The Goods and Services Tax is one of the biggest tax reforms since Independence, said K. Balamurugan, Additional Commissioner, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, government of India.

At a session on ‘Goods and Service Act’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Forum of Free Enterprise and ICSI Mysuru chapter here on Thursday, he said, “GST is set to be rolled out. It is a 10-year journey. It is one of the biggest tax reforms we are undertaking after Independence … it will take time to streamline as well.

“Once it is implemented, which is expected to be from April next year, one will have a lot of work to do … but he/she is not going to do anything new. It will be same work and same numbers. The government will be getting the same revenue what it is getting now. It is a hugely beneficial reform which will cut both transaction costs and double taxation,” he said.

The GST will not have any problem for those who are paying tax sincerely but it will affect those who are not paying properly, he said. “Almost everything will be the same … but we will be changing the nomenclature. The processes are going to be the same …,” he said.

“Everything will happen at the click of a button. For GST, industries should be well equipped with IT infrastructure,” added Mr. Balamurugan.

Filing tax returns
K.V. Satya Prakash, Additional Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Government of Karnataka, “Under GST, filing of tax returns will be online and one can file it through their credit cards.”

Creating awareness about GST is the need of the hour, he said, and added that the awareness and training for not only staff but also for stakeholders was equally important.

Ravi Prasad, Joint Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, government of Karnataka, also briefed about GST. He also responded to queries on the occasion.

N. Muthukumar, chairman, CII, said the manufacturing sector was expected to be a huge beneficiary of GST.