GST - Discussion on all Aspects

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Mort Walker
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Mort Walker »

disha
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by disha »

^the farticle is not even worth the toilet paper it is printed on.

Best is to ignore it & move on.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by A_Gupta »

Mort Walker wrote:India’s GST, Hyped as Another Tryst With Destiny, Remains a Half-Way House of Disruptions

Is this article a hatchet job or is there some truth to it?
Actually if you read the article subtracting out the relentlessly negative tone, you can see that the government is reacting fairly quickly to problems with the initial GST roll-out, and trying to fix problems. I don't see how anyone can anticipate all the problems and negative impacts and fix them beforehand, it would take any non-omnipotent, non-omniscient being at least a few cycles of - receive payments - understand problems - address problems - see if problem is resolved in next tax cycle.

The exact figures are in the economy thread, but the Ministry of Finance Revenue department has spent 5000% more than budget estimate for spending by December 1, 2017 of the 500 crores of the 2017-18 budget allotment, which I take to mean that they are working really really hard.

Somebody with the enthu to do so (I do not) can take all the information conveniently provided in that article and package it into a positive "this is what agile governance looks like".
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by VKumar »

Let's see what happens when ewaybill starts from 1 Feb
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by disha »

^More savings & more of less congestion. What is there to complain about? Less of black money?
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by vijayk »

Ashu

Verified account

@muglikar_
38m38 minutes ago
More
Sitting on a katta, opposite to me is a small grocery shop. Board mentions GSTIN.... Imagine what was happening pre GST. Now this dude is a part of the tax base. Phenomenal changes. Big results. Let this country be the super power that we want it to be. With our tax money.
Tambi


@HeyTambii
35m35 minutes ago
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Replying to @muglikar_
Change, what do I tell you, Surat is changing like never before. The Crooks, who used to pose as businessman and dupe people are almost disappeared. Come e-way bills, more super transformation going to happen. Traders are basically happy as GSTIN is bringing in the right changes.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by JohnTitor »

Looks like loopholes have been found and are being exploited - boy that didn’t take long!

https://m.timesofindia.com/business/ind ... 322061.cms
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by krisna »

GST Made 2017 Most Significant Year for India’s Economy Since Independence
In the final analysis, the GST balance sheet is provided by Gita Gopinath, professor of International Studies and Economies at Harvard University, who is also the economic adviser to the Kerala chief minister.
"GST is a real reform. It is a way of formalizing the economy. It is a very effective way of ensuring tax compliance, making it harder to earn black money. I mean, nothing ever goes away completely, but it just makes it harder to make it happen," Gopinath said in Mumbai earlier this month.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Mort Walker »

A_Gupta wrote:
Mort Walker wrote:India’s GST, Hyped as Another Tryst With Destiny, Remains a Half-Way House of Disruptions

Is this article a hatchet job or is there some truth to it?
Actually if you read the article subtracting out the relentlessly negative tone, you can see that the government is reacting fairly quickly to problems with the initial GST roll-out, and trying to fix problems. I don't see how anyone can anticipate all the problems and negative impacts and fix them beforehand, it would take any non-omnipotent, non-omniscient being at least a few cycles of - receive payments - understand problems - address problems - see if problem is resolved in next tax cycle.

The exact figures are in the economy thread, but the Ministry of Finance Revenue department has spent 5000% more than budget estimate for spending by December 1, 2017 of the 500 crores of the 2017-18 budget allotment, which I take to mean that they are working really really hard.

Somebody with the enthu to do so (I do not) can take all the information conveniently provided in that article and package it into a positive "this is what agile governance looks like".
Perhaps. The GST council and the Central Board of Excise and Commissions (CBEC) must work together so that exports of manufacturers like the garment and leather industry are not hurt. Some items that are in the national interest, such as scientific and engineering equipment and materials, should see very little or no customs duties or GST.
The Centre is keen to bring remaining items like alcohol, petrol and diesel, natural gas, electricity and real estate under GST. However, doing so would be challenging for it given that states’ nod is needed for making any change in the GST. These items contribute a significant chunk of states’ tax revenues and so they are likely to resist any move to include them in GST.
Fuel brings in a lot of revenue and even the highest GST rate is lower than all of the other indirect taxes currently. I just don't see the states agreeing to this. Alcohol taxes are also very high compared to GST and I would rather see them to continue to be so or we could have more social problems.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by A_Gupta »

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... r-truckers
"Suspicious states" -- anxious to retain pre-GST earnings -- are stepping up vigilance at their borders, according to Crisil Ltd., and there’s little in the legislation to deter officials seeking bribes.

"The people who were earlier on the check posts, who were getting money, they are getting the same through other means," said Rakesh Kaul, a vice-president at Caravan Roadways. While some border posts were replaced by a system of supposedly-randomized checking, "right now, they’re not doing random checking, they’re checking every vehicle," he said.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by A_Gupta »

The data is one thing:
Gold imports by India, the world’s second-biggest market after China, surged 37 percent in December after falling for three straight months, according to a person familiar with the data.
Whether the interpretation in the headline is correct, the reader must decide.
"Gold Imports Said to Rebound Amid Signs India's Tax Woes Fading"

from Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... oes-fading
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Vips »

GST base is set to cross one crore mark.

Taxpayers for goods and services are set to scale the one-crore mark, marking a 25% jump in the number of taxpayers who were registered for payment of excise duty, VAT and service tax. "We will have one crore taxpayers in a day or two," said a government official.

By Christmas, the government had managed to attract 99 lakh entities to register for GST, of which 16.6 lakh were composition dealers who are entitled to file quarterly returns without detailed invoices.

When GST started, there were around 80 lakh taxpayers, many of whom were registered for payment of multiple taxes. For instance, a company could have registered for VAT, excise as well as service tax.

So, the actual tax base was lower. Sources, however, said that the base may dwindle around June when several of the registered entities can drop out on completion of one year of registration. A large number of people who had rented out commercial property had registered for GST and are expected to now go out of the system.

While the base has increased, a bulk of the registered taxpayers are paying zero tax, indicating that they have no liability. On last count, almost 40% of the returns that were filed had shown no tax liability.

There are only a handful of companies, running into a few thousand which account for a majority of the taxes that are collected.

What has compounded the problem for the government is the waiver of late payment penalty and other relaxations in filing of returns. While there was a rush to file returns over the last three days, the compliance for previous months remains low. On Monday, nearly six lakh returns were filed, while the number went up by a lakh on Tuesday as the deadline for Wednesday neared.

"The systems are working fine and GST Network has increased the capacity," explained an official amid rumours that the system had slowed down, forcing the government to extend the deadline — something that the finance ministry stoutly denied.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by A_Gupta »

Swarajya magazine reports:
https://swarajyamag.com/current-affairs ... ays-report
Major GST Revamp On Cards: With the aim of making compliance simpler, India is set to revamp the goods and services tax (GST) regime next week. This will be the second significant overhaul of GST after a November rejig that saw the tax rate on 178 household goods being lowered and that on restaurants brought down to 5 per cent. India rolled out GST, which replaces multiple state and central taxes and cesses on 1 July. The GST Council meeting on 18 January is expected to take up changes in the definitions of terms such as supply and handicrafts as part of this effort besides replacing the three forms that need to be submitted with one, said two government officials aware of the development. It may also drop the requirement for upfront invoice matching, they said. “These changes would be taken up by the council at the upcoming meeting,” said one of the officials.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by A_Gupta »

The GST Council is expected to cut rates on up to 80 goods and services and may simplify the process of registration, returns filing and claiming input tax credit in a meeting scheduled for Thursday, NDTV has reported.
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/rate-cut- ... n-thursday
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by JTull »

GST Council may cut rates for 70 items; 40 on revision list
A fortnight ahead of the Union Budget, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is likely to take up rationalisation of rates of about 70 items, of which at least 40 are services. Amendment in rules may also be taken up to simplify filing and plug some of the loopholes. A fitment committee of officers has made these recommendations to the Council, which will meet on Thursday.

With the aim to boost struggling agriculture and rural economy, and encourage clean energy, the Council is expected to rationalise rates of agriculture implements and unconventional fuel buses. It is the last Council meeting before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents his last full Budget on 1 February, before general elections in 2019.

“Around 40 to 50 services will be taken up for a rate revision in the Council meeting. These are services that were earlier exempt but were taxed under the GST regime. They are facing issues,” said a government official.

Agriculture implements that are currently taxed up to 18 per cent may come under the 12 per cent or the 5 per cent bracket.

Agriculture sector growth is projected to fall to 2.1 per cent in FY18 because of an expected drop in the rabi harvest, an almost 3 per cent fall in kharif production, according to Advance Estimates by the Central Statistics Office. In the earlier meetings, the Council had lowered the rate on tractor parts from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

In the last full Budget of the National Democratic Alliance government, measures to give a push to the rural, and small enterprise sectors are likely.

Among others, bio-diesel buses, which attract 28 per cent GST, may see a downward revision. Karnataka is one of the states to have given a big push to bio-diesel buses that are environment friendly. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has inducted a slew of buses that run on bio-diesel.

In case of services, job works may be allowed as part of the composition scheme, which will imply a flat rate of tax and easier compliance.

Service provider aggregators such as UrbanClap, Housejoy and Quikr that provide e-platforms to carpenters, housekeepers, and plumbers could also find relief.

They had argued against the 18 per cent GST, saying it made them uncompetitive compared to neighbourhood rivals. They pointed out that the service providers using the platform were below the GST threshold of Rs 2-million annual turnover.

“Currently, only a few services such as housekeeping, carpentry, etc. are subject to 18 per cent GST, if provided through an e-commerce platform, without benefit of threshold limit of Rs 2 million. We are expecting the rate to be reduced to 5 per cent in such cases. Many job work services could also come under lower rate,” said Pratik Jain, partner, PwC India.

Service providers of up to Rs 500,000 a year may also be allowed to opt for composition scheme.

“The government would consider the lower collections over the past two months in taking a decision on further rate cuts,’’ said M S Mani, partner, Deloitte. The rate cuts may be confined to a few items that were either taxed at a lower rate in the past or are socially necessary, such as electric cars and their parts, he added. The Council had reduced rates on 200 items in November at its meeting in Guwahati. Reflecting the rate reduction, revenue collections touched the lowest in November at Rs 808 billion.

Rates for 176 items, including detergents, shampoos, and beauty products, were reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, while for a few others to 12 per cent at the November 15 meeting, leaving only 50 items in the highest bracket.

Meanwhile, the Council may allow a single return filing to reduce compliance burden and ease procedures for small and medium businesses. The three return forms — GSTR1 (sales supply), GSTR2 (purchase supply), and GSTR3 (the final netted out return) — may be consolidated into a single form.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Dipanker »

It's getting there, few more rejigs may be required before it is just right!

GST Council rejigs rates of 29 items, 53 services
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

The wolves are being let out:
Govt to soon set anti-profiteering rules to pass GST rate cut benefit: CBEC
The government is at the advanced stage of finalising anti-profiteering guidelines for judging parameters whereby benefits of reduced GST rates are passed on to the end consumer, a tax official said on Wednesday.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Mort Walker »

Suraj wrote:The wolves are being let out:
Govt to soon set anti-profiteering rules to pass GST rate cut benefit: CBEC
The government is at the advanced stage of finalising anti-profiteering guidelines for judging parameters whereby benefits of reduced GST rates are passed on to the end consumer, a tax official said on Wednesday.
From the article it appears the GST council and government think anti-profiteering will be a short term problem until GST implementation stabilizes.
"Anti-profiteering is a temporary measure and as the GST is stabilised in due course of time, the anti-profiteering authority would be wound up," he said, according to the statement.
What is interesting is that the e-Way billing agreement between 15 states for smooth movement of goods. Hopefully all states and union territories can have e-Way billing for nationwide intra-state movement of goods.

Finally in India we have clear rules for intra-state commerce, this should have happened within two decades after independence. For comparison, the US setup the commerce clause of the US constitution early on and quickly resolved cases related to commerce between states. Anyway, better late than never and the damage done by the British upon India had these hidden consequences.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

The US constitution was written for what was then a small dispersed country of 3.5 million people who depended on commerce for economic gain. Revenues were gained through the growing sale of homesteading rights to people as territory expanded dramatically. States were not under pressure to raise revenues within their own borders. Taxes on production of goods - even agricultural cash crops, excise/import duties and land sale/property tax mostly contributed to revenues. They didn't even need an income tax until 1913.

The Indian system started with a population about 150x of original US population, borders newly truncated by partition, very little potential for taxing income, no potential to tax agriculture, very little industrial output and foreign trade to tax raw input material, and poor land records or problems with ending the zamindari system (the very first amendment to our constitution) impacting effectively managing property taxation. Therefore states chose to tax border transactions. I doubt there'd have been any political will in our federal system in the 1960s to remove state barriers even if its economically a good idea.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by chetak »

Deleted
Last edited by Suraj on 25 Jan 2018 00:41, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Politics goes poof.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Mort Walker »

Suraj wrote: The Indian system started with a population about 150x of original US population, borders newly truncated by partition, very little potential for taxing income, no potential to tax agriculture, very little industrial output and foreign trade to tax raw input material, and poor land records or problems with ending the zamindari system (the very first amendment to our constitution) impacting effectively managing property taxation. Therefore states chose to tax border transactions. I doubt there'd have been any political will in our federal system in the 1960s to remove state barriers even if its economically a good idea.
In India we had ligusitic divisions and one way to eliminate that is to allow easy intra-state commerce of goods which would also cause people to move more often between states. State barriers could only be removed if there was another method of taxation of goods that provided revenue to the states. We didn’t have that until GST revenue would be divided 2/3 to the states and 1/3 to the center. It could have been done through a more universal VAT, but political compulsions complicated the matter. The nice thing about GST is that we finally have reason to be optimistic about cooperation between the state and center regardless of political affiliation. Every politican will be happy to get more revenue when the economic pie gets bigger, as opposed to more methods of dividing the same pie.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

GST was much beyond the capabilities of 1950s/1960s telecom/computing technology to handle. The entire country had a few computers in total, then. Maybe by the 1990s it was a good time to consider implementing GST, but there were 4 GEs in that decade, i.e. no political stability. NDA-1 did its bit, and UPA should have finished the work 10 years ago, but did not.

It's an extraordinarily complex change in the financial system, and there was corresponding political opposition to overcome. There's no point in complaining of what's too late to do anything about. It's in place now, it's largely working. This administration FINALLY put the whole thing together, something the past 5-6 admins dating back to the 1990s tried to do and failed. So, kudos to them, and time to focus on the future, not worry about the past.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Vips »

GST collection reverses trend, rises to Rs 86,703 crore in December.

The GST (Goods an Services Tax) collection for the month of December 2017 came at Rs 86,703 crore, government data showed on Thursday.The figures will provide some relief to the government as the revenue mop-up from GST had dipped to its lowest of Rs 80,808 crore, in November. However, it is still well below the more than Rs 92,000 crore the government earned in September.

The December figures are based on collections made till January 24.

A total of 1 crore taxpayers have been registered under GST till January 24, of which 17.11 lakh are composition dealers who are required to file returns every quarter. 56.30 lakh GSTR-3B returns have been filed for the month of December 2017.

For the composition dealers, for quarter July-September 2017, the last date of filing GSTR 4 Return was December 24,2017. A total of 8.10 lakh returns were filed by composition dealers paying a total of Rs 335.86 crores as GST.

For the quarter October-December 2017, the last date for filing GSTR 4 return was 18th January, 2018. A total of 9.25 lakh returns were filed by composition dealers for this quarter paying a sum of Rs 421.35 crore as GST.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Mort Walker »

All indirect taxes collected FY 2016-17 was 17.10 lakh-crore. Assuming GST is 12 lakh-crore until July 2018, it still doesn’t account for fuel, alcohol and other taxes not on GST schedule. But I’m not sure all the other indirect taxes would amount to at least 5.1 lakh-crore.

More than likely GST rates will be further reduced on more items, but another 20-30 lakh GST payers would need to be added for revenue increase.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

28.4 lakh e-way bills generated in a fortnight
A whopping 28.4 lakh e-way bills have been generated by transporters within a fortnight of the beginning of registration. In the 14-day trial period starting January 16, the day when nationwide e-way bill registrations for taxpayers began, 28.4 lakh e-way bills have been generated with 3.4 lakh happening only yesterday. Under the Goods and Services Tax, inter-state transportation of goods beyond 10 km, with a value of Rs 50,000 and above, will mandatorily require e-way bill from February 1. The government expects that the e-way bill would act as an anti-evasion tool and help bring more taxes to the exchequer. “We saw a phenomenal number of e-way bills being generated on January 30. We expect the momentum to continue in the days to come. Taxpayers are not only getting accustomed to e-way bill system but they are also able to avoid a lot of hassles that existed for them earlier,” GST Network CEO Prakash Kumar said.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

Jaitley: States not in favor of petrol, diesel inclusion into GST
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the states are not in favour of including petrol and diesel into GST at the moment, ruling out any immediate levy of the new indirect tax on these petroleum products. While GST was rolled out on July 1, real estate as well as crude oil, jet fuel or ATF, natural gas, diesel and petrol were kept out of its purview. This meant that the products continued to attract duties like central excise and VAT. “So far the mood of states (most of the states) is not in favour of including it (in GST) at the moment. But I am sure as the GST experience moves on, I think, natural gas, real estate — these are areas which are to be brought in and then probably at some stage we will keep trying for petrol, diesel and potable alcohol,” Jaitley said. The five petroleum items have been kept out of GST as they are considered cash cows, giving both the Centre and states bulk of their tax revenues.

But keeping them out has created compliance issues including taking input tax credit.

For example, a refinery producing diesel and petrol would pay GST on the procurement of plant, machinery and services but that tax would not be creditable against excise duty and VAT levied on petrol and diesel. Jaitley said further rationalisation of the tax rates would continue as revenues go up and ultimately the 28 per cent tax slab would be restricted to demerit and luxury goods. “GST broadly has settled down. Almost in every meeting now, we are able to rationalise the tariffs and this process will continue. It will continue with the structure tariffs being rationalised and the structure itself being rationalised as the collections go up,” he said.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Mort Walker »

Suraj,

Not having GST on fuel comes as no surprise. This is because with VAT and cess surcharges, fuel is effectively taxed over 28% and the states simply don’t wish to give up that revenue. GST caps out at 28% and excess cess can’t be rationalized. The current system lets states adjust fuel taxes and cess without going through the GST council. In my estimate, fuel taxes bring in nearly 3 lakh-crore per year. Better roads and highways, and the necessity of having a vehicle will all demand more fuel consumption in the future. Revenue will increase and states will be even less willing to give that up.

What I worry about is that if this big elephant is not brought within GST, then it may create revenue loss for the central government.

P. S. If you don’t like my post, I’ll be happy to delete it or you can delete it for me. No harm no foul. It is a private forum and I appreciate the privilege you provide me to post.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Suraj »

Your post is fine :) How about looking up the budget documents listing GST and fuel tax revenue line items for reference material ?
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Mort Walker »

Suraj,

Thanks I will look into the exact budget documents. I’ve looked at them some, but to see exact revenue and expenditure in such detail is wonderful. It is a testament to the transparency of GoI. This too not just the budget documents, but other ministries as well. For examples The Central Electric Authority documents have all sorts of good stuff with lots of numbers.
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by jaysimha »

Ministry of Corporate Affairs
After introduction of GST, increasing trend in the number of companies’ registrations, industrial activity has accelerated and growth in sales for corporates has also seen a remarkable increase
Posted On: 23 MAR 2018 6:45PM by PIB Delhi
Introduction of GST was a historical step for transforming India into a common national market with a simplified tax regime. GST was implemented w.e.f 1st July, 2017 and was welcomed by industry and corporates. Corporate sector as represented by industry associations such as CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM has reacted positively to introduction of GST in India.

The total number of companies registered during the period July, 2017 to February, 2018 (post GST) is 68,299. The number of companies registered in the corresponding period of the previous year i.e. from July, 2016 to February, 2017 was 63,106. Thus, the increasing trend in the number of companies’ registrations has been maintained post GST.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is a lead indicator of industrial activity based on monthly production data from selected manufacturing units. The average growth rate of IIP was 5% during July, 2017-January, 2018 which was higher as compared to that of 3.9% in July, 2016-January, 2017. Industrial activity, post introduction of GST, has thus accelerated.

The data released by RBI shows that the growth in year-on-year sales for corporates in Q2 and Q3 of 2017-18 stood at 7.2% and 11.3% respectively. The corresponding figures for Q2 and Q3 of 2016-17 stood at 1.9% and 2.8% respectively. Thus, the growth in sales for corporates has also seen a remarkable increase in the post GST period so far.

This was stated by Union Minister of State for Law & Justice and Corporate Affairs Shri P.P. Chaudhary in Lok Sabha today.

Also, the overall growth rate of GDP increased from 6.5% in Q2 to 7.2% in Q3 of 2017-18. The corresponding figures for 2016-17 were 7.6% and 6.8% respectively.

Introduction of GST was the biggest tax reform in independent India. Introduction of GST has reduced the multiplicity of taxes and has thus created a simpler tax regime to promote ease of doing business. By doing away with the cascading effects of multiple taxes, GST is expected to lead to a reduction in the prices of goods. This will make our businesses more competitive in domestic and international markets which will thus spur the corporate sector along with formalization and overall growth of the economy.

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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

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Ministry of Finance
Government sets up an IT Grievance Redressal Mechanism to address the grievances of taxpayers due to technical glitches on GST Portal
Posted On: 04 APR 2018 12:27PM by PIB Delhi

It has been decided by the Government to put in place an IT-Grievance Redressal Mechanism to address the difficulties faced by a section of taxpayers owing to technical glitches on the GST portal. In this regard, GST Council has delegated powers to an IT Grievance Redressal Committee to approve and recommend to the GSTN the steps to be taken to redress the grievance and provide relief to the taxpayer. The relief could be in the nature of allowing filing of any Form or Return prescribed in law or amending any Form or Return already filed. However, where the problem relates to individual taxpayer, due to localised issues such as non-availability of internet connectivity or failure of power supply, this mechanism shall not be available.



The mechanism inter alia envisages that taxpayers shall make an application to the field officers or the nodal officers where there was a demonstrable glitch on the Common Portal in relation to an identified issue, due to which the due process as envisaged in law could not be completed on the Common Portal. The IT Grievance Redressal committee shall examine and approve the solutions as may be necessary for an identified issue.



The Circular also seeks to address the problems faced by the taxpayers who could not complete the process of filing of TRAN-1 by due date, due to IT-glitch such that the process of digitally signing/ validating TRAN-1 could not be completed. The taxpayer would be allowed to complete the process of filing such TRAN 1, stuck due to IT glitches, by 30th April 2018 and the process of completing filing of GSTR 3B which could not be filed for such TRAN 1 shall be completed by 31st May 2018.



The last date for filing of TRAN 1 is not being extended in general and only the taxpayers, who have been identified in terms of the circular issued in this regard, shall be allowed to complete the process of filing TRAN-1.



The decision relating to filing of TRAN-1 shall benefit 17,573 taxpayers who shall consequently be able to avail Rs. 2582.98 cr. as CGST credit and Rs. 1112.77 cr. as SGST credit. For further details, circular no. 39/13/2018-GST dated 03.04.2018 may be downloaded from the website www.cbec.gov.in.



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Vasu
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by Vasu »

Logistics sector outlook: Long and exciting road ahead
The logistics sector has been in limelight in the past couple of years and is undergoing a significant transformation on account of various reform initiatives and policy changes. The major reforms include the introduction of GST (goods & service tax), roll out of E-Way bill and the sector being granted infrastructure status. The initial benefits of these developments have started coming in but majority would accrue in the coming years.

The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July last year has ushered in an architectural change in the logistics sector and simplified the state-wise differential tax structure with a uniform single lower tax. The new tax regime would also drive operating efficiencies as the time spend to pay octroi duty, border checks could now be used to move goods further.

The introduction of E-Way bill (electronic documentation aimed to track goods movement and prevent tax evasion under GST) from 1 April 2018 would result in increased transparency as well as encourage further formalisation of the sector.

These changes are likely to reduce the cost of logistics in India which currently stands around 13-14% of GDP, which is significantly higher than countries such as US (9.5%) and Germany (8%). The reforms and developments also marks a step in the right direction as government has already indicated its plans to bring down the logistics cost to around 10% of GDP.
chetak
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by chetak »

Why were companies with foreign shareholding and in some cases untraceable ownership specially chosen and made part of the GSTN network??

Were Indian PU banks not seen as being adequate to the task or were there other considerations??

Much of this data has national security implications, especially of the economic kind.


https://www.pgurus.com/did-hasmukh-adhi ... 3-project/

Pranab Mukherjee had suggested a fully owned Government mechanism to administer and collect the tax. Chidambaram changed it into a 51% private organizations controlled company! The Government of India holds 24.5% equity in GSTN and all States of the Indian Union, including NCT of Delhi and Puducherry, and the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers (EC), together hold another 24.5%. Balance 51% is with HDFC (10%), HDFC Bank (10%), ICICI (10%), NSE Strategic investments (10%) and LIC Housing Finance (10%). The majority of the LIC Housing Finance is now with foreign financial firms and private firms and LIC is having only nominal shares.

The authorized capital of the company is Rs.10 crores, of which Rs.5 crores was provided (shared amongst) the majority shareholders. To start with, GSTN was funded through a one-time non-recurring Grant- in aid of Rs.315 crores from the Central Government towards expenditure for the initial set up and functioning of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Following this, the Union and State Governments of India have pumped in more than Rs 5000 crore to keep GSTN kicking. So precisely, by paying up Rs.5 crores, the majority stakeholders controlled Rs.5000 crore of the public money!

The first question is – Is it true that the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) repeatedly proposed on file to make GSTN a wholly-owned Government of India body? Is it true that Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia scuttled every effort by the CBEC to purge GSTN of the majority private shareholders? Is it because the Civil service Conduct Rules do not apply to the employees of a body like GSTN? Why unlike the UIDAI, the GSTN was not made a fully-owned Government body, especially because it is the repository of national tax data and also that the GSTN is linked to all banks, RBI, Customs servers and the PFMS module of the Union Accounts Department?

Secondly, why did the majority stakeholders make no contribution towards the expenditure of the GSTN? Why did Adhia approve performance-linked incentives for the senior officials of the GSTN, when he was fully aware that this was an expense from the exchequer? Who audited the performance of GSTN before they were doled out public money as incentives? If there was no audit of their performance by the Government before sanctioning such incentives, running into crores, is this not a fraud on the exchequer, in which Adhia has colluded?

If one is made to believe that the functioning of GSTN is transparent and legal, why did Adhia not sign any file as Chairman GSTN? Why did he abdicate his responsibilities and hand over the additional charge to Mr. A. B. Pandey, CEO of UIDAI within a matter of 10 days? Was there a nefarious design to keep the GSTN outside the purview of the CBI to ensure a free hand to the officers to indulge in all activities with utter contempt for the law?

There is a history to some of the private stakeholders. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) under Ravi Narayan, who was part of the GSTN Board, was mired in several controversies and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy was campaigning for his removal from the board, which, it is reliably learnt, happened after the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office.

There are lessons for bureaucrats and ministers after every scam is analysed threadbare in public. Even after the CWG scam, wherein Suresh Kalmadi was accused of flouting tender norms to provide contracts to private entities, why is the same pattern being repeated here in GSTN? Why did Hasmukh Adhia decide to look the other way while this was unfolding or did he deliberately participate in this?

Why did Adhia, who was the epicentre of GST and GSTN, discard the advice of the CBEC to make GSTN a wholly owned Government body? Why are those files of the CBEC which proposed for takeover of the GSTN being suppressed in the Finance Ministry now? It is an open secret that the only officer who has been with Adhia all throughout this GSTN journey is – Uday Singh Kumawat!! Kumawat dutifully continued the legacy of Chidambaram in the Finance Ministry and shaped the GSTN project accordingly, while Adhia played along. Why, Mr Hasmukh Adhia?

Why was the PMO kept in the dark on these proposals pertaining to the take-over of the GSTN to make it a fully owned Government body?

A North Block veteran told PGurus – from the conceptualization to the award of contract to Infosys (which reeks of a scam), actual user charges allocation (which is a fraud on the cabinet) to the flouting of the General Financial Rules (an illegality), Adhia handled the entire project the way Chidambaram would have done it.

https://www.pgurus.com/gstn-floated-upa ... 1-percent/

Creation of GST involves Constitutional Amendments and this GST administration and tax management company should have been ideally created by a consortium of Centre and State Governments. After all they have all the data and it is a matter of pulling them together for computation of GST. The question then is why the then Finance Ministry under P Chidambaram took this decision to outsource such a strategic activity to the private sector?

On first looks, the most significant player in this tax collection effort should be the one who has the Data. In this case, that would be the Central and State Governments. Everything else such as adjusting the percentage of GST for various states is just a matter of programming, which could have been done by the Government itself. After all, it has codified Income Tax! This cannot be more complicated than that!

A closer look at the private partners reveals that entities such as the HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and LIC Housing Finance Limited have shareholding of several foreign investments companies. In LIC Housing Finance Limited, among the 59 percent private shares, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Bank of Muscat, Mawer International Equity Fund, ICICI Prudential are the major private players.

In our opinion, tax administration is a sensitive matter dealing with sensitive information. Being a shareholder, would this automatically mean that HDFC and ICICI will be the bankers of public money collected through taxes? If yes, that would be a large amount of money passing through these banks! Also has the Home Ministry approved GSTN operators to allow them access to tax data?

The GST Bill has a long way to go. Only the constitutional amendments have been passed in the Parliament. States have to come on board and the final bill needs to be drafted and agreed to be made into law. Adequate security has to be established to ensure that this data does not fall in the wrong hands.






Finally, after all the mess, the Government decides to take over GSTN. Will FM & Adhia admit they were wrong?




Finally, after all the mess, the Government decides to take over GSTN. Will FM & Adhia admit they were wrong?

Has wisdom finally dawned on the Indian government on GSTN?

By Sree Iyer - April 11, 2018

It is believed that Winston Churchill said that “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” There has been much speculation[1] about whether Churchill did indeed say that but this was the phrase that came to mind when I read that Indian Govt. is mulling taking full control of the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN).

It appears as though wisdom has finally dawned. The Union Government on Tuesday started thinking of taking full control of Goods and Services Tax’s (GST) control and tax collecting mechanism GSTN.


When PGurus questioned the ownership structure of GSTN, a hue and cry were raised[2]. Finance Minister Jaitley replied in the Lok Sabha that it is best left to a private company to deal with the billions of transactions that take place on a daily basis[3]. This was an indirect jab at Government’s own departments, who had written the Income Tax Software program and other services, that they did not have the skills to come up with the software for GSTN.

Needless to say that this raised the hackles of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) Officers Association. The association has been demanding that they be given the control of this software. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy was urging full government control, pointing out the dangers of allowing majority ownership in the hands of foreign banks[4]. But Finance Minister Arun Jaitley preferred to go ahead with the GSTN whose ownership was tweaked by his buddy, the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, to include Private Banks[5]. Apart from Jaitley, his Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia also threw his weight behind GSTN[6].

It appears as though wisdom has finally dawned. The Union Government on Tuesday started thinking of taking full control of Goods and Services Tax’s (GST) control and tax collecting mechanism GSTN.

PGurus ran a series of articles[7] in which serious matters pertaining to the role and the performance of the GSTN was questioned. Hasmukh Adhia was asked many pointed questions on data security, tender issues, and expenditure from exchequer[8].

The Finance Ministry has allotted more Rs.5000 crores to GSTN to develop software through Infosys and still, the software is not working properly. The 51 percent shareholders in GSTN are ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, LIC Housing Finance and an NSE subsidiary… These firms have not yet put a single paisa in GSTN[9]. Due to software related issues, lakhs of crores of rupees are not still disbursed between states and huge amounts of money are deposited at shareholder private banks like the ICICI Bank and the HDFC Bank. Shouldn’t these funds be kept in Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Banks such as the State Bank of India?

In what appears to be the first step towards a drastic restructuring and resurrection of the GSTN, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have issued directions to have this matter be looked at from ground up. The Government is considering to convert Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) into a government entity soon, to monitor the performance of the company more closely.

According to media reports on Tuesday, after returning from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has written to Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia to “examine the possibility of converting GSTN into a government company[10]“. The fact is that these two individuals were among the most vociferous supporters of GSTN being kept private. This must be a bitter pill to swallow.

The new proposal, after being finalized will have to go through the rest of GST Council, which will have to give its final nod, before the government can actually convert GSTN to a government entity. Arun Jaitley and Hasmukh Adhia were stonewalling CAG from auditing GSTN8 and they even went to extent of issuing circulars that the affairs of GSTN be exempt from General Financial Rules and also allowed payment of Rs.1400 crores to GSTN without Cabinet approval. Have a lawyer and a Doctorate in Yoga placed the administration and tax collection mechanism of GST in serious jeopardy? We at PGurus have been well-intentioned for the past two years, warning of the possible chaos that would result from the hasty decisions that the previous government had taken. Unfortunately, these pleas fell on deaf ears and now we are at a critical stage.

GSTN affairs were messed up by Jaitley and Adhia for the past four years and they should be made accountable for this. Hope the Prime Minister is listening.

References:

[1] Americans Will Always Do the Right Thing… – Nov 22, 2016, The Churchill Project

[2] Why was GSTN floated by the UPA in 2013, with private ownership of 51 percent? – Aug 7, 2016, PGurus.com

[3] Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addresses Lok Sabha on GST Bill – Aug 8, 2016, DD channel on YouTube

[4] GSTN – It is the data and the Govt owns it – Sep 1, 2016, PGurus.com

[5] Chidambaram changed Pranab model of GSTN and rigged it for Pvt. firms. Change it – Swamy to PM – Oct 1, 2016, PGurus.com

[6] More muck and sleaze tumbles out from the cupboards of the Finance Ministry – Mar 18, 2018, PGurus.com

[7] The GSTN Saga – The pain of doing business in India – Sep 17, 2017, PGurus.com

[8] GSTN tender scam – Will Hasmukh Adhia speak now? Why was Rs.1400 crores allotted bypassing the Union Cabinet? – Mar 28, 2018, PGurus.com

[9] Did Hasmukh Adhia convert GSTN into a UPA-3 project? – Mar 30, 2018, PGurus.com

[10] Govt mulling converting GSTN to govt company – Apr 10, 2018, LiveMint.com
chetak
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Re: GST - Discussion on all aspects.

Post by chetak »

<deleted> by admin since original post was moved here
JayS
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by JayS »

On what basis GSTN ownership was given to ICICI et al if they havent put a single paisa in the company..? Shouldnt the company be developing and paying for the SW dev if its a pvt company..?
Katare
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by Katare »

JayS wrote:On what basis GSTN ownership was given to ICICI et al if they havent put a single paisa in the company..? Shouldnt the company be developing and paying for the SW dev if its a pvt company..?
I don’t think govt is anymore trustworthy than the private sector. It is (GSTN ownership in private hands) a step in the right direction, we must trust and regulate our private sector companies.

In massaland even the Fedral reserve, equivalent to our RBI, is ia private entity. What is needed is a strong regulatory and oversight mecanisms to ensure fair-play.
Mort Walker
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by Mort Walker »

Katare wrote: I don’t think govt is anymore trustworthy than the private sector. It is (GSTN ownership in private hands) a step in the right direction, we must trust and regulate our private sector companies.

In massaland even the Fedral reserve, equivalent to our RBI, is ia private entity. What is needed is a strong regulatory and oversight mecanisms to ensure fair-play.
The US Federal Reserve System is a government entity consisting of 12 regional reserve banks. It is not a private entity. The board of the Federal Reserve System is in Washington D.C. What makes the Federal Reserve System different is that they not only set monetary policy, but ensure the financial stability of the US. This mandate allows them to meddle in making economic policy to artificially lower interest rates contrary to sound economic policy. The RBI is not like that and it is the Finance Ministry which sets economic policy.

The GSTN is inherent to governmental functions and as such the stock holder must be the GoI and perhaps state governments.
JayS
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by JayS »

Katare wrote:
JayS wrote:On what basis GSTN ownership was given to ICICI et al if they havent put a single paisa in the company..? Shouldnt the company be developing and paying for the SW dev if its a pvt company..?
I don’t think govt is anymore trustworthy than the private sector. It is (GSTN ownership in private hands) a step in the right direction, we must trust and regulate our private sector companies.

In massaland even the Fedral reserve, equivalent to our RBI, is ia private entity. What is needed is a strong regulatory and oversight mecanisms to ensure fair-play.
Even if I take your argument at face value, why the pvt owners are not taking care of the GST system then..? Why its the FinMin which is funding the system dev..? Let the pvt owners put their own money, come up with a functional system and then charge Govt for services. That's how pvt companies function. Not like giving exchequers money for all set up and then gifting the company to bunch of pvt companies.

As such, since GST is integral function of the govt system and deals with sensitive data from citizens and companies and would be deeply entrenched in the national financial infrastructure, it should be fully controlled by Indian govt. Let GOI own it and it be autonomous or pvt-ly managed on contract overseered by GOI. Or atleast it be owned fully by desi companies not the banks like ICICI which are desi only for namesake now.

I am surprised this FM took 4 full years to remove this UPA legacy. Good that they finally doing it.

I personally would prefer fully Govt owned autonomous entity for GSTN.
chetak
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by chetak »

JayS wrote:
Katare wrote:
I don’t think govt is anymore trustworthy than the private sector. It is (GSTN ownership in private hands) a step in the right direction, we must trust and regulate our private sector companies.

In massaland even the Fedral reserve, equivalent to our RBI, is ia private entity. What is needed is a strong regulatory and oversight mecanisms to ensure fair-play.
Even if I take your argument at face value, why the pvt owners are not taking care of the GST system then..? Why its the FinMin which is funding the system dev..? Let the pvt owners put their own money, come up with a functional system and then charge Govt for services. That's how pvt companies function. Not like giving exchequers money for all set up and then gifting the company to bunch of pvt companies.

As such, since GST is integral function of the govt system and deals with sensitive data from citizens and companies and would be deeply entrenched in the national financial infrastructure, it should be fully controlled by Indian govt. Let GOI own it and it be autonomous or pvt-ly managed on contract overseered by GOI. Or atleast it be owned fully by desi companies not the banks like ICICI which are desi only for namesake now.

I am surprised this FM took 4 full years to remove this UPA legacy. Good that they finally doing it.

I personally would prefer fully Govt owned autonomous entity for GSTN.
In massaland even the Fedral reserve, equivalent to our RBI, is ia private entity
@JayS,

Is the head of the Fed appointed "privately"?? or otherwise?? Do tell.

The private GSTN entities/shareholders in India are foreign owned to a large extent, and their true ownership is willfully obscured via a series of holding companies. This has severe natsec implications.

Is there any way that such entities would truly serve India's supreme national interests every time and without fail?? and more importantly why would we entrust India's tax database + tax data and financial details of Indian companies to foreign companies??

Would these foreigners ever reciprocate such outmoded colonial era munificence??

We have NOTHING to gain and EVERYTHING to lose. If not already lost, by now.

Will any Indian company have such an unfettered access to another country's tax data base and data in this manner.

Would the Fed ever permit such a gross infringement to national security??

Or are SDRE Indians merely children of a lesser god and macaulay still reigns supreme in our suborned mental space??

BTW, We don't even know the true owners of the big four foreign accounting firms operating in India, and so far they seem to be involved, in one way or the other, in every single financial scam in India going back to decades. And yet we kiss the very ground they walk on?? and how much more should we foolishly continue to "we must trust and regulate our private sector companies."
chetak
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by chetak »

JayS wrote:
Katare wrote:
I don’t think govt is anymore trustworthy than the private sector. It is (GSTN ownership in private hands) a step in the right direction, we must trust and regulate our private sector companies.

In massaland even the Fedral reserve, equivalent to our RBI, is ia private entity. What is needed is a strong regulatory and oversight mecanisms to ensure fair-play.
Even if I take your argument at face value, why the pvt owners are not taking care of the GST system then..? Why its the FinMin which is funding the system dev..? Let the pvt owners put their own money, come up with a functional system and then charge Govt for services. That's how pvt companies function. Not like giving exchequers money for all set up and then gifting the company to bunch of pvt companies.

As such, since GST is integral function of the govt system and deals with sensitive data from citizens and companies and would be deeply entrenched in the national financial infrastructure, it should be fully controlled by Indian govt. Let GOI own it and it be autonomous or pvt-ly managed on contract overseered by GOI. Or atleast it be owned fully by desi companies not the banks like ICICI which are desi only for namesake now.

I am surprised this FM took 4 full years to remove this UPA legacy. Good that they finally doing it.

I personally would prefer fully Govt owned autonomous entity for GSTN.
There have always been widespread whispers about the real owners of these "private" banks prancing about blissfully in lootyens dilli.

The same rumor also says that's exactly why due diligence has never been done.

probably, it also explains the
4 full years
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