A seminar on the Union Budget 2015 and its impact on industry and trade here on Monday saw representatives raising questions as to whether the States and Centre were actually ready for a General Sales Tax (GST) regime.
The deliberations were organised by the Federation of Telangana & Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FTAPCCI), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and CPE Abids, Himayatnagar Study Circle of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Speakers at the inaugural dwelt on the need for sector-specific analysis during the technical sessions later in the day.
The key points discussed included the need for the Centre to educate, motivate and convince the States on being GST compliant-ready by the 2016-17 fiscal so as to simplify the tax regime. This was because the States felt that getting into the GST regime would mean cutting down on their own revenues.
For example, while Maharashtra wanted to keep Octroi with itself and AP wished to keep the power of imposing Entry Tax, Telangana wanted the revenue from Stamps & Registration. Those who spoke included FTAPCCI president Shiv Kumar Rungta, Chairman of FTAPCCI’s Direct Taxes Committee Hari Govind Prasad and Indirect Taxes Committee Chairman J.S. Karunendra and the Committee’s Advisor S. Tirumalai, Chairman, Corporate Laws Committee Abhay Kumar Jail and certified financial analyst Vivek Rathi. FTAPCCI’s senior vice-president V. Anil Reddy proposed the vote of thanks.
They pointed out that some sectors like construction, petro-products, cigarettes and liquor were not in the GST regime as of now and wondered if the Centre could really usher in a system of giving seamless credits and refunds. Service tax, now hiked to 14 per cent from 12.36 could go up to 16, 18 or even 20 per cent if the GST came in, they said. GST would mean elimination of Central Excise, Service Tax, Value-Added Tax, Central Sales Tax, Excise Duty and Entertainment Tax.
