Union Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar said that the Goods and Services Tax, which was rolled out on July 1, has simplified the tax system. “I would like to thank the concerned ministries and departments for having implemented it successfully. I agree there are a few shortcomings, we will do whatever is necessary. Please wait,” said Gangwar to THE WEEK. “Today [August 5] there is a meeting of the GST council. We will rectify the problems raised in the meeting. All the state governments are stakeholders of the GST. We need to work together to make GST a success. I am sure we will.”
The GST council on August 5 will consider a submission to free goods consignments of up to Rs 1 lakh from the requirement of e-way bills along with other proposals. “The GST council will regularly meet every month to see where the shoe pinches,” said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament. He said that it would be mandatory for manufacturers to pass on the reduction in taxes to consumers.
Many traders are struggling with GST features like registration on the portal and getting the product code right. The Central government has now amended the Legal Metrology Rules to allow it to penalise Maximum Retail Price violators. Till now, the government could only book a case before the consumer forum under such circumstances.
The GST is the biggest tax reform in the country and was in the making for around 17 years. It was initially proposed by former prime minster Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000.
