculous” .

“Every body has plenty of time to prepare (for the new tax regime). Earlier it was to be April 1, now it's July 1. I saw the statement by P. Chidambaram to that effect (calling for pushing the GST rollout to October 1). But I think it will be ridiculous,” Mr Godrej told PTI in an interview.

“First of all, the constitutional amendment expires by September. So, we should not postpone it, and the various people who are asking for postponement are mainly the people who are evading taxes at present. So, they want to avoid getting into the net,” the former CII president said.

As for whether there are any concerns or challenges vis-a-vis GST, Mr Godrej said, “No major concerns. The only people who are expressing concerns, the only people who want postponement are the ones who are to my mind are involved in tax evasion.”

GST, he stressed, would be very good for the country and its introduction from July 1 would lead to several advantages for the Indian economy. “First of all, evasion of indirect taxes will become very difficult. So, people will be compliant, that means government revenue will go up because evasion will come down a lot,”, he said.