Union Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal has expressed his confidence that the historic tax reform Goods and Services Tax (GST) will see 100 percent implementation from July 1, 2017. He also said that the Centre is already working on ironing out any road-block and even States are co-operating.
The Minister has stated that they have also initiated discussions with the various State governments to ensure that their IT systems are aligned with the GST regime. He said that the Centre has also asked State governments and trade and industry bodies to take up the issue of GST roll out with various stakeholders and participants. He further said that states are been told to strengthen their IT infrastructure and focus on manpower training. He also said that the government will open guidance centers including in the villages where internet is available to support the trade in getting registered with GST. He added that the government will resolve the problems of the trade and if GST begins from July 1, there will be no loss to trade and industry.
Pointing out the GST impact on 'ease of doing business’, Meghwal has said that it can lead to faster movement of goods within the country without trucks being stopped at check-posts for various tax collections and will bring down both travel time and costs. He also explained that a truck will take almost half the time to travel to deliver once GST is implemented and free movement of such vehicles allowed. He added that the other benefit would be improved ‘ease of doing business’ and one of the many economic reforms that have been planned for.