No.PR-168
March 14, 2019
New Delhi
GST ON 90% OF COMMODITIES SLIPPED TO PRE-GST REGIME: DR JOHN JOSEPH AT PHDCCI
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Thursday asserted that GST on 90 per cent of commodities has slipped to pre-GST regime and that protracted efforts are on to further rationalize the GST on remaining items as soon as its collections stabilizes, according to its Member, Dr John Joseph.
Dr Joseph who is also Member – Budget called upon India Inc to come forward and pay off their legitimate dues as regards to GST to the government well within the deadline as the government would come heavily on those that evade the payment of the taxation as it has all necessary information on transactions and trade being committed by the trade and industry.
Addressing a Conclave on “ITC under The Amended GST Act and Implications of New Rates of GST on Real Estate and Construction Sector” under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today, Dr Joseph explained that close to 90 per cent of commodities under subject to GST, their tax slabs have already come down to pre-GST regime in the last few years which is an achievement of scale for both GST Council and bureaucracy associated with it.
However, extended exercises continue to further rationalize the GST ceilings on items and articles of public and mass consumptions with persistent proposals and legitimate demands from industry and trade associations including various other stakeholders as the government is quite sensitive in this direction with twin objectives – to enhancing its indirect tax collections and at the same time provide for necessary relief to assessees and tax payers, pointed out Dr Joseph.
He also asked the India Inc in general not to default on its dues as defaulting sections will be dealt with tough arms of the government since it has all information and necessary data with it to catch those that seek to evade taxation – be it direct or indirect.
In his welcome remarks, President, PHDCCI, Mr Rajeev Talwar urged the government to create surpluses of commodities to reducing the pricing in the interest of masses and at the same time sought uninterrupted disbursement of input tax credit to India Inc wherever required particularly citing the case of real estate. “Any ITC available should allowed to be carried forward. There should be a window of five years, if the transition credit is still unused in this period, then only it should be allowed to lapse”, he added.
Welcoming the reduction in GST slabs for both affordable and non-affordable segment, Mr Talwar pointed out that over Rs.13,000 crores unsold dwelling units in the non-affordable segments are still inventories despite considerable reduction in pricing in real estate sector.
Chair, Indirect Taxes Committee, PHDCCI, Mr Bimal Jain in his detailed presentation largely appreciated the efforts of the government for bringing in GST reform and praised authorities for its effective implementation in such a short period time with some of the continuing glitches in GST regime particularly on front of ITC and offered solutions for its disbursement.
Mr Jain, however, emphasized that the real benefit of GST will accrue only when impact of higher rates on raw material such as cement, steel and the like is neutralized and at the same time sought that ITC as on 1st April 2019 should not be lapsed and return credit be allowed for utilization with other tax liabilities. Co-Chair, Indirect Taxes Committee, PHDCCI, Mr N K Gupta was also present on the occasion who gave away the vote of thanks.
Ends.
Koteshwar Prasad Dobhal
Consultant (PR)