Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal, on Thursday assured trade and industry that the Government will initially take a lenient view of their mistakes on the GST compliance front so long as there is no “malafide intent.”
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“We will be initially liberal to (those committing) bonafide and technical mistakes,” he said, adding that the Government will be approaching such issues with an open mind. Those with a malafide intent, however, need not “rely on us,” he added. The minister’s comments came in the backdrop of demand for pushing back GST implementation and the Government adopting a lenient view to the concerns of trade and industry in the first few months.
The Government is committed to rolling out GST on July 1. The date is fixed and there will be no change, he said.
GST will fetch several indirect benefits, including reducing the logistics charges from the existing 13.5%.
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Mr. Meghwal, addressing a meeting organised by the Hyderabad branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, also said professional bodies such as the ICAI and ICSI have a major role in creating awareness of GST and providing clarity to the confusion sought to be created by some about the indirect tax reform.
Urging ICAI members to discuss different aspects of GST, at a three-day seminar the Institute is organising here from Friday, he said among the issues that are being made out are the number of returns to be filed, the anti-profiteering clause, reverse charges and e-way bill.
and thereby contributing to a level-playing field for businesses in the country.
In developed countries, the logistics charges are around 8%. The tax reform, he added, would also contributing to speeding up movement of cargo.
On the penalty provisions in GST, he said they were bound to be there in any Act but the government will take a lenient view.