Ninety-five per cent of traders have migrated to the Goods and Services Taxes regime in Puducherry, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said on Saturday.
Addressing a gathering of traders here, the Chief Minister said the new taxation would help the Union Territory generate more revenue.
Appealing to the traders to opt for proper tax compliance, Mr. Narayanasamy said the concerns of the administration were properly addressed by the GST council.
The original bill had a provision to route the Union Territory share of revenue through the Union Home Ministry.
After the issue was raised at the GST council meeting, the Finance Ministry agreed to transfer the revenue directly to Union Territory’s exchequer, the Chief Minister said.
Tracing the genesis of the GST, he said the new taxation policy was opposed by the BJP during UPA regime. He said the new policy would certainly boost economic activity and bring down prices of essential commodities.
Praises Jaitley
The Chief Minister praised Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for his committed approach in dealing with issues raised by States at the GST council.
“He may belong to a different political party but I should acknowledge his approach in sorting out problems raised by different States,” he said.
Mr. Narayanasamy said due to political reasons he could not attend the GST roll-out function held at the Central hall of Parliament on Saturday.
In his address, Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister K Lakshminarayanan took a dig at the BJP on GST. “Those who opposed the bill got the privilege to implement the new taxation policy,” he said.
