Guwahati: Principal Commissioner of Guwahati GST, Partha Roy Choudhury, had high praise for the Indian government's One Nation, One Tax initiative and explained why it is beneficial for the country.
“There is no longer something called Bihar Sales Tax, Bengal Sales Tax, Assam Sales Tax, and so on. Now everything has come under Goods and Services Tax (GST),” he told Business North East recently.
Business North East inquired whether One Nation, One Tax would help consumers, considering that the per capita income is not uniform across the country.
The Principal Commissioner responded affirmatively, saying, "Definitely, the earning potential of consumer states was not very high earlier. With GST, higher earnings are possible."
He further explained that there is an additional benefit. Countries that are not producing but are consuming will gain extra advantages. Every state will benefit from GST.
This will increase the competitiveness of Indian goods and services in the international market and boost Indian exports. Because of efficiency gains and the prevention of leakages, the overall tax burden on most commodities will come down, benefiting consumers.
The Confederation of Indian Industries states, "The GST Act, introduced in 2017, aims to simplify compliance, reduce tax cascading, and promote economic integration by replacing the complex tax structure. It was enacted with the President's approval in 2000 and is based on uniform tax rates across states and the seamless flow of input tax credits. GST is a destination-based tax levied at each stage of the supply chain, starting from manufacturers and flowing to end consumers. It applies to value addition at each stage, allowing for seamless credit availability and reducing the tax burden on the end consumer."
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